World Water Day Ratmalana

10^th April 2008 - In 1992, the UN General Assembly designated March 22nd as "World Water Day" to draw international attention to the serious lack of clean, safe drinking water worldwide. To commemorate this, ADT conducted a series of Art Competitions in and around the Colombo district to bring awareness on the different aspects of hygiene and sanitation amongst children.  

On the 10th of April 2008 one such Programme was held at the Ratmalana children’s club with the full cooperation of the chief Buddhist monk of the village temple. 43 children eagerly participated in this competition. “This is the first art competition most of the children had ever attended” commented the monk.  

The programme started with a brief introduction. Then the children were divided into 3 different groups according to their age.  The theme given to them was “safe and clean water”. They made their own drawings based on that theme. All the drawings were very creative and it clearly revealed that these children were very innovative, creative and had immense talents.  

Water borne diseases is rated as the 2nd biggest killer of children worldwide. Over 5000 children die everyday as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. The village in Ratmalana too is located amongst marshy surroundings and had many water borne diseases. The parents and the Buddhist monk in charge of the temple of the village thanked ADT for the effort put in and for bringing awareness on water related diseases not only for the children but for the adults as well.  

The programme ended before time since it was raining heavily. Therefore it was decided to announce the winners at the next children’s club meeting. It gave us great joy to see broad smiles on each child’s face as they had immensely enjoyed the day’s activities.