Brother Armin Luistro, Superior General, and Brother Ricky Laguda also arrived in Sri Lanka, specifically in Mannar, on 11 May 2023.
After a hectic schedule in Pakistan, they travelled more than 300 kilometres by car to visit and encourage Brothers, Lay Partners, students and parents as well.
The morning after their arrival, together with Br. Bertran Perera, Provincial Visitor of LASAD and Br. T. Amalan, Auxiliary Visitor of LASAD, both Brothers were warmly welcomed in the De La Salle House in Mannar*. In their honour, a ceremony was organised to inaugurate the newly constructed buildings for the St La Salle boys’ hostel. The Bishop of the Diocese of Mannar, Dr Emmanuel Fernando, the Vicar General, the parish priests and the Sisters of the Holy Family paid tribute. Also present at the ceremony were the teachers and prefects of all the Lasallian schools.
Students from St. Annes’ College, Vankalai, played in the traditional band (Inniyam), while prefects and other students welcomed the Superior General and other guests with garlands and the traditional aarathi.**
Brother Armin was also welcomed on the same day to the Lasallian Educational Campus. The Campus consists of two schools (La Salle Kids’ Campus, kindergarten, and La Salle English School, primary school 1-5 grades). Parents, children and staff warmly welcomed the Superior General, the General Councillor, the Provincial Visitor, the Auxiliary Visitor and other Brothers. They were entertained by dances, speeches and short games by the children. Superior General addressed the audience and was very pleased with the warm welcome and the various programmes of the Lasallian Educational Campus.
“La Salle Foundation” in Sri Lanka
In 2015, immediately after the conflict with the Tamil Tigers, the ‘La Salle Foundation’ and the ‘Lasallian Foundation – Australia’ collaborated together to assist Lasallian education centres in the country and built the ‘English Medium & Primary School’ in Mannar, northern Sri Lanka. The pupils of this school mostly belong to vulnerable ethnic minority groups (the majority of them of ‘Tamil’ origin, traditionally fishermen), who face many difficulties in accessing higher education and a decent job because they do not speak Sinhalese, the most widely spoken language in the country.
Today, “La Salle Foundation” is finishing the construction of dormitories for students. The presence of these dormitories is essential to open the doors of the school to those who come from far away and would have to travel many kilometres every day.
Being able to stay at the school during the week allows the pupils to concentrate only on their studies, without having to help their families with housework or looking after little ones: their academic performance improves and they can live their childhood and adolescence to the full.
* The Brothers in the Northern province (Mannar District) and the Eastern province (Kalmunai) have three communities: 1. De La Salle House, Mannar Town; 2. De La Salle House, Adampan; 3. Casa De La Salle, Nanatan.
A total of fifteen Brothers and hundreds of Lay Partners carry out the Lasallian missions in Mannar and Kalmunai. (Northern and Eastern provinces)
** Hindu ceremony in which candles are lit with wicks soaked in ghee (this is a clarified butter used in Indian cuisine and in Asian countries in general. It is stripped of its water and protein component, with a saturated fatty acid content of around 48%) and offered to one or more deities.
