SRI LANKAN GOVERNOR MEETS BRITISH STUDENT DELEGATION

The Governor of the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, Hon. Kingsley Wickramaratne met a British Student delegation at the Sri Lanka High Commission during his recent visit to London. Kingsley Wickramaratne was impressed by the genuine concern for the tsunami victims of these students from Davenant Foundation School. The students have formed a high level UK student forum called Davenant International in order to look at global issues including the tsunami. Her Majesty the Queen and the British Prime Minister were among those who had wished the launch of Davenant International every success.

The school hopes to be more involved with a project in Sri Lanka.The students asked the Governor of the Southern Province many searching questions about the tsunami and about the education of the children who were affected by the tsunami. Kingsley Wickramaratne wished them well and said he was delighted to meet with British students from Davenant Foundation School who genuinely cared for the tsunami victims - the students had raised £4,000 for the tsunami appeal of the Disaster Emergency Committee. The students were also invited to a reception held by the Sri Lankan Cavaliers of Great Britain.

'We were honoured to meet Governor Kingsley Wickramaratne, it was our first visit to see an international statesman of his calibre. He gave us first hand information about the rebuilding of the tsunami devastated areas, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Sri Lanka as we mark one year when the tsunami hit that beautiful island,' said Dominic Conway, President of Davenant International.

Earlier the Governor of the Southern Province speaking to the world's media said - that the tsunami destroyed about 80,000 houses in the island nation of 19 million people, leaving 800,000 people homeless."We were shocked," said Kingsley Wickramaratne in London to attend the Sri Lankan Cavaliers tsunami fund-raising dinner at Lords. "We did not know the word tsunami before that," told the world's media at a press conference in London. Nearly 38,000 Sri Lankans were killed by the giant waves, triggered by a powerful earthquake off the west coast of Indonesia's Aceh province on 26th December 2004.

The Governor was the Chief Guest at at a Sri Lankan Cavaliers Tsunami Dinner held at Lords Cricket Grounds in London. The dinner was held in conjunction with the Maryleborne Cricket Club(MCC). The Governor spoke about human compassion and how people all over the world reached out to Sri Lankans in their hour of need when the tsunami swept over parts of the island on 26th December 2004. The Sri Lankan Cavaliers Tsunamiu dinner organised by Lakhi Liyanage was a huge success and raised funds for a Sri Lankan Cavaliers Cricket Village in the Southern Province. The Cavaliers hope to build not only houses but a cricket pitch and a Cavaliers Cricket Museum. It is destined to be a place where tourists would go to.

The Governor also met one of Sri Lanka's greatest singer/songwriters, Nimal Mendis who launched a special CD in aid of the Sri Lankan Cavaliers of Great Britain. The CD 'Sri Lankan Cavaliers score for the Tsunami Victims' was presented to Kingsley Wickramaratne by Nimal Mendis at the Tsunami Dinner at Lords.