Gift from Sri Lanka on the master’s 168th birthday

February 22nd marked the 168th birthday of the founder of the Scout Movement, Lord Robert Baden-Powell, and to celebrate it, Sri Lankan Scouts cleaned 150 railway stations across the country. Provincial Scout Leaders and parents also participated in the clean-up, which was held on Saturday the 22nd.

Over 700 Scouts participated in the cleaning of the Colombo-Fort Railway Station, Maradana, Kompanagaveediya, Moratuwa, and Mount Lavinia railway stations to mark the birthday of their founder. The cleaning of the Anuradhapura railway station in the Northern Province was carried out under the leadership of the Chairman of the Scout Association, Brigadier J.A.P. Jayawardena, while the Batticaloa, Akkaraipattu and Kalmunai Scout Movements in the Eastern Province jointly launched a project to beautify the Batticaloa Railway Station, a program to clean 09 railway stations from Badulla to Ohiya in the Uva Province, and a cleaning of 33 railway stations from Benthara to Ahangama in the Southern Province were launched throughout the day.

In celebration of Lord Robert Baden-Powell’s birthday, Thilini Mahesha Kannangara, the leader of the Nimala Maria Scout Association in the Wattala-Jaela region in the Western Province, explained to Mojo News that, in support of the “Clean Sri Lanka” program being implemented by the current government, and to embody the motto of the Scout Movement, “Exemplary through action”, Scouts from across the island organized a noble initiative to clean all the railway stations.

she said “If we show things through action rather than just saying them, others can be able to emulate them,” she said.

Thilini Mahesha, who introduced the Scout Movement as a voluntary movement, said, “By engaging in activities in public places, they would be more involved in public activities to show that if Scouts can do it, everyone else can too”.

“We aim to always live up to our motto and engage in exemplary work with unity in a team spirit, without any discrimination of race, religion, age, big or small, and finally to find joy in it,” she said.

Approximately 25 scouts from Tudella Nimala Maria Balika School, 51 scouts from Christ King’s College, Tudella, and 6 scouts from G. B. Senanayake College, all belonging to the Wattala-Jaela zone, gathered at the grounds of Christ King’s College in Tudella to celebrate the 168th birth anniversary of their founder, Lord Baden Powell, in a meaningful way with their leaders. They subsequently engaged in cleaning the adjacent railway station at Tudella.

“Today is a happy day for us because all the scouts in our area were able to come together and launch something good like this. Today is the birthday of our founder, he has taught us to do good things and find satisfaction in those things,” said the scouts Sarah Nicolaia, Natari Dienka of Nimala Maria Balika, and Vimukthi Rehan of Christ’s College, to the Mojo News.

The scout children further said that they are happy to be able to contribute in this way to the cleanliness campaign being carried out under the “Clean Sri Lanka program” that is being launched in our country these days.

“Our founder was born in England but later went to India and South Africa to serve. There he noticed that children could do great service but adults did not allow them to do so. That is why he started this scouting movement and created opportunities for the youth and children to serve society through self-control. Through these small actions we do as Scouts, let’s show the society, including the elders, that we protect and clean public property. You too should take steps to do the same”  Brother Kumarasinghe, Scout Leader of Christ the King College, Tudella, explained at the beginning.

The Principal of Christ’s College, the Tudella Railway Station Master, and several local officials participated in this event.

In Sri Lanka, the Scout Association was begun in the year 1912 at the Collage of Christdeva in Matale District by the British national Francis Geroge Steevans.

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