SCHOOL CELEBRATES ITS TENTH BIRTHDAY

Kosgoda, Nov 14, 2016

WACKER College in Sri Lanka celebrated its tenth anniversary. Students and teachers from the partner school in Bavaria, Realschule Meitingen, were among those invited to the lively celebrations.

The catastrophic tsunami that struck Asia in December 2004 caused widespread devastation with thousands losing their lives or livelihoods. Sri Lanka was particularly hard hit. WACKER made a donation for aid projects at short notice, while simultaneously founding the WACKER HILFSFONDS relief fund in 2005.

Zur Zehn-Jahres-Feier hatten Schülerinnen einen singhalesischen Tanz einstudiert.
Students rehearsed a Sinhalese dance for the tenth anniversary celebrations.

True to the principle of “helping people to help themselves,” WACKER’s nonprofit relief fund has been supporting programs that give victims of natural disasters the chance of a better life. These programs include the school in Kosgoda, which was opened in 2006 and has offered a curriculum up to high school level since 2014. The principal Sadu Wimaladhamma Tissa, or Monk Sadu for short, is delighted that the first three students will be taking their school-leaving certificate next year.

Bunte Parade auf dem Zehn-Jahres-Fest.
A colorful parade at the tenth anniversary festivities.

WACKER HILFSFONDS uses its cent-donation program to ensure that the funding covers the costs involved in teaching 216 children. Plus, there are another 184 children in the associated kindergarten and orphanage, not to mention the young people attending the vocational training center.

Mönch Sadu mit einigen seiner Schüler, von denen die ersten vor dem Abitur stehen.
Monk Sadu with some of his students, the first of whom will soon be taking their school-leaving certificate.

As head of the “Future for Children” aid agency, Elfriede Süß looks after the WACKER College in Kosgoda. She was given a chance to welcome visitors from her home town of Meitingen, near Augsburg, when students from Kosgoda’s partner school, together with their principal and several teachers, attended the school’s tenth anniversary celebrations in summer 2016. Teachers from the EU’s Erasmus project, a representative from the German embassy in Sri Lanka, and of course a great many parents were invited to the ceremony as well.

The children’s preparations included exhibitions in their classrooms, building a miniature temple and rehearsing traditional dances and music. “If it hadn’t been for the WACKER HILFSFONDS relief fund,” said Elfriede Süß, “there wouldn’t have been a school in Kosgoda to celebrate its tenth anniversary this year. Donations by WACKER employees give the children the opportunity of an excellent education – and thus the hope of a better life.”

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Wacker Chemie AG
Public Affairs
Joachim Zdzieblo

Tel. +49 89 6279-1165
Email joachim.zdzieblo@wacker.com
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