9 years and below
My favourite hobby
My favourite hobby is collecting stamps. I started to collect stamps on January 28, 2018. Collecting stamps is fun. Seeing my grandfather’s collection, I too thought of collecting stamps. I am collecting them in a small stamp album. When letters come to my house, I remove the stamp and put it into a pocket in the album. I have stamps from different countries and also Sri Lankan stamps.
Up to now I have 120 stamps. My relatives collect stamps for me too. Even some of my school friends give me stamps. Every day I take my stamp album and I go through it. I hope to start a new album when the pages are over. When I go on trips I take my stamp album to show others. I would never lose my stamp album. One day I hope to be a world champion in collecting stamps.
Serusha Wijesinghe (9 years)
Ladies’ College, Colombo
10 – 12 years
A fun fancy dress event
Once, I was invited to a fancy dress event. I was very excited but also nervous. There were many questions going through my head. What should I wear? Will I impress others? Or will I make a fool of myself? I ignored all these questions and dragged all my clothes out of my closet and decided, none of my dresses had a ‘wow’ factor.
Then my sister came barging in as if she was my boss. Without any words, she took out my oldest pair of denims and a t-shirt which was plain white. She got some glitter and drew the Eiffel Tower and a girl. Then she covered the whole drawing with glitter. After that she flounced out of the room.
As soon as she left, I tried out my new outfit. I looked dazzling. I curled my hair and painted my nails. I wore my marvelous high-heels. At the event the judges couldn’t believe their eyes. I won first place and knocked the socks off every other competitor. And from that day on I’m a true model…
Diheli Abeysinghe (11 years)
Royal Int. School, Kurunegala
13 – 15 years
What you know about International Womens’ Day
In this era’s calendar, March 8 is a significant day, a focal point of celebratory triumph for women across the globe. “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change”, was this year’s theme; defining who they are and what they stand for.
History shows that on March 8, 1908 the American Labour Union of female workers of a garment factory in Chicago, had a demonstration protest march along the streets of New York demanding to cut down their tiresome 16 hour work shift to 10 hours. However due to Army control, the protest was unsuccessful.
During the First World War, due to drastic food shortages, Russian housewives conducted a successful demonstration strike on March 8, 1917, demanding food and peace. As a result the Soviet Union declared March 8 as a holiday in recognition of the women’s struggle.
Hence, when the UNO declared World Women’s Day officially in 1977, the date was changed from February 28 to March 8 and accepted by Australia, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.
Over the years, women of many countries have paved the way for themselves fighting for equal rights, gender equality and discrimination at work places. Sri Lanka, compared to the other countries, should be proud to have women prime ministers, presidents, ministers, and leaders in the highest posts in government and private sectors.
In recognition of this special day, Sri Lankan Airlines operated its first all-female crew on a flight from Colombo to Singapore and back. At the same time Ladies’ Only compartments were provided on all office trains this year.
Womens’ organizations should take necessary action to protect women’s rights and raise the standard of womanhood – the pinnacle of inspiration for each and every family, to greater heights.
Neyali Abeyratna (14 years)
De Mazenod College, Kandana
