This weekend, you would have been forgiven for thinking that all roads had suddenly changed course and led directly to Galle.People came in cars and vans, by train and bus; literally hundreds converged on the sleepy little seaside town, determined to participate in what may already have become established as the event of the new year - the Galle Literary Festival 2008.
Committed and forgotten.
This is the plight of the nearly 200 male and female remandees who have been sent to the Angoda Mental Hospital from courts across the country. Many of them have been here long-term and The Sunday Times learns that there is a seven-year-old too who was sent in recently.How have they fallen into a state of limbo?
Home to picturesque tea gardens, magnificent waterfalls, and hard working people, the hill country seems like paradise to many. Yet the harsh reality is that life in the hill country is not easy. The same terrain that delights the eye also presents formidable obstacles to social and economic development. Public health, education, transportation, and employment opportunities are all limited by the rugged terrain.
This is the Sri Pada season. In the old days, many would recall seeing thousands of butterflies swarm the skies, making amber clouds, all moving in one direction. It is believed they would fly toward the holy mountain of Sri Pada as this mass movement coincides with the pilgrimage season. But there are fewer swarms of butterflies today, especially from urbanized areas mainly due to habitat destruction.
This weekend, you would have been forgiven for thinking that all roads had suddenly changed course and led directly to Galle.People came in cars and vans, by train and bus; literally hundreds converged on the sleepy little seaside town, determined to participate in what may already have become established as the event of the new year - the Galle Literary Festival 2008.
Committed and forgotten.
This is the plight of the nearly 200 male and female remandees who have been sent to the Angoda Mental Hospital from courts across the country. Many of them have been here long-term and The Sunday Times learns that there is a seven-year-old too who was sent in recently.How have they fallen into a state of limbo? 
Home to picturesque tea gardens, magnificent waterfalls, and hard working people, the hill country seems like paradise to many. Yet the harsh reality is that life in the hill country is not easy. The same terrain that delights the eye also presents formidable obstacles to social and economic development. Public health, education, transportation, and employment opportunities are all limited by the rugged terrain. 
This is the Sri Pada season. In the old days, many would recall seeing thousands of butterflies swarm the skies, making amber clouds, all moving in one direction. It is believed they would fly toward the holy mountain of Sri Pada as this mass movement coincides with the pilgrimage season. But there are fewer swarms of butterflies today, especially from urbanized areas mainly due to habitat destruction. 