Children

Canada

Ottawa, Capital city of Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of Northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the East to the Pacific Ocean in the West and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world’s second largest country by total area and shares the world’s longest common border with the United States to the South and northwest.

The land occupied by Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of aboriginal people. Beginning in the late 15th Century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled along, the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years’ War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces.

This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.

A federation comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a Constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages both at the federal level and in the province of New Brunswick.

Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy. It is a member of the G8, NATO, OECD, WTO, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Francophonie, the OAS, and the United Nations.

Capital

Ottawa
Largest city
Toronto
Official languages
English and French
Recognised regional
languages
Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun,
Cree, Dëne Suliné,
Gwich’in, Inuvialuktun,
Slavey and Tlicho Yatiì
Ethnic groups
80.0% White/European
(English, French,
Scottish, Irish,
German, others)
4.0% South Asian
3.9% Chinese
3.8% Aboriginal
3.3% Other Asian
2.5% Black/African
2.5% Others
Demonym
Canadian,
Canadien/Canadienne
(French ancestry)
Population
- 33,681,000
(2009 estimate)

Yal Devi train

Yal Devi train back on track. Picture by Iresha Waduge

Do you like to travel by train? How about travelling beyond Vavuniya in the Yal Devi train which is operating after 20 years. The historic journey will no doubt carry the peace dove from the South to the North. The Yal Devi is not just a train. It symbolizes the ending of the unfortunate war while starting a new journey that would unite the entire nation.

The peace we achieved with much sacrifices should be preserved and guarded. That is the greatest tribute one can give to our brave war heroes. The sounds of the Yal Devi will herald the arrival of the Northern Spring to the people of the North. So you all can now organize a trip to the North with your family and friends.

Meanwhile don’t forget to do your homework and studies on time. Then you all can face term tests with confidence avoiding last minute anxiety and panic.

Good luck in your studies. Bye for now.

- Aunt Anji

No turning back

The story so far... 

Pramodaka, Nalaka, Champika and Chinthaka go on a trip to the woods with their parents for their school holidays. In the middle of the night the children are awakened by a strange noise. On following their dog, Scooby, Chinthaka is snared by the age old spell of the ‘luring stones’.

Pramodaka departs with Ruwi, a pixie, to recall a book of spell to cast off the spell while Nalaka, Champika and the dog remain behind with Sachi, a gnome who updates them on the life of mythical creatures.

Shamilka, a friend of the mythical creatures joins in and they begin hunting for Pramodaka and Ruwi as there is no sign of their return. Just as they were coming to terms with the fact that they were lost, six rabbits scamper along the way.

The rabbits take pity upon the children and agree to guide them part of the way. Meanwhile Sulo, the goblin who is always trying to make trouble for the mythical creatures, grabs a basket of goodies from a gnome named Russell and makes off. Scooby scents her and attacks.

Ruwi senses that Russell is in danger but she also gets the strange feeling that there is a mysterious link between Pramodaka. Suddenly a storm breaks out and Pramodaka, Nalaka and Champika are blown away with the wind. They discover that they are back near camp when they regain consciousness...

There was a short silence. Champika was the first to break the silence.

“Why not?” she asked, furious. She had been grazing longingly at her parents, lost in a happy day dream of basking in the safety of her mother’s arms when her brother had brought her back to reality.

“We have to go back and bring Chinthaka too or there will be a row,” Nalaka said as he gave Pramodaka an understanding look.

“We can get their help when rescuing him..”

“Do you think that they’d believe us if we tell them that there are gnomes and pixies in the woods? How can we prove our point when we have sworn not to tell anyone else about these folk? Will anyone believe our tales unless they see them with their own eyes?

No, they’d just think that we are playing some silly game...,” Pramodaka replied doing his best to calm her. Champika burst into tears but as her sobbing ceased, she realized that her brothers spoke the truth.

After all they themselves could not quite believe their eyes till the first time they encountered Uncle Sachi and Aunt Ruwi.

“And besides, what will happen if it leaks out that there are strange creatures in the woods? Grown ups are curious and would want to capture them and do all sorts of tests on them,” Nalaka added. A bleak picture of Uncle Sachi and Aunt Ruwi put in cages surrounded by computers and all sorts of machines with tubes and needles sticking all around them appeared in Champika’s mind. She paled and shook her head immediately.

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to them... and they might kill the rabbits too,”she gasped remembering the kind rabbit with the red ribbon and the short gray one who had offered her his lunch.

“We have to sneak past them as the path is just near that large rock beside the hill. I remember nearly tripping over it in the dark while following you and Scooby,” Pramodaka told Nalaka.

Half crawling on the grass and keeping well under cover, the three children made their way past the group in the distance. Fragments of conversation fell on their ears and Champika had to fight with the urge to sneak a peak over the hedge as she heard her father explaining Chinthaka’s features to the detective.

“You don’t suppose they’d come and find him? What if they come this way and find him frozen on the spot with that stone on his hand?,” she whispered.

“That’s why we have to get there quickly before they do,” Nalaka replied, a sense of urgency creeping into his voice. At last they reached the place which Pramodaka remembered from the previous night. Turning around and making sure that nobody was watching he slowly got to his feet. All was clear. The group was nowhere in sight.

“You two had better get up too. We haven’t got much time,” he said.

But the words were barely out of his mouth when they heard a shout.

“Hey, you there... Halt! Come up with your hands up!”

(To be continued)

Poson celebrations Harein Jayasekara 6A, Sailan International School, Negombo	Flower Design Gihansi Piyaratne 2A, Sujatha Vidyalaya, Nugegoda
My Garden Tanuri Dinehi 2A, Sujatha Vidyalaya, Nugegoda	Botanical Gardens Naushara Packeer 3E, Vidura College, Nawala

A Perahara was held by primary students of Isipathana College, Colombo around the school to mark Poson Poya. A number of cultural dance items were presented by the Primary Section students. Here some students performing at the event.	Primary students of Sujatha Vidyalaya, Nugegoda participating at the Environment Day celebration