With an evening of classical music, the Gymnasium Isernhagen, a modern high school located on the outskirts of Altwarmbüchen in Northern Germany, has celebrated the 20th anniversary of its relations with schools in Sri Lanka. On this occiasion, H.E. the Ambassador of Sri Lanka for Germany, Mr. Sarath Kongahage made one of his frequent visits to the school to support this noble venture as guest of honour. Also present was the mayor of the city of Isernhagen, Arpad Bogya.
Mr. Manfred Möller, who has been a teacher at the school for a long time, selected Sri Lanka in 1994 as the focal point for his school's future collaboration. Since 1995 more than 150 male and female students from this school visited Sri Lanka. The school has been engaging in the humanitarian assistance to the needy people. The Minister of Education and Red Cross in Sri Lanka awarded the school in 2005 for its Humanitarian assistance. In 1997-99, the first charity project by the school supported the Negombo base hospital, and later schools in Munnakara, Duwa, and Christ King School at Weliweriya benefited from the donations.
In 2007, the Gymnasium Isernhagen started a student exchange programme with St. Thomas College Colombo. Two years later, in 2009, the Ladies College Colombo joined the programme as its counterpart school for girls. More than 70 Sri Lankan students have visited Germany under this programme, and a similar number of German students have been traveling to Sri Lanka to experience the magic of the resplendent island. During one of those visits, the students from Germany had the privilege of having an audience with H.E. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the Democratic-Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
With the sponsorship of the Bürgerstiftung Isernhagen, a charitable trust founded by the local private sector, a charity concert has been organized once a year at the school for fund raising. Like in previous years, the Capella Corviniensis, the school orchestra of the Gymnasium Corvinianum in Northeim had been traveling to Isernhagen to support the event, playing classical pieces by Respighi, Tschaikowsky and Beethoven. Students of the Gymnasium Isernhagen excelled with pieces by Blunt, Brahms and Gaede. The donations collected on this evening will be used for charity projects in Sri Lanka.
Ambassador Sarath Kongahage was invited by the Gymnasium Isernhagen as Chief Guest to participate at the 20th anniversary of the relations between Sri Lanka and Gymnasium Isernhagen. Addressing the gathering, the ambassador stated that diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Germany are reaching back for 60 years. He added that Sri Lanka was fully committed to the collaboration between Sri Lanka and the Gymnasium Isernhagen, which would bring together the younger generations of Sri Lanka and Germany in a partnership of knowledge and promote understanding, cooperation and shared responsibility for social- and education upliftment, while cultivating a long standing bonds of Friendship. The strengthening of people-to-people contacts leads to the enhancement of existing and long-standing bilateral relations, the Ambassador concluded.
Ms. C.A. Chaminda I. Colonne . Minister of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Berlin, also participated in the event.
