LITERACY MONTH “Literacy is the basic currency of the knowledge economy” – Barack Obama Every September we celebrate Literacy Month to appreciate all the perquisites it gives us. National Literacy Month was founded in 1966 by The United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization [UNESCO]. At the same time, they had a proclamation to remind the public of the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights. National Literacy Month encourages everyone to take ownership of the dilating illiteracy issues that our communities are combating and promote the interest and awareness of literacy. Many attempts to minimize illiteracy have been made since the first Literacy Month celebration. Yet, there are still illiterate people, about 750 million adults can't read as recent research revealed. This condition is found everywhere in the world despite the country and culture they belong to.
▪ Visiting your local library with your family ▪ Participating in a book club ▪ Donating books are some activities you can engage in the Literacy Month. Let’s make sure that we celebrate this month by working productively! Literacy is the bridge from misery to hope…. Senuki Dinethra President, Media Unit As students, it is important to have an interest in reading as it proves very effective in instilling stronger self-discipline, better concentration, and up-to-par memory retention.
LITERACY FOR A WORLD IN TRANSITION The United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization[UNESCO] has proclaimed 8th September as the World Literacy Day. A person could successfully communicate through written language is considered to be well literated. This typically includes reading and writing. Annual celebrations taking place around the world remind us all “the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights, and to advance the literacy agenda towards a more literate and sustainable society.” [UNESCO] International Literacy Day 2023 highlight literacy “for a word in transition: Building the foundation of sustainable and peaceful societies”. The literacy level and the economic development of a country goes hand in hand. How can you as students be a part of International Literacy Day and contribute to national goals of life long education and sustainability. Collect books which you already have read and donate them to libraries or unprivileged communities. You can help a friend in need to improve their reading skills. Be a member of the nearest library or the school library and indulge yourselves with interesting books. Begin a reading club within your classmates. Let’s make the world a beautiful place by 2023 by alleviating poverty and establishing peace among societies. Ms. Dilini Fernando
BOOK REVIEW THE STORY OF MY LIFE - BY HELLEN KELLER Hellen Keller probably needs no introduction. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of arts degree. She was a great writer and indeed a brave person. "The Story of My Life" is the autobiography of the young Hellen Keller. She wrote this when she was 22 years old and a student at the all-female college Radcliffe. This book unveils the inspirational and eye-opening journey of Hellen. Hellen was often insecure about her. She was desperate to communicate with people, but she feared that no one would understand her. So, she was surrounded by books. Books were the source for her to experience what others did by sight and hearing. She self-taught herself different languages too. One day her teacher taught her about love and then she started writing to her loved ones opening her heart. “You cannot touch clouds, you know, but you feel the rain and know how the flowers and the thirsty earth are to have it after a hot day. You cannot touch love either, but you feel the sweetness that it pours into everything. Without love, you wouldn't be happy or want to play." These were the teacher's words. As she became older she got herself involved in campaigns for labor rights, women's rights, and other social causes. In 1964, she was awarded the Presidential Medal for Freedom. The most important lesson to apply from this book to our life is that “we must not think about our failures today, but about the success that may come tomorrow”. This book is motivational and I loved reading it and I suggest everyone try this book. ‘Keller’s life is neither a miracle nor a joke, it’s pure inspiration.’ Sanoli Sasmitha Grade- 11
All ABOUT EGYPT ∙ Egyptians worshipped gods since ancient times. God Ra was their sun god and he was in charge of heaven. ∙ In the past pharaohs ruled Egypt and they built pyramids to keep the dead bodies of the royals. ∙ When kings and queens died they were mummified before burying them in pyramids. ∙ They kept almost everything they used in life, including plates, chairs, jewelry, and even pets in the pyramids as they believed in an afterlife. ∙ King Tutankhamun’s mummification is famous and it is lying in a nest of golden coffins, surrounded by more than 5000 precious grave goods. ∙ Cleopatra was the last Pharaoh in Egypt and was a beautiful woman. She spoke several languages fluently and her multilingual abilities made it easier for her to build friendships with other kingdoms.
∙ Both men and women in ancient Egypt used cosmetics. They believed that makeup had healing properties and protected them from the sun's harsh rays. ∙ Egyptians were the first people to create a type of paper from papyrus plants, which they used for writing. ∙ Labourers, including pyramid builders, were often paid in beer rations. ∙ There is proof found that ancient Egyptians had dental work like fillings and using fate teeth. ∙ Cats were highly revered in ancient Egypt and were believed to protect homes from evil spirits. ∙ Mummies were discovered not only in Egypt but also in South America and Chile. Sanuthi Manulya and Oshadi Akarsha
Languages What is a language? It is a question that a lot of people tend to find answers to. Simply, a language can be taken as a form of communication between people. There’s approximately more than 500 languages which are frequently spoken by people. Every single human on earth can speak at least one language or more. In different parts of the world, various languages are spoken by people and mostly, these languages seem to have connection with each other in many ways. When a baby is born to this world, his or her parents, speaks to the child with a single language. This spoken language is known to be the mother tongue of the baby. The mother tongue varies from family to family based many factors which include the geographical region, social states, religion, culture and country. Mother tongue of people change from place to place. If we take countries like Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zeland or the USA, the mother tongue is English, but with slight different word pronunciations and accents. But in countries like India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, France and Italy, mother language is a language which is known to be unique to the country according to the culture and history of the particular country or the region. Some countries have multiple languages spoken by people of different ethnic groups. The best example for such a country is India. It is found out that about 55 languages are spoken throughout the country with the main tongue as Hindi. Even in our own country Sri Lanka, there are about 4 main languages spoken by people. Though the main tongue is Sinhala, people tend to speak Tamil, Arabic and English as well according to their nationality.
Most people in the word can speak only their mother tongue. But with the developing world in the 21st century, it is important to learn more than a person’s mother tongue as the world moves forward really fast. With the growing needs of people and the increasing job market, people tend to travel from country to country to fulfil their needs. In these occasions, people tend to be more popular if they learn a language other than their mother tongue. English which is a language with mostly a Latin origin is the second most commonly spoken language in the world after Chinese Mandarin, is also the official language in most of the international relations between people or countries. Therefore, it is important to learn English, in order to be a winner in the world. Therefore, to conclude, it is important to learn about languages and know how to use them for the god of yourself, people and the society, and to become a person who is respected by the society for one’s talent. Sithuki Dilanya Grade - 11
By Dewmi Dahamya 1-A By Rithin Samarasekara Reception A By Dhanuja Dulneth 1-B By Ananya 3-A By Sithuli Ehasna Grade 5-A By Manikya Grade 7 By Shewan Mathisha G-10A By Manika Grade 7 ..Drawings..
By Manuth Galbadaarachchi Grade 5-A By Manuth Galbadaarachchi Grade 5-A Done by Nishath By Senuri Kivindya G-6
ICT project Making a kite... to understand about programming Grade- 4
Language competitions Grade- 6 to 11
Grade 6 class project
Nursery picnic
Nursery project : Road signs
Sil Programme
UPCOMING EVENTS Children’s Day Celebration Teacher’s Day Celebration Language Day Cubs scout enrolment programme
MEET THE TEAM The new beginning of the Media Unit of Vidura College Kalutara Branch with a set of new Members for the academic year 2023. SENUKI DINETHRA PRESIDENT SANULI SAMARA SECRETARY DAHAM ALOKA EDITOR SAVINDI SAHISHA SECRETARY PAMULA VINDIYA EDITOR THARUL RAKJITHA EDITOR
VIDURA COLLEGE KALUTARA Vidura College - Kalutara is a pioneering Private National School guided by the Buddhist Philosophy Address - Vidura College Kalutara ,Katukurunda, Kalutara. Reach US Phone number : 0342 226 880 Email : [email protected] Website : http://www.viduracollege.com/
From the Editor, Dear Readers, We are super grateful to you guys for the hype we received for our magazine since the first issue was released in February 2023. We got loads of positive comments and we'll make sure to keep on improving as a team to bring you more beautiful creations in the future. We hope you will enjoy this month's magazine as well. We are more than happy to receive your feedback, so be sure to drop your comments to: [email protected] Tharul Rakjitha Editing Team.