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To
Lanka with love from Lulu She clapped
with the children who came from the streets, were deaf and without
limbs, danced in circles with them, sang along and tried to talk
to them in Sinhala. The kids were brought there by Hope's Colombo
office. For Lulu, the
Scottish singer who has had a string of hits since the memorable
days of the To Sir with Love movie where she appeared as a schoolgirl
who developed a crush on her teacher (Sidney Poitier), working with
children now comes naturally. Her work at Hope for the past 18 months
is not the first time she has supported humanitarian causes. Since 1990,
Lulu has visited India many times, performing charity concerts for
PRASAD, an Indian organisation which helps to build mobile hospitals
for the needy. "I do what I can through performances and other
work for this charity. We (PRASAD) are now building a general hospital
in Mumbai," she added. Lulu says many
musicians and celebrities are devoting their time and efforts to
help in humanitarian causes across the world. "I joined HOPE
to help raise their profile and attract funding for the organisation.
I have been blessed (by being able to sing successfully) and want
to share it with others," she said, adding that HOPE does a
lot of work in areas untouched by other bigger, NGOs. The musical
side of Lulu has also seen a lot of success. Last year, she released
an album titled Lulu Together, in which she performs duets with
the likes of Elton John, Paul McCartney, Sting, Cliff Richard, Joe
Cocker and younger musicians like Ronan Keating, Westlife and Atomic
Kitten. The album made it to the British top 10. Peace 52 -
the concert organised by Youth Core for Peace got off to a flying
start last Saturday with four of the best rock bands in Sri Lanka
performing to a capacity crowd of 500 people at the Vihara Maha
Devi Park. The concert
opened with a special presentation aimed at creating awareness among
the youth about the on-going peace process. Peace messages were
played throughout the concert. There was also
a spectacular fireworks display after which Independent Square,
Cold Fusion, Stigmata and Kreb's Cycle performed for a bunch of
head-banging teenagers. Said Gajan
Selvarajah, "We are among privileged students who enjoy excellent
facilities in our schools and we founded Youth Core for Peace recognising
that there are a large number of students in the conflict-affected
areas who are denied even basic facilities at school." Tasha Marikkar
of Youth Core for Peace said, "The most significant thing about
studying at an international school is that although we belong to
different races, we all grew up not knowing ethnic differences and
therefore accepted our fellow students as one." Youth Core
for Peace was founded by a group of teenagers between the ages of
16 to 18 who got together to help foster a spirit of peace and understanding
among ethnic communities. The group itself is a fine example of
ethnic harmony. Its members belong to different ethnic communities
in the country. Members of
the Youth Core for Peace said they were very thankful to their main
sponsor Coca-Cola and their co-sponsors SriLankan Airlines, ETV,
E-FM and Maruthi Steel Company. They said, "It was not easy
getting sponsors for this show and we are very grateful to all our
sponsors for giving us the boost we needed." The proceeds
of the concert went towards supplying desks, chairs, laboratory
equipment and sports supplies to schools in the north. |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
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The singer,
best known here for her song To Sir with Love in the 1970s movie
bearing the same name where she acted with Sidney Poitier, made
a four-day visit to the island in her capacity as patron of the
British charity, Hope for Children.
