My trip to Nanuoya

On August 28th, I went to Nuwara Eliya. We got up at 6 p.m. We got the bus to Peradeniya Railway Station. The Colombo – Nanuoya train arrived. We went to the third platform. Our seats were 6,7,8.
I was so excited.

The train came to the third platform. It was the second carriage we were going in. The train’s colours were orange and red. I loved the comfortable seats. We stopped at Ulapane, Nawalapitiya, Hatton, Talawakelle and Nanuoya. I loved my trip to Nanuoya. I wish to go on another trip to Nanuoya.

The lonely bird

By Nuwanthi Piumika, Girls’ College, Dankotuwa

For me alone…
No any relief,
No chance to play,
With my friends…
I am not allowed to fly away,
In search of food,
Like others…

I am happy at the sight,
Of mischievous children,
Playing around me,
But I have no chance,
To play with them.
It is so hard to tolerate,
The pain for a bird,
Like me, who
Dominated the sky,
Gaily.

The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage

By Kumudie Jayawardhana (Grade 6) Sri Gnanodaya C.C., Wariyapola

The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is in the Kegalle district. The road that leads to the orphanage is about two kilometres from Kegalle town, on the Kandy Road. It was started in 1975. There are baby and adult elephants in the orphanage.

They are all rescued elephants. Every morning the elephants walk in a line to the Maha Oya for bathing, like school children going for the morning assembly. They love to be in the water for a long time. They look like rocks when they lie in the water. The mahouts scrub, brush and rub their bodies with coconut husks.

The playful little ones spray and splash water on each other. The baby elephants below one year are the infants. Those between one year and five years are calves. The male adults are bulls and the female adults are cows.

An infant drinks five litres of milk at a time. They are bottle fed five times a day. The adults eat fodder, coconut leaves, jak leaves and kitul trunks. You can spend hours and hours watching them.

My tour abroad

By Imansa Mahathanthila (Grade 2), Kalutara B.N.S.

During the August holidays my parents decided to go on a trip to Malaysia and Singapore. On August 21st, we arrived at Singapore airport. We stayed in a hotel. We visited the Merlion Park, the world’s largest water fountain wheel and the Singapore Botanical Gardens.

Next day we went to Kuala Lumpur. Here we had a chance to cross the Petronas Twin Tower Bridge. There were lots of shopping malls with clothes, footwear etc. My parents bought me slippers, shoes, a pencil box and lots of things. I bought some toffees for my schoolmates.

We came back to Sri Lanka on August 27th. I enjoyed my trip.

My pet

By Dilini Dimanthika (6 years), C.I.S., Kandy

My pet helps us. My pet is barking at night. My pet can run fast. We give him pet food to eat. Then he needs water to drink. Then he needs to play with me. Then he needs to rest. Then he feels sleepy. You know who it is? It is a dog.

Polonnaruwa

By V. Bruntha (Grade 8) Kithulmulla T.V., Galaha

Polonnaruwa is an ancient capital of Sri Lanka. It was called many names. They are Vijithapura, Pulasthi Town, Pasara Town and Vijaya Rajapura.

The most famous king in Polonnaruwa was Parakramabahu the Great. He ruled Sri Lanka from 1153 – 1186. His mother was Rathnawali. His father was Manabarana. He was the king who built the Parakrama Samudra.

In his period, rice was exported to foreign countries. Many queens too ruled Polonnaruwa. They were Leelawathi, Kalyanawathi, Sugaladevi and Mitha. Polonnaruwa is a heritage of Sri Lanka.

The food we eat

By Nimmi Madhuwanthi (14 years), Sewamuktha Kandaura N.M.V., Polonnaruwa

Rice is our staple food. With it we eat fruits, vegetables, meat and green leaves as our food. They give us nutrients. There are five nutrients. They are carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, fat and mineral salts.

Carbohydrates provide us energy. Rice, wheat, yams and potatoes give us carbohydrates. Protein helps us to grow. Protein is contained in meat, fish, milk and eggs.

My favourite toy

By Shiny Thilakawansa (Grade 2) Sussex College, Gampaha

My favourite toy is a doll. My doll’s name is Pinky. Pinky wears a beautiful pink frock. Pinky has long hair. My father bought Pinky for my birthday. Pinky has a pink bow on her head. My mother knitted a hat for Pinky. Pinky sleeps with me. Pinky always plays with me. I love her very much.

My Umma

By Zaid Najmudeen (6 years), Learnium Int. School

I love my Umma. She hugs me. We play games. We watch movies. We read dinosaur books together. She kisses me all the time. We make sausage buns. We love each other very much.

Trees

By Oshadha Balasuriya (Grade 4), D. S. Senanayake College, Colombo

Trees are very useful to us. They give us shade. They give us fruits and flowers. They give us
medicine. They give us wood to build our houses and furniture. They beautify the nature. They purify the air. They help us to get rain. We must not cut down trees. If we cut down trees, the world will be a desert. So, we must grow more and more trees.

A school trip

By Mariah Imtiaz (8 years), Bishop’s College

I went to Pinnawala with my teachers and classmates in June. Pinnawala is an elephant orphanage started in 1975. We saw many elephants there. The elephants walked in a line to the Maha Oya to bathe. They looked like rocks in the water when they were bathing. The playful little ones sprayed and splashed water on each other.

Tourists and visitors were watching and taking photos. We saw many baby elephants drinking milk from feeding bottles. Some elephants were taken for long walks by the mahouts. It was sad to see an elephant limping and one blind elephant. We left Pinnawala with happy memories.

My little brother

By Abdul Wahid (Primary 3) Stafford Int., School

My little brother is Abdur Rahman. He is 2 ½ years old. Abdur Rahman is a naughty little boy, who loves to play with balls, and always shouts, “This is mine!”

He likes to do everything that I do. He likes to play with me, but sometimes he fights with me too. I like it so much when my little brother comes running behind me shouting “Naana, Naana (elder brother) come to play.” Even if he fights with me, I know that Abdur Rahman loves me a lot and I also love my little brother so much. I will not forget to thank Allah for making Abdur Rahman my little brother.

World Children’s Day

By Shavini De Silva, Alethea International School

Sounds of laughter
Scattering everywhere
With a simple sprinkle of joy
Makes the others wonder

“What’s the big commotion?”
Well there’s no need to worry
Listen for a while and ponder
They seem to head a different way

So make a change and hurry
Listen to what they mean and say
For its World Children’s Day

Our country

By Neshali Samarasena (11 years), Holy Family Convent, Colombo 4

I am very proud to be a citizen in my island Sri Lanka. Our country is a paradise on earth. There are lakes, rivers, mountains and green vegetation. The flora and fauna give a beauty to our island.

Our country is surrounded by the Indian Ocean. It is called the ‘Pearl of the Indian Ocean.’ Our longest river is the Mahaweli and the highest mountain is Piduruthalagala.

Oh my hobby!

By Enoch Sam (13 years), S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia

I am Enoch Sam, a student of St. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia. My hobby is stamp collecting. It is also known as Philately. We have a Philatelic Club in College. About two years back, one of my exhibits was placed third in an exhibition held by the club.

Stamp collecting is called the ‘king of hobbies and the hobby of kings.’ Now I feel so sad to see
the faces of the kings disappearing from the face of stamps and stamps slowly decreasing from our collections.

In July 2003, the Postal Department issued a Rs.16.50 stamp to encourage youth to collect stamps and they often put out stamps with folk tales to attract children. But now modern technology is ruining our noble hobby. We used to get letters from my aunt or cousin in England with lots of stamps pasted on the envelope.

Now we just get a letter machine printed with the postal value. Now in Sri Lanka too, this is very common. My Dadda and Grandpa used to get stamped registered letters from banks or firms. Now they too are machine printed.

On top of all this, my friends who used to write now have bought mobile phones. They now give me calls and my Dadda now gets emails from England.

I feel so sorry that the coming generation will have to refer to the encyclopaedia to know about postage stamps and the hobby called Philately, as we now have to refer the encyclopaedia to learn about dinosaurs.