SCHOOLCHILDREN in Sri Lanka whose classrooms were destroyed by the devastating Boxing Day tsunami will get a new school thanks in part to the generosity of the people of Okehampton. The disaster response appeal in the town which flourished in the first three months of the year raised a total of almost £25,000. Around half the money was sent off to supply Aquaboxes to provide not only clothing and cooking equipment but to ensure fresh water was available to the victims. Now the Rotary Club of Okehampton, which co-ordinated the appeal, says the remaining funds have been allocated to build a brand new school, which will have one of its buildings referred to as ?Okehampton? College to help forge links between the two communities. Mayor of Okehampton Cllr Tony Leech described the outpouring of generosity after the disaster as ?phenomenal?. ?The fact the town was able to raise so much money was fantastic,? he said. ?Anything that builds links and helps broaden everyone?s outlook on life has to be good. I hope the college in Okehampton may be able to build links with Sri Lanka and perhaps students from here can go over there and vice-versa.? More than £12,000 was retained by Rotary while authorities in Sri Lanka developed a programme for school reconstruction work. A change in plans has meant that it has taken slightly longer than anticipated to get the project up and running. Rotarian John Moppett said: ?The school we originally selected to support was a primary and secondary school. However, this proved to be too badly damaged to repair as did another school very close by. ?The first had only 82 students and the second 160, so the authorities decided it would be sensible to amalgamate these schools into one larger unit on a new site in a brand new building rather than try to refurbish the old ones.? The new school will be called Moraketiyara School and is in the Hanbantola region of southern Sri Lanka. Part of the school will be known as Okehampton College to remind all the students that the building was partly funded by residents of the Okehampton area. Mr Moppett said the school?s headmaster would be a man called Sheraton Gallippathi who had said he was ?keen for the children to be in communication with Okehampton.? It is hoped these links can be developed with the local schools getting in touch and forming ties between pupils. Mr Moppett said arrangements were being made to send the final total of just over £12,800 ? including interest ? to Sri Lanka to help construction finally get underway. Mr Moppett said: ?Our close connections with the Rotary district governor in Sri Lanka have meant that we have been getting updates on the progress.? He said the Rotary Club members wished to thank everyone who had contributed to this appeal with time and funds to ensure such a successful outcome. The money raised in the first few months of the year was sent off to the disaster area to provide Aquaboxes. A stockpile of boxes is always held so that they can be sent out as soon as an emergency hits, such as the recent earthquake in Pakistan and Northern India. The Rotary Club responded by sending out shelterboxes to the affected area last month and urges people to support other appeals from organisations around the town and surrounding villages to help fill the boxes with goods required by people in the earthquake-hit region. The cost of building the new school is 37-million Sri Lankan Rupees (aproximately £200,000-plus) and other partners in the project include Alnwick Rotary branch in Northumberland and a German electronics firm.
