SL born German Senator gives back to his hometown in Point Pedro

School bus for Methodist Girl's High School, Point Pedro Enlarge image School bus for Methodist Girl's High School, Point Pedro (© German Embassy Colombo)

COLOMBO, April 8 - The German embassy handed over a TATA City ride bus worth Rs. 1.8 million to the Methodist Girl’s High School in Point Pedro, at a ceremony held in the embassy premises in Colombo.

The project was funded by the former State Minister of Economic Affairs and Labour in the city of Hamburg Senator Ian K. Karan, who was born in Point Pedro, Sri Lanka. He led a German delegation to Sri Lanka last month. After visiting the Northern province and his alma mater, the Hartley College, Point Pedro and its sister school, the Methodist Girl’s High School, Point Pedro Mr. Karan initiated several projects to uplift the schools’ infrastructure School bus for Methodist Girl's High School, Point Pedro Enlarge image German Ambassador in Colombo Jens Ploetner with students and Principal riding the donated school bus. (© German Embassy Colombo)

This project, implemented in partnership with Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC (DIMO), is the first among several ventures initiated by Mr. Karan.

“When Senator Karan revisited his school last month, after 40 years, he was moved and impressed by the hopes and determination of the students he met,” said Jens Ploetner, the Ambassador for the Federal Republic of Germany, in Colombo. “Senator Karan, who remembered his own childhood, studying in Point Pedro as a youngster in blue shorts, a white shirt and no shoes, made a promise to suppport these children by improving their schools’  infrastructucre, and he has begun to fullfill that promise within a month.”

Mr. Ploetner also noted that the former Senators gesture of reinvesting in his hometown set an example for other Sri Lankan Tamils living abroad, who were eager to give back to their communities.

The Methodist Girl’s School is regarded as a leading girl’s school in the Nothern Province. “We have over a 1000 students in our school and each year our students participate in various competitions and tournaments across the Jaffna peninsula. But until now we had to spend a lot of money on travelling,” said Mrs S. Suntharesan, Principal J/ Methodist Girl’s High School, Point Pedro, Sri Lanka. “But now with the school bus, it has opened up an opportunity for our students to even travel to other parts of the country to participate in educational activities in other schools.”