Computer skills for 100 Sri Lankan students
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Index of Updates from the Field
HORIZON LANKA SHAPED UP MY LIFE
By Anusha Madhubhashini - a former student of Horizon Lanka, May 23, 2008 06:24 PM
Anusha Madhubhashini anusha@horizonlanka.org
If I tell something about Mahavilachchiya, it is not reasonable not to mention about Horizon Lanka Foundation. Mahavilachchiya got more things from there. Especially in my life I got more help, advice and experiences in there. In the beginning of Horizon Lanka I never thought it could become what it is today. All of us thought Mr. Wanninayaka who is our teacher was telling us a fairy story. Really he has always very optimistic ideas. When I was in grade 8 he told you can go to university, so try to study more and more. Actually we got a big push from Horizon Lanka. I want to tell you how I built up my life with Horizon Lanka. I could get a C pass for English, it is very simple for you today, but at that time it was a very big achievement in my village. There was a prize giving at Horizon Lanka after my O/L. I took a big present for my achievements from Mr. and Mrs. Gaminitillake. It was a nice pair of earrings and some books. Then I got monetary assistance from Mr. Thushara Wijerathna and Dr. Nimal Perera who were living in the USA. It was so useful to my life. I put the money in a bank account and used them for my tuition classes and for my needs in university. The financial donation made me stronger and I had the peace of mind to concentrate on my education. Even to my parents it was great assistance. Since I had learnt computers at Horizon Lanka, even when I was in the first year I had the capability to find new information from web sites. I never felt, I'm a rural villager's daughter. I could study same as other students. If I hadn't that experience at Horizon Lanka, I'm sure I would have been stuck in competitive university life.
LTTE abducted my father last year. On that unfortunate occasion Horizon Lanka did help their best. They made blogs, and sent news to some people and encouraged us. At that time my sister was to sit for Advanced Level and I was facing my final year exam. At that time Horizon Lanka gave confidence to us, both of us faced exam. I want to tell about Mrs. Chithranganie Mubarak, who came to Horizon Lanka from ICTA. There are no words to explain her kind assistance for me.
I finished my university exam last February. I could get a job in Marga Institute in Colombo last February with the assistance of Mrs. Mubarak. Now I'm working with Marga projects in Ampara. Twice a month I go to Ampara, I get a chance to work with Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil people. All of them give kind assistance for me. I really enjoy this work and get a lot of experiences. I had studied sociology and about conflicts, ethnic problems and peace programs in my university. Now I'm getting practical knowledge about them. I have seen there are no differences among human feelings according to ethnicity. I want to see a day that all people living peacefully in Sri Lanka. I have very awful experience with war. I hate war, but I do not hate other ethnicities. Even during my childhood, I was on that position. I think I learnt these habits from Mr. Wanninayaka.
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Thanks Global Giving Donors
By Nandasiri Wanninayaka - Horizon Lanka Foundation, May 07, 2008 06:01 PM
Horizon Lanka Foundation sought assistance of Global Giving few years back to raise funds to Horizon Lanka’s academic activities. Donors can donate online 10 US$ upwards to Horizon Lanka. Global Giving transfers funds to Horizon Lanka periodically. Last month there was a donation of over 5,000 US$. This was so far the biggest donation we had. We thank all the donors for this timely donation. With this money we could pay the teacher salaries of Horizon Lanka Academy which was delayed by almost two years due to lack of funding. We paid almost all the delayed teacher salaries and can now continue the academic activities uninterrupted. We thank all the donors for donating Horizon Lanka Foundation and hope they would keep contributing.
With your future donations we can do the other activities mentioned in the project page such as paying students’ tuition fees, buying students’ academic reading material, purchasing PCs and laptops, building a new computer centers, etc.
Horizon Lanka students do well at the Ordinary Level English examination
By Iresha Dilhani - A Senior Student at Horizon Lanka, May 02, 2008 05:39 PM
Horizon Lanka Academy has been able to produce the best results for Ordinary Level English exam from Mahavilachchiya last December too. The results were out this month and you can see the results sheet below
Hanshi Sumedha A
Chamara Pradeep A
Dhananjaya Wijewikrama A
Gayani Sandamali A
Tharanga Sampath A
Damith Jayawardana C
Vishwa Sampath C
Anushka Udeshini S
Randika Sudath S
Credits for good OL results at Horizon Lanka should go to its English teachers, foreign volunteers, e-mentors and those who communicated with students in English electronically. We wish more volunteers to teach English (both local and foreign) could join Horizon Lanka Academy.
To strengthen English education further at Horizon Lanka Academy, the Academy tied up with prestigious European College, Colombo with the support of Accelerated Skills Acquisition Project (ASAP)- USAID. The new courses will start shortly. This will enable the students and youth in Mahavilachchiya to learn English faster and be prepared for the job market within a very short time at an affordable price.
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eVillage Sri Lanka - Beyond a Telecenter
By Nandasiri Wanninayaka wanni@horizonlanka.org - CEO - Horizon Lanka Foundation, April 29, 2008 06:41 PM
There is a lot of talk of taking ICT to the village level. Luckily, there are quite a few initiatives to do this. Many try to do this through telecenter model initiatives. But in eVillage Sri Lanka project, our approach is quite different.
First we studied the Horizon Lanka’s success model in Mahavilachchiya, our own initiative. Though Horizon Lanka had its own ups and downs, it has been able to sustain itself for the last 10 years or so. The main reason for the sustainability of the project is that its practical approach to the ICT usage in rural areas. Rather than becoming a mere telecenter where internet hours are sold and services like copying CDs, providing telephone calls are offered, Horizon Lanka Academy had long term goals of creating ICT culture in the village and gain a brand name to the whole village, not limiting to the institute itself.
From the very outset I understood that creating ICT culture in a remote village was a too big a task if the children and youth are not given a decent English education. The planning and subsequent execution of the planning paid off well. Today one can find in Mahavilachchiya that the students get A passes for their OL English whereas they get lesser distinctions for their mother tongue. What we did was to integrate technology into English teaching. Internet, email, IM chats, watching DVD movies, doing presentations in conferences, doing live commentaries while sports meets and other events were taken place etc. were warmly welcomed by the students. They found these methods more exciting than the traditional ways of learning a language in public schools. The end result was that English was no more a foreign language to them.
More or less similar strategy was used for ICT education where students could actively participate in real projects rather than learning concepts in theory alone. As a result, today one can find a pool of web designers, graphic designers, multimedia animators, etc. in Mahavilachchiya. Some students entered universities to further their education while some youth directly joined companies in Colombo after Advanced Level to do IT related jobs. Those who wish to remain in the village could join the BPO arm of Horizon Lanka. Growing ICT related infrastructure and increasing number of telephone networks working in Mahavilachchiya were only by products. We did not forget the elderly population as well. Once can find illiterate parents who start learning how to write with MS Paint to the parents who read online local language newspapers before going to ricefields. So there is nothing wrong in calling Mahavilachchiya an ‘eVillage’ now.
We could do all these because we set our goals beyond a telecenter right from the beginning. If we limit ourselves to a mere telecenter, we wouldn’t have achieved this much.
Mahavilachchiya eVillage model is very simple and easy to replicate. This is why the Ministry of Education is replicating the same model with our expertise right now. Visit http://evillage.wordpress.com. There are some other privately owned or community owned small projects in different parts of the country that take Mahavilachchiya as an example.
Through an eVillage, we expect to provide decent English language proficiency, ICT literacy, job opportunities to the community. Though difficult, we try our best to retain the accepted cultural values of the villages while introducing new technology to them.
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OnTime TECHNOLOGIES BPO, MAHAVILACHCHIYA launches its website
By Isuru Senevirathna - COO - OnTime Technologies, April 16, 2008 05:45 PM
OnTime Technologies, Mahavilachchiya launched its website, http://www.ontimetechnologies.net/ on March 15, 2008.
Mr. Kapila Gunawardena from FARO (Foundation for Advancing Rural Opportunities) visited Mahavilachchiya several years ago and observed that students having completed education from Horizon Lanka Academy, need help for their future carrier development.
FARO’s idea was setup a BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) company in Mahavilachchiya. Nirosh Ranathunga and Isuru Seneviratha were selected from the village to communicate with Mr. Gunawardena regarding his new BPO concept. He was very happy about Nirosh and Isuru, and he arranged a meeting for these two youths with Mr. Michael Chertok from Digital Divide Data a BPO company based on Laos, Mr. Chandima Gunawardana and Mr. Sumana Liyanage of FARO. After the meeting FARO decided to send Nirosh and Isuru for BPO training at Digital Divide Date in Vientiane, Laos and Datamation Group in Delhi, India.
Finding funds for the training was difficult for FARO at that time. ICT Agency of Sri Lanka came forward to sponsor for the lodging and traveling costs of Nirosh and Isuru. DDD( Digital Divide Data) BPO company sponsored to cover the whole training costs. Thanks for FARO, ICTA and DDD, Nirosh and Isuru completed a successful training for three months and returned to Sri Lanka with the knowledge they gained to start a BPO company.
FARO continued to form the BPO Company. Attorneys, FJ&G De Sarams helped for doing all of the legal work to incorporate OnTime and advising on its structure. Nirosh and Isuru composed a business plan with the guidance of FARO and a name for the company called “OnTime”. The company registered as OnTime Technologies (Pvt) Ltd. on 20th Of March in 2007 at Corporate Service Limited, 216, De Saram Place, Colombo 10.
Horizon Lanka Foundation agreed to provide computers, their broad band connectivity and office space on monthly rental basis for OnTime. LankaCom ISPs granted virtual private network connection for OnTime Technologies free of charge.
OnTime started operations on 10th of May in 2007 with two operators for their first client, John Keells Holdings. Dialog Telekom also outsourced their back office work for OnTime. It was very helpfully to increase the revenue of OnTime.
FARO always is advising for development of company, and also OnTime thanks again for ICT Agency of Sri Lanka for helping since at the beginning.
OnTime has become to the first BPO Company formed in a rural village in Sri Lanka. Within only about four months, OnTime reached the breakeven of the company. It will open more and more opportunities in the future for the youths in this rural village, Mahavilachchiya.
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Mahavilachchiya eVillage Model Being Replicated Islandwide
By Nandasiri Wanninayaka - CEO - Horizon Lanka, April 03, 2008 04:39 PM
I had been involved in uplifting the lives of the children and youth in Mahavilachchiya for the last 10 years. Though we were able to produce significant positive results by producing scores of ICT skilled and English language competent children and youth only few wanted to replicate the Horizon Lanka model in other villages. Instead of following a living example within Sri Lanka, many were keen on finding role models from other countries while some other counties adapted Horizon Lanka model with our support.
It was at this juncture Mr Lalith Weeratunga, the Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka, visited Mahavilachchiya in November 2006. Having seen the children’s talents and how ICT related infrastructure was booming in Mahavilachchiya he was interested in replicating the Horizon Lanka model around Sri Lanka.
Mr Weeratunga was able to get the Mahavilachchiya eVillage replication project implemented through the Secondary Education Modernization Project (SEMP) of the Ministry of Education with the auspices of the President’s Office. However, going through the Ministry of Education became a hidden blessing as we could directly address the young minds of the school. The younger ones learn fast and they are ready to change fast as well. The project became a success and within the six-month long pilot project with 5 rural villages in 5 provinces and the project was able to achieve a lot. This clearly shows that if the basic infrastructure and the guidance are provided any rural community in the island can perform similar to urban areas or even better. Now we are in the process of expanding the project to 25 more villages.
EWIS’s support in providing fully pledged computer labs to all 5 eVillages will further enhance the potential of ICT related job opportunities for the village youth as it happens in Mahavilachchiya right now. The communities in the villages will be benefited immensely as well. We thank EWIS for being a partner of this nationally important project and invite other corporate sector organizations to follow suit by giving a helping hand to expand the eVillage - Sri Lanka project.
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Radhika Nilupulee Rajapaksha - How I made my dream come true
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By Radhika Nilupulee Rajapaksha - Former Student of Horizon Lanka Foundation, March 19, 2008 05:27 PM
I am Radhika Nilupulee Rajapaksha, who studied at the Horizon Lanka Foundation, Mahavilachchiya, in the first batch until I reached senior student level. I was just 9 years old when I first attended Horizon Lanka. Now, at 19 years of age, I am employed at Microimage (Pvt) Ltd., a Colombo based organization, as a trainee Web Designer.
I felt I had to write the story of how I got such an opportunity at this rather young age.
I learned Web & Graphic design at Horizon Lanka. I learnt about web design when I was in Grade 4, and was very keen to learn more about this. When someone asked me, “Radhika, what would you like to do in the future? What is your ambition?” I would answer, “I want to be a Web Designer. This was one of my greatest dreams. Today my dream has come true. I am truly happy to have reached my goal!
It started first of all when I used to dream about having my own computer. But I got my first PC when I was in Grade 8 through Horizon Lanka. Mr. Harsha Purasingha, the CEO of Microimage where I now work helped me to buy my first PC. I designed my first website on this PC ~ it was a simple one. After visiting my website Mr. Purasingha was very pleased. I learnt many things from my computer and used to work until midnight because I love to work with computers. Mr. Purasingha visited Mahavilachchiya a long time ago as the Chief Guest at the Horizon Lanka’s Prize Giving. I was selected the Best Overall Performer and received my award from Mr. Purasingha.
Then I began to design websites for Horizon Lanka and for some other companies as well. I also designed a map for a local company. Having become aware of these things Mr. Craig Barrett, Chairman of Intel, invited us ~ Ruvini, Iresha and myself ~ to make a presentation. Again I met Mr. Purasingha on the stage at the Intel event. I was very fortunate to receive a brand-new laptop from the Chairman of Intel on this occasion.
Then in order to further increase my knowledge, having sat for my A/L examination, I attended a training program at the Eurocenter DDC in Colombo with the kind assistance of Mr. Mano Sekaram, the CEO. There I learnt about lots of web design tools and obtained a good knowledge of web designing. Having completed the training I re-designed my personal website with what I had learned at Eurocenter. Then I hosted it with the help of my friend and it can be viewed at: http://www.radhikanilupulee.com
Having visited my personal website Mr. Purasingha asked me to present myself at an interview for a Web/Graphic Designer and I was delighted to have been selected! I have been working at Microimage for two weeks now, and am learning new things as well. I never imagined I would one day be working for Mr. Purasingha, when I first met him as a youngster many years ago!
I would like to say ‘Thank you’ to everyone who helped me make my dream come true!
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E-village programme underway in five provinces
By Dharma Sri Abeyratne - Daily Neews Journalist, March 19, 2008 05:29 PM
Source http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/03/15/news22.asp
Dharma Sri Abeyratne
The Secondary Education Modernisation Project (SEMP) of the Ministry of Education along with the President’s Office jointly implemented the e-village programme in five provinces aiming at empowering rural communities by improving ‘Information Technology’ literacy rate, information sharing and creating employment opportunities.
The e-village programme was initiated under the Mahinda Chinthana concept of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and developing e-villages was another fulfillment of the 2008 budget proposals.
The first phase of the project was implemented in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Western, Uva and Southern Province. Under the second stage of the programme, community computer centres are scheduled to be constructed in addition to schools computer learning centres.
Prompted by the success of the programme in Mahavilachchiya, the President has advised the Ministry of Education to initiate the e-village concept in selected rural communities. Accordingly, the SEMP of the Ministry of Education has so far established five projects in five villages.
“On successful completion of these projects, the programme will be further extended within its long-term scope,” Education Ministry sources said.
“The country can easily be developed by educating people regarding modern technology such as information technology related fields which help the development of any country. Apart from that our human resources can be enriched with modern technology which can cater to the demand of employment opportunities,” Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nimal Bandara said.
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AN ENTERPRISING YOUNG MAN
By T B Nandasiri Wanninayaka - CEO, Horizon Lanka Foundation, March 12, 2008 06:41 PM
Kasun Harshalal, a senior student of Horizon Lanka Academy, Mahavilachchiya started a small computer lab on January 15, 2008 with the idea of starting a small business. He had to be satisfied with two old PCs one, a Pentium III and the other a Pentium I. Though many doubted his endeavor, all what Kasun knew was that one PC is enough to make an impact if there is determination and proper planning. After all Horizon Lanka too was started with a used 486 model PC ten years ago. So, why not try with two Pentiums after 10 years?
He rented an old abandoned house in the village for a small fee and started the computer lab. He named the computer center as Lakna.
To everyone’s surprise, within few weeks, more than 60 junior students enrolled to study computers at Lakna. He has just three used PCs now and teaches what he learnt from Horizon Lanka to the students in Tract 4 area of Mahavilachchiya. He started with Microsoft Windows Operating System and now teaching Microsoft Office. Soon he will teach other areas such as graphic and web designing as well.
Children come to Lakna Computer Center after school. Parents are happy that the children get a decent IT education for an affordable price. The students who learn the basics at Kasun’s computer center can join Horizon Lanka Academy to follow standard courses. This eases Horizon Lanka’s burdens of spending time on the basics.
Apart from IT teaching, Harsha also does some CD sales, typesetting, providing MP3 songs, images and wallpapers for mobile phones.
Kasun does not have a video camera or a still camera. But this man who does not know the word NO, used a Sony Ericsson K510i model mobile phone and got stills of a kid’s birthday party and made a movie with Windows MovieMaker software and charged a whopping 1,500 LKR (14USD) from the client. The client, the child’s parents were very happy about the quality of the movie and paid the fee without bargaining. (We will later upload the movie file to the site if the parents agree to show Kasun’s talents.)
Kasun needs few more PCs, a laser printer, a color printer, a video and still camera to introduce new services to the community. He also needs a network hub and some networking cables as well. He welcomes even used equipment. Horizon Lanka gave him a broken scanner which but Kasun has repaired it and now it works. Kasun also received some used computer parts and monitors from EuroCenter DDC, Colombo and now in the process of repairing them.
You are welcome to help this enterprising young man by giving him a helping hand. If he has a LankaBell CDMA phone, he can have access to the Internet and do more service to the students. He says there is potential even to start a cybercafé for the villagers when the computer classes are not held.
Horizon Lanka wants to see more enterprising youth to develop the village. It is these youth who will take the lead from us from now on. info@horizonlanka.org
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ARUNI AND DULEEKA COMPLETE TRAINING AT MAS HOLDINGS
By Nandasiri Wanninayaka - CEO - Horizon Lanka Foundation, March 06, 2008 05:31 PM
Aruni Pradeepika Karunarathna and Duleeka Dilhani Edirisingha of Horizon Lanka successfully completed a three-month long training in the Human Resources Department of Slimline Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of MAS Holdings. The two girls were given exposure on corporate culture as well. They were extremely happy about the training they got and they have been changed from shy village girls to confident career women. Horizon Lanka thanks Mr Dian Gomes, the CEO of MAS Intimates and the staff of Slimline for giving this valuable opportunity for the two girls.
Both girls left Slimline and reached Mahavilachchiya today and both of them are confident in pursuing their higher studies while working for Horizon Lanka’s success from Mahavilachchiya.
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Village BPO serving blue-chips
By Nandasiri Wanninayaka - CEO - Horizon Lanka Foundation, March 03, 2008 05:32 PM
This article appeared in The Sunday Leader on March 02, 2008 http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20080302/BUSINESS.HTM
A village based business process outsourcing (BPO) service that handles part of the backoffice operations of Sri Lanka's largest diversified company, has also been contracted by the country's biggest telecoms operator, whilst having talks to provide similar services to Sri Lanka's largest white goods supplier.
This BPO operation located at Mahawillachchiya, Anuradhapura, that processes data of suppliers' to John Keells supermarket chain (a process that began some months ago) has now been employed by Dialog Telekom to process some of their market research data, Dilip Jayawickrama, Projects Director, Foundation for Advancing Rural Opportunity in Sri Lanka (FARO), an NGO, told The Sunday Leader.
FARO, which was among seven NGOs to receive World Bank grants of Rs. five million each through the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) on Wednesday to develop ICT opportunities to the rural and disadvantaged people, provides support to this BPO operation in Mahavillachchiya.
The village youth involved in this project, some eight of them, had their basics right, that is having a working knowledge of English and in the use of computers, due to the work of another NGO, Horizon, said Jayaweera.
"This made it possible for our entry, such a foundation has to be first laid before we can move in," he added. Jayaweera said that outsourcing of this work by Keells has helped them to cut costs, with eight of their staff who were involved in this work earlier, being relocated to other departments.
He alleged that Dialog which hit the top in a short span of under 15 years, with most, if not all of their work done inhouse, were somewhat cautious in outsourcing their work, though a start has been made, with some of their market research data being now handled at Mahavillachchiya.
In the case of Singer, talks have been initiated, with no business deals having been yet procured, he said. Jayaweera further said that he wants to start a similar BPO unit in Seenigama, a village which was devastated in the recent tsunami.
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HORIZON LANKA - CYBERSKILLS ICT CAMPUS STARTS
By Nandasiri Wanninayaka - CEO - Horizon Lanka Foundation, February 04, 2008 05:43 PM
Horizon Lanka Academy of Mahavilachchiya joined hands with MMBL CyberSkills Pvt. Ltd., the Sri Lankan and the Maldivian franchisee of NIIT, India on February 03, 2008. This new partnership will enable the students and the youth in and around Mahavilachchiya to study ICT (and English) from the nursery level up to the Bachelors and Masters Degree from Mahavilachchiya. The youth from Mahavilachchiya will have the opportunity of studying at NIIT-affiliated 12 leading universities in Australia, UK, USA, Canada and New Zealand in time to come.
The launch of the new program took place at Horizon Lanka with a simple ceremony. Reverend Maraka Suseela Thero performed religious rites. Mr. J. W. S. Kithsiri, The Divisional Secretary of Mahavilachchiya DS Division, Mr Nandasiri Wanninayaka, the CEO of Horizon Lanka Foundation, Mr. Chamila Algewatta, the Manager, CyberSkills Pvt. Ltd, Anuradhapura, Mr. Chatura Thilanga Vijekoon, the Manager of CyberSkills Horizon Lanka Campus, Mahavilachchiya, Mr. H. A. Wickramasinghe, the Principal, Ashoka Mala Public School, Kadurupitiya, Mr. H. Jayathunga, the Principal of Thakshila Public School, Mahavilachchiya graced the occasion. Miss Anusha Priyadarshani and Miss Krishanthi Priyadarshani compeered the event while Nipuna Roshan Wiskramasuriya delivered the vote of thanks.
Students and the parents were present at the event and 15 students and youth were registered for the new courses on the first day alone. Others can register themselves till the 15th of February for the first batch and the courses will be commenced on the 16th of February.
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HORIZON LANKA TIES UP WITH CYBERSKILLS LTD.
By Nandasiri Wanninayaka - CEO - Horizon Lanka Foundation, February 04, 2008 05:44 PM
Horizon Lanka Academy in Mahavilachchiya will be tying up with a renowned ICT education institute - MMBL CyberSkills Pvt. Ltd. to enhance its ICT Educational Plan. According to the plan both Horizon Lanka and this new entity will be geared to train more students in the village and the suburbs. The courses will be offered on a reasonable fee and the students will be awarded internationally recognized NIIT certificates after completion of the courses.
CyberSkills Pvt. Ltd is a franchise of NIIT, India which was founded in 1981, with the mission of “Bringing People and Computers Together
Successfully.” NIIT, Asia’s No. 1 trainer and leading Global Talent Development Corporation, offers learning and knowledge solutions to 5 million students across 44 countries. The NIIT Group is also positioned strongly in the software and services space through NIIT Technologies.
The company has the Master Franchise in Sri Lanka and Maldives for the education & training business of NIIT Limited, India. Since the takeover of the NIIT franchise in June 2000, NIIT’s courses and training programs are now delivered through 11 branches in Sri Lanka including the North and East of the country. At present CyberSkills have over 1,600 students enrolled in various IT courses offered by NIIT, majority of them in the Diploma Programs.
The NIIT Academy and the Higher Education Wing of NIIT, have forged academic alliances with well-known global universities to provide access to university degrees through "admission with advance standing" for students of NIIT Career programs.
NIIT has affiliations with 12 leading universities in Australia, UK, USA, Canada and New Zealand. NIIT students can use this opportunity to follow Bachelors and Masters Degree programs of Information Technology in reputed overseas universities. These universities offer exemptions ranging from 1 to 2 years of studies to students who have completed 2-years of studies at NIIT, making an overseas degree much more affordable.
The youth who graduate from Horizon Lanka Academy will be either taken into OnTime BPO or will be sent for ICT related jobs in other parts of the country. There is a huge demand for the youth from Mahavilachchiya and the rest of the country for ICT related jobs and we hope to make use of these opportunities for the betterment of those youth in and around Mahavilachchiya.
The Horizon Lanka Foundation was established in 1998 because of the determination of a group of children from the rural village of Mahavilachchiya. Their thirst for knowledge and educational advancement led them to the door of Mr. Nandasiri Wanninayaka (now CEO of HL Foundation), their former English teacher in the public school. Thus began an after school club providing children further education in English and computers. It has become a popular place for many children of the village. Since 1998, the Horizon Lanka Foundation has branched out. As well as providing an all round education to the village children at Horizon Lanka Academy , they have expanded into the Information Age and now service the entire community with their computer lab, which has 24h Internet access. In 2001, the website www.horizonlanka.org was launched by the children of Horizon Lanka Academy, opening a window to the world.
In year 2006 Horizon Lanka foundation was shifted to a new place in the village. The land and the building was donated by Mrs. Lovina Charles of the United Kingdom.
In November 2006, Horizon Lanka Foundation was able to secure a grant from UNDP to build Sri Lanka’s first mesh internet network connecting 28 students’ houses and 2 public schools with Internet. This project also enabled to create 7 Wi-Fi zones in Mahavilachchiya. With all these new technology coming to the village Horizon Lanka was also able to start its own Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) venture called OnTime Technologies in May 2007.
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Our experiences in Mahavilachchiya
By Lindy Deroo - A volunteer from Belgium, January 28, 2008 05:59 PM
Andytje Millimon, Lien and Lindy Deroo from Belgium visited Horizon Lanka in December 2005 and worked at Horizon for a month. See the tour report on their experiences while they were in Horizon Lanka.
Before I tell you about Horizon Lanka and our experiences as volunteers there, we want to introduce us.
We are Lindy, Andy and Lien, 3 young people from Belgium. We just finished with school. Lien and Andy are nurses and I am a social educator. Before we wanted to look for a job, we decided to travel for 4 months in the Asian countries of Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. But because we wanted to make a combination between holidays and pick up experiences, we choose to do volunteer work in some of the countries. In India we worked in the Mother Theresa temples, we helped the sisters to take care of the sick people and people with disabilities. With help of our travel agency we found the Horizon Lanka Academy.
Because it was very busy before we left, we had less information about the work that we have to do there. But we knew that we were to be welcomed there and that a family was waiting for us. So that was enough to get our backpack and go for the adventure.
After a long drive with the car, we arrived in a little village called Mahavilachchiya. We stopped in the school Horizon Lanka. Our first impression was: where are we now? We had the feeling that we were dropped in the middle of nowhere. We saw the little huts with tables and chairs. No classrooms? But when we walked into the little building, we were amazed. It was a room with computers with connection to the Internet. And the amazement didn’t stop. The next day they brought a TV with a DVD player donated by some sponsor. Everything that the school has is bought with money from donations. What a good initiative?
When we heard the working of the school, we were very surprised. Horizon Lanka is a private initiative that organizes lessons on Saturdays for children of the village. The children come on their own initiative to school. What a difference than Belgium? In Horizon Lanka, they teach several subjects for example: mathematics, sports, English, computers, etc. The other days the school is open for adult students who want to use the computers and the internet.
The first day we were confused about their work. But in the meanwhile we had the time to learn the habits of the family and the Sri Lankan people. We met the students. Day by day it was made clear what they expected about us; be yourself and use your talents for teaching the children.
In the beginning we were insecure because we were not teachers, but we noticed that it’s not necessary to have experience, to teach the children. Just speaking English and talking to them is teaching. They learn so much out of a conversation. The children really want to learn and take every chance they get.
So, during the week we talked and chatted with the students, we played cricket and badminton with them, help them with their homework.
On Saturday we helped the teachers conduct lessons. To the smallest children we taught how to say their names, ask others’ names and read the clock in English. We talk about sports with them. For teaching them you can use your creativity. An example we used: we drew something on the blackboard and the children had to guess what it was and write the correct name on the blackboard. So they played and learnt at the same time. And with the older students we talked about different countries and famous places in the world to teach them geography. We give a PowerPoint presentation to the students about the important places we visited in Nepal, India and Indonesia. So, the students learnt about the culture in other countries.
We had also a very good contact with the teachers. They were very interested in the education system in Belgium. And they explained us the system and the way of working in Sri Lanka. The teachers are very open minded and want to learn things from us. But we also learned a lot of them. If we had questions about teaching the students they helped us as much as possible.
It depends what your talents and interests are and you can choose which subject you teach. You’re never forced to do something you don’t want. The staff of Horizon Lanka also has a great philosophy about volunteer work. They want to make a combination between work and pleasure. So they organize trips to the city Anuradhapura to visit the famous places like Sri Maha Boddhi, Mihinthale, and Thantirimale. So, there is a good balance between work and pleasure.
From the first moment we were there, we had a nice time and a good feeling. The families were we stayed with were so friendly. They gave us a homely feeling. They made great food for us, taught lots of things to us. Now we can speak basic Sinhala, we learned the habits of their lives: For example, eating with our hands. In Belgium we eat with knife and fork. So, the first days we were very clumsy. But some days later we become very good at it. We went with them to the temple on a Poyaday; a very important Buddhist day. This gave us a chance to learn about their religion. We have the feeling like we have a second mom and dad and also lots of brothers and sisters.
Everybody was working so hard to give us a great time. It is certainly an experience we never forget. And if we have the chance we want to get this experience again. And as we already knew it was very difficult to say goodbye to our new family and friends. We hope that we can keep contact with the people here with email, because now we have lots of friends there.
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EXPANSION OF HORIZON LANKA'S ICT EDUCATION
By Nandasiri Wanninayaka - CEO, Horizon Lanka, January 24, 2008 02:31 PM
Horizon Lanka Foundation is happy to announce that it will tie up with a reputed ICT institute of Sri Lanka which is a franchise of an international institute from the academic year 2008. From February, the ICT academic activities will be taken over by this new entity and standard ICT courses will be offered to the students in Mahavilachchiya and the suburbs on an affordable fee. Those who find it difficult to pay the fees will be given scholarships through Global Giving scholarships program. You can help students in Mahavilachchiya to get a quality ICT education by contributing to this fund.
The proposed company offers many other areas of training such as BPO, English Language, Soft Skills, Business Administration etc. The company is also the licensee in Sri Lanka for Australasian Education & Training Services (AETS) and the Australian Center for Languages (ACL) through which a wide range of internationally accredited training products are offered.
Await more details on this new venture in our website soon. There is a big demand for the Mahavilachchiya youth in the job market since the students have shown outstanding talents in ICT, English and presentation skills so far. With the advent of the new partnership, the village students and youth will get a wide range of options to follow while in the village. We will start with a pilot in early February and then go for the expansions.
According to the agreement, the profits of the new venture will be shared on a 50-50 basis with the proposed company and Horizon Lanka Foundation so that both parties will benefit and Horizon Lanka Foundation will be able to gain self sustainability while producing more youth to the job market from Mahavilachchiya.
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A BRAND NEW LAPTOP FOR RANUKA
By Nandasiri Wanninayaka - CEO, Horizon Lanka, January 17, 2008 08:54 PM
Dr. Ing. E. Leuthold from Switzerland contacted Horizon Lanka Foundation through email last April and informed us that he is willing to provide a brand new laptop for one of our students. Horizon staff selected Tharanga Sampath, a brilliant student at Horizon Lanka Academy. We thank Dr. Ing. E. Leuthold a lot for this generous donation. Dr. Ing. E. Leuthold promised to send two more laptops for the next two best students at Horizon Lanka Academy.
Ranuka Udayanga was the second student to get a brand new laptop from Dr. Ing. E. Leuthold. Read the testimonial Mr Ranjith Pushpakumara, the Head Master of Horizon Lanka Academy wrote about Ranuka.
“Ranuka Udayanga has been known to me for three years by now and I can beyond doubt recommend that he is the most creative boy student I have found of the HLA. When ever I wanted something done I just wanted to give him the rough idea to get from him the exact output I always predicted. The flash presentations he created for the farewells of the GVI volunteers were clear testimonials for his talents. I sincerely believe that whatever resources spent on him will undoubtedly prove that a genius for the future is created. A teacher who happens to teach him and parents who happen to nurture a child like him will be extremely lucky.”
Ranjith Pushpakumara, Head Master, HLA
See Ranuka's excitement below after getting the laptop.....
“I was a Digital Butterfly before 13th of October and on the 13th October I became a Digital Ambassador. Do you know who a Digital Butterfly is? At Horizon Lanka we call DB to the students who get a desktop computer trough DB project. After getting laptop they become DA’s.
It was a very happy day for me. I was hoping for a laptop for so many years. Fortunately my hope became true. One of my favorite hobbies is blogging. I write stories about my studies, news, add articles about new discoveries, etc. to my blog. Many people are visiting it. I think my blog is interesting in the internet. Dr. Leuthold is a kind person who gives a helping hand to the people who need help. He donated a laptop to a clever student at HLF earlier. His help for me was a brand new Acer laptop computer. It was the happiest day of my life. It has 80 GB hard disk and 1 GB RAM. It is very useful for me to do my work. Now I’m developing a website for Laksaviya Foundation with the help of this laptop. I like to thank Dr. Leuthold for his kind help. I hope to do the maximum work with laptop.
Lak Saviya Foundation was involved in coordinating with the donor in Switzerland - Dr. Ing. E. Leuthold - and Horizon Lanka for the purchase and delivery of the laptop computers. Lak Saviya managed to liaise with the donor and the recipient (through Horizon Lanka) for selecting appropriate Acer laptops from Colombo that fits within the budget of the donor and suitable for the end users two Digital Ambassadors in Mahavilachchiya village. We thank Lak Saviya for their generous assistance to us in this regard.
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Chamila becomes a language teacher in Mahavilachchiya
By Chamila Edirisinghe - A former student at Horizon Lanka, January 15, 2008 05:47 PM
I was born in Mahavilachchiya, a remote village about 40 km away from Anuradhapura cit |
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