Adoptees find their parents:

Back to their origins

Ishara JAYAWARDANE

Within some human beings who have been adopted is the curiosity of their roots. From where did they come from? What is their cultural identity? Who are their parents?

Bio Parents locate is a non profit organization that reunites Sri Lankan adoptees with their biological parents.

"There have been over 35,000 babies taken away from Sri Lanka into other countries for adoption" said Advisor, Treasurer and Chief Financial controller A Arangallage.

Mostly the babies are given away due to the abject poverty of their parents. Arangallage pointed out that these foreign parents often take good care of the babies bringing them up and educating them.

Most of the children are doing very well. Some of them are lawyers, judges, architects and doctors. Some of them are in their early 30's. However the yearning to see at least their biological mother still persists. Locating these biological mothers is not an easy task.

"It is very difficult. No one knows where they are, they have no proper place to live. So we have decided to help these children by locating their 'bio mother.'

Chairman of Bio Parents Locate, Rohan Ratnayake first initiated this idea of setting up an organization. "We have been able to locate some mothers already. One such mother has been located and her daughter came back from abroad two or three weeks ago and met at the Bandaranaike International Airport, VIP lounge. "Our organization bio locate does not charge a cent from either party. It is purely a selfless organization run by ourselves on our own funds," explained Arangallage.

He explained that their objective is to reconnect biological parents with Sri Lankan origin adoptees who live around the world.

"I was born in Sri Lanka and when I was one-year-old I was adopted by a Swedish couple.I was raised in a big family with one sister and two brothers. Today I live together with my own family, my husband and daughter Neela", said adoptee Kristina Martensson. Kristina explained that she was in Sri Lanka in 2004 trying to find her mother on her own. But was unsuccessful. She also wrote to TV programs in Sweden to get help, with no result. She then met Rohan Ratnayake.

"I got in touch with him and he helped me. I am very happy, it is difficult to put words to it. It is a big relief. Something that has been missing that has now been fulfilled", said Kristina.

"I am seeing my daughter after 32 years. I gave her away when she was just one-year-old. The father was an absentee. We never married and he didn't even take me to see his family. I was extremely poor and I worked as a housekeeper at various houses. It was then that I met the family from Sweden. When they asked me the first time around I refused to give her away. But the second time around when they asked I agreed to give my daughter. Now I am so happy, words can't describe now I feel", said Gunawathi, Kristina's biological mother.

"It is a great pleasure to be here in Sri Lanka, a very big experience. I am very happy for Kristina, that she has found her mother", said Kristina's husband Magnus Palsson.

Peter Martensson adopted the same Swedish family, is another adoptee who has been able to find his relatives.

"I came back here in 2006. I was also adopted from Sri Lanka back in 1980 when I was four months old, to the same family like Kristina. I went down to the Good Shepherd Convent in Wattala where I was born. The nuns helped me. The register had the correct address to where my relatives lived, and I found them, said thirty years-old Peter. His mother was dead but he was reunited with his relatives.

65th birth anniversary tomorrow:

'Reel' star

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

There are reel life heroes and there are real life heroes but only a few artistes were able to perform both roles on and off screen. Charismatic film star cum politician Vijaya Kumaratunga is one amongst few who had remained in the hearts of masses as an icon on both streams. Vijaya would have been 65 years tomorrow if he had not been gunned down at Polhengoda on February 16, 1988.

He was one of those in the forefront in bringing forth the golden era of Sinhala cinema for his portrayal as the romantic hero, which mesmerized many movie buffs. He ruled the silver screen for more than 20 years, acting alongside stalwarts like Gamini Fonseka, Malani Fonseka, Joe Abeywickrama, Ravindra Randeniya and many more. Apart from his cinematic contribution he was also loved and remembered for the pivotal role he played in trying to resolve the ethnic conflict in the island.

Born on October 9, 1945, in the coastal area of Seeduwa, Vijaya's ambition had been to become a police officer, though his parents, Benjamin and Beatrice Kumaratunga, had wanted him to become a doctor.

He took part in a number of school dramas and was also a member of the debate team at his schools, St. Benedict's College, Kotahena and De Mazenod College, Kandana. Having studied dancing under Shesha Palihakkara and acting under P Welikala and J H Jayawardana, the youngster first faced the camera for a crowd scene in Manamalayo, 1967. After responding to a newspaper advertisement calling for fresh talent, the budding star got his breakthrough with the lead role in Sugathapala Senarath Yapa's Hanthane Kathawa opposite Swarna Mallawarachchi. Even before the release of the film his exceptional talent was spotted and he had signed up for more than 12 movies.

From there on he added his name to many commercial hits as well as Classic Sinhala movies like Bambaru Evith, Eya Den Loku Lamayek, Kristhu Charithaya, Ganga Addara and Baddegama. Acting came naturally for Vijaya and he excelled in his forte gifting the film industry with many diverse roles.

The Vijaya-Malani duo marked a significant era in our 61 year old stint in the cinema history with their contributions to films like Hathara Denama Soorayo, Thushara, Sussie, Sangeetha, Unnath Dahai Malath Dahai, Ganga, Diyamanthi, Eya Dan Loku Lamayek, Pembara Madhu, Dahakin Ekek, Newatha Hamuwemu and many others.

Having bagged the most popular award continuously for several years his dream had been to win the award for best actor. Though he came close to winning the title on several occasions it was unfortunately after his death that he was finally presented with the award for his exceptional performance in Kedapathaka Chaya.

Apart from acting he was also a talented vocalist. He was probably the only individual to have clinched accolades for the titles of best actor as well as best singer. Masses flocked around to listen to their idol sing.

The gift to touch the heartstrings of the public coupled with his magnetic personality finally led him to take on a journey in the political landscape. He was one of the earliest members of the SLFP and later, along with his wife Chandrika, he was able to form the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party in 1984 which paved the way for a robust third force in the country's political stream. This political persona of his was believed to have reflected the roles he acted in his films.

He had rendered his name to over 100 films in his career and nearly 20 of those films were released in the first 10 years since his tragic death at the age of 42. Aeye Obata Baarai was the last of his films to be released in 1998.

Each year reams of articles have been written about the legendary hero of the wide screen but the industry still feel the void created after his departure.

With captivating good looks, abundant talent, down to earth qualities and humanity he touched the pulse of masses in the past, continues to do so in the present and will in future. There will never be another to take his place. He will remain as the people's star for many years to come.

World Space Week from October 4 to 10:

Final frontier

Ishara JAYAWARDANE

Space has been called the "Final Frontier" by many. And indeed it most likely is the final conquest of mankind. Man has set foot on the moon. His satellites circle the globe offering life on earth unthinkable possibilities and opportunities.

The space age officially began 53 years ago when the Soviet union launched Sputnik, the world's first man made satellite. Fifty-three years have gone by and mankind envisioned and achieved great things. His technology has superseded all expectations.

The United Nations established the World Space Week in 1999 to commemorate these achievements. It's the largest annual public space event in the world.

The World Space week is held every year from October four to ten. October 4, 1957 was the launch of the first man made earth satellite, Sputnik 1. October 10, 1967 was the signing of the treaty on principles governing the activities of states in the exploration and peaceful uses of outer space said Senior Lecturer in Physics, University of Colombo Dr Chandana Jayaratne.

To encourage participation, World Space Week Association gives various educational awards each year. Government agencies, industry, non profit organizations, teachers and even individuals can organize events to celebrate the event.

Teachers are supposed to basically start space related activities in the classroom to enhance the knowledge amongst students about space activities as well as attract talented students into this field. Any student society or anyone interested can also join these activities.

The combination of technologies commonly referred to as space technologies mainly involve remote sensing and geographic information systems, along with those technologies related to construction, launching and operation of satellites.

"The satellites can be divided into three main categories based on there applications, namely communication satellites are used for communication applications such as telephony communication and radio and television broadcasting.

Earth observation satellites are used for remote sensing and global navigation satellite systems are used to determine the precise position and time at any given location, and for navigation from any point to another" said Director Chief Executive Officer, Arthur C Clark Institute of Modern Technology, Engineer Sanath Panawennage.

Remote sensing is about observation of the earth through satellites and GIS, where computer based digital information systems are maintained. This can contain information pertaining to a particular geographical location, in a number of layers; each layer giving different types of information .

For example the area of a square kilometre in the city of Colombo, would consist of several layers that contain information on its topography, land-use, vegetation patterns and demography. All this information pertaining to the same geographical area, can be made available in several layers.

Only pictures of vegetation, buildings and so forth can be obtained from satellites. "The topographic map comes from Satellite data" said Sanath Panawennage. However not all data is from satellites; population statistics for example come from Census and Statistics.

"What we refer to as a layer is analogous to the different maps that are the ultimate product. The layers of topography, land-use and vegetation patters and demography, are different maps of the same place."

This is just one example, mapping is the biggest applications of Satellite technology. Today it is possible to achieve global satellite communication. It is possible to connect the entire world with the help of satellite technology. So many communication satellites are offering global communication.

Satellites are used for radio, television broadcasting and global telephoning. The technology offers many communication applications. Another application is global navigation. Navigation satellite system is a system of technology that can be used to determine the exact time at a certain location as well as for navigating from one point to another.

As a matter of fact satellite technology is one branch of space technology that Sri Lanka hopes thoroughly investigate into in the near future.