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What is wassana diyawara?

‘Wassana Diyawara’ is a humanitarian project that has been carried out by the Medical Students’ Buddhist Association of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo for the past fourteen years. As the 15th project in a successful line of projects, we have selected the development of Yatigalpoththa, a rural village in the divisional secretariat of Galewela in Matale district.

The main components of the project include, development of the school and organization of a health camp. Through these activities, we aim to promote the education of the children of the village by establishment of a student - friendly environment in the school and by building a new set of classrooms for the Ordinary Level students.

It is also intended to uplift the spiritual well-being of the villagers by improving their interactions with the village temple. Finally a health camp is to be conducted to promote the health and physical well-being of the villagers.

The project has an estimated budget of 5.1 million LKR. Your/ your company’s contributions to this effort will be greatly appreciated as we address the needs of this locality and make this project a success.

Yatigalpoththa Kanishta Vidyalaya

Situated close to Galewela-Dambulla main road in Galewela educational zone of Matale district, Yatigalpoththa Kanishta Vidyalaya is the nearest school for the villagers of Yatigalpoththa. It provides education to about 150 students with a teaching staff of 15. The classes from grade 1 to GCE O/L are being conducted in this school amidst many difficulties. Even though the school had been established more than 60 years ago, it still does not have a proper environment for educating the children of Yatigalpoththa village. The school is situated in a sub-urban area in a neighbourhood of middle socio-economic class, but it serves the families away from the main road who live with lot of economic difficulties.

The main shortcomings of the school include,

Lack of space to conduct classes
Old Buddha shrine in a state of disrepair
Shortage of chairs and tables for teachers and students
Shortage of sports equipment
Non-functioning computers Lack of clean water supply

🔹 The main hall which is more than 60 years old has not been renovated for decades. Roof and the floor is crumbling and unsafe. Even the walls of the main hall are cracked and students are in danger. Six classes from grade 6 to grade 11 are conducted within thin building with great difficulty. Ordinary level students are disadvantaged because they cannot be given the required priority.

🔹 Old Buddha shrine has a complex structure that has used up the space in front of the school but is in a state of disrepair due to neglect. According to Principal of the school, a new, much smaller, shrine in a convenient space should replace the existing shrine.

🔹 There are broken chairs and tables in the school that have not been repaired for years. Tables in good condition are sufficient for the current number of students though. Teachers do not have the privilege of having a teacher’s table or a teacher’s chair due to unavailability and lack of space to keep them.

🔹 No sports equipment are available in the school. But there are talented students who have represented school in divisional and district levels in previous years in various sports. Young generation of the area show a special talent and interest in volleyball.

🔹 There is a recently built computer room but more than half the computers are not functioning. Students share the available resources.

🔹 There are two wells in the school but well water in the area is not suitable for drinking. Pipe-borne water is not available for the area. Students bring their own water bottles for drinking which is not sufficient in hot days. They are in need of a purification system to obtain drinking water.

🔹 Although a significant number of students have passed the scholarship and GCE O/L exams during the previous years, they are studying amidst many hardships. Principal of the school is concerned about the lack of interest in students to obtain good results in Ordinary Level examination.

Sri Dharmarakshitharamaya

🔹 The village Buddhist temple is situated closed to the school and it is being maintained by the dedication and hard work of the two priests currently residing in the premises.

🔹 Due to the low income of the villagers, the financial support to the temple has also been meager. It has been developed over the years mostly with the help of contributions from donors.

🔹 A Sunday Dhamma school is being held at the temple with the participation of about 150 children from the village, but the attendance is keep getting low due to the fact of tuition classes.

🔹 The stupa is under construction and is at the final stages of completion.

🔹 Our aim, by developing the temple is to increase the interest of children in attending Dhamma School and to uplift the spiritual development of the villages.

Yatigalpoththa Village

🔹 Situated about 6 km from the town of Galewela, Yatigalpoththa is a rural village belonging to Galewela divisional secretariat division of the Matale district. About 480 families currently reside in this village and their main source of income is agriculture. Due to the longstanding drought, farming has become an arduous task. Therefore, the villagers have to make a great effort to acquire a livelihood.

🔹 Even though the village is not situated very far from the Galewela town, the supplies of technological and physical resources are scarce for the villagers due the lack of sufficient public transportation.

🔹 Also the villagers have an unprogressive view regarding education. And in such circumstances, Yatigalpoththa Kanishta Vidyalaya, the only school in the village, needs urgent expansion and progress.

🔹 The priests of the Sri Dharmarakshitharamaya temple provide great support to the villagers.

🔹 The closest hospital Galewela Base Hospital and the villagers have to travel approximately 7 km to this hospital to receive treatment during illness.

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