About
Us
The
Association was started in 1989 with the aim of assisting and
nurturing Mahinda College and its current pupils, establishing
goodwill and relations between the Old Mahindians and the College
and to encourage the Old Mahindians in the UK to socialise and
develop relations among themselves. As an independent organisation,
it is not affiliated to any organisation of a similar nature either
abroad, or in Sri Lanka and its policy and activities are controlled
by its members and the management committee, which meets about
4 or 5 times a year. Its varied commitments are underpinned by
fund raising activities, which include an annual dance "Mahinda
Nite", raffles, and collection of other donations both financial
and material.
It's
range of activities has broadened to encompass religious, cultural
and sporting events. There is an annual Founders Day Alms Giving
at one of the Buddhist temples in the UK. The association's cricket
team has a regular series of fixtures with other OBA's the most
important of which still remains the match against the old rivals,
Richmond College. The highlight of the cricket calendar is the
Festival of Cricket, at which the Mahinda Team won the FOC Trophy,
The Best Player Award and the Best Bowler award in 2000.
One
of the earliest contributions of the Association was to sponsor
the college cricket team by donating all the cricket gear to last
the whole season. This continued for several years. Recently,
the emphasis has been to support educational activities of the
college, as that would benefit a greater number of students. Several
computers and air conditioning equipment were donated to establish
the Computer Centre at the College and since then a further number
of computers and printers have been sent. A donation of microscopes
and other equipment for the science laboratories has been made.
During
one of the regular meetings the officers of the association had
with the principal, it became apparent that the students of Mahinda
were being handicapped by insufficient proficiency in English.
In view of this, the Association decided to provide extra funding
and support for English education and secured the services of
a capable English teacher from 1997- 2001.
The
association is also committed to provide a Video Library and a
Language Laboratory. A large television and a video recorder for
the Video Library and audio equipment for the Language Laboratory
have already been sent. Further audio and video
tapes and other essentials will be sent in due course.
This
Association has dedicated itself to assisting the college, especially
in the field of education, which has been the foundation of success
for many of the members. It expects to achieve this goal through
the close collaboration and in consultation with the staff and
the principal of the College.
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