CHILDREN

Sudan

Sudan is a country in Northeastern Africa. It is the largest country in Africa and the Arab world and 10th largest in the world by area. It is bordered by Egypt to the North, the Red Sea to the Northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the East, Kenya and Uganda to the Southeast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic to the Southwest, Chad to the West and Libya to the Northwest. The world's longest river, the Nile, divides the country between East and West sides.

The people of Sudan have a long history extending from antiquity which is intertwined with the history of Egypt, with which it was united politically over several periods. After gaining independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom in 1956, Sudan suffered 17 years of civil war followed by ethnic, religious and economic conflicts between the Northern Sudanese (with Arab and Nubian roots) and the Christian and animist Nilotes of Southern Sudan.

Sudan later achieved great economic growth by implementing macro-economic reforms and finally ended the civil war by adopting a new Constitution in 2005 with rebel groups in the South, granting them limited autonomy to be followed by a referendum about independence in 2011. The People's Republic of China and Japan are the main export partners of Sudan.

However, after an Islamic legal code was introduced on a national level, the ruling National Congress (NCP) established themselves as the sole political party in the State and has since supported the use of recruited Arab militias in guerrilla warfare, such as in the ongoing conflict in Darfur.

Since then thousands of people have been displaced and killed, and the need for humanitarian care in Darfur has attracted worldwide attention. A member of the United Nations, Sudan also maintains membership with the AU, LAS, OIC and NAM, as well as serving as an observer in WTO.

Its capital is Khartoum, which serves as the political, cultural and commercial centre of the nation, while Omdurman remains the largest city.

Among Sudan's population of 42 million people, Sunni Islam is the official and largest religion, while Arabic and English are the official languages. Courtesy: Wikipedia

United Nations Climate Change Summit:

Greener planet

Dear Children,

The environment and surroundings we live in is very important to us. A clean environment is vital to sustain life. You know about the Green House effect and global warming.

All of you who have been following the news in the last two weeks would have read and heard about the United Nations Climate Change Summit.

The Summit which ended last weekend was held in Cancun, Mexico.

It is the rich and industrial countries which pollute our planet the most. This effects the developing countries who have to pay a heavy price.

Children, the Ozone Layer which protects the Earth from the sun's harmful rays is depleting. This is called the Green House effect. The result is the melting of polar caps, rising sea levels, prolonged droughts etc owing to increasing temperature. Rising sea levels could have drastic effects on low-lying islands like The Maldives, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Vanuatu.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The participating countries have agreed to start a green climate fund.

This fund will help protect poor countries from the effects of global warming.

Let us hope this plan will be a success for the sake of the future generations and for life on this planet.

Let us hope for a Greener Planet.

Bye for now. Enjoy this festive season.

Aunt Anji

Price for vanity

In 'Kid's Den'...

Four children, 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 spell of the 'luring stones'. Pramodaka departs with Ruwi, a pixie, to recall a book of spell to cast off the spell while the others remain behind with Sachi, a gnome. A storm breaks and the kids are scattered. A sleeping spell is unleashed and all the unmythical creatures including the children fall asleep. Strangely Pramodaka is the only one awake.

Meanwhile Sulo, the goblin who is always trying to make trouble for the mythical creatures, comes up with a nasty plan. She rushes off gang up the rest of her pack and reveals an age old secret. However the group discovers that it is not only Sulo's secret that is uncovered by the storm. Something dark and deadly had been hidden in the depths of the earth waiting to release itself and return for revenge...

('Return of the Kids' is the sequel to 'Kid's Den')

Pramodaka rubbed his eyes. His heart skipped a beat as he looked around wildly.

Where was the phoenix?

It seemed to have disappeared from view but now the mist was slowly fading away. A beautiful and slander women stood in its place smiling down at him.

"Hello," she said. "I am Elegencia. You freed me from that dreadful spell. I have been trapped in it for years."

Pramodaka grazed at her in wonder. She is beautiful indeed. Long tresses of shining ebony cascaded from her head while a large pair of eyes with long eye lashes looked into his. Her voice was like the sound of a light breeze and she wore an aqua blue gown which fell down in elegant silky folds to her ankles.

Elegencia noticed his curious stare and smile again.

"What is the matter child? You have never seen an elf before?"

"N-no. That is... I have met a pixie, gnome and some talking rabbits but you look so different from them..." he managed at last.

"Oh, then you have not met my sister? They call her the Graceful One - Gracia. But we are only allowed to use the names which our fathers gave us among ourselves. Outside the elf community you will know me by the name the Elegant One."

"How did you become a bird?"

"It was a spell that Zelda brewed for me and the Graceful One. My sister escaped but I - having a little weakness in me - was caught. It was a high price I had to pay for vanity. Since then I was waiting for someone to release me..." regret clouded her eyes as she recalled her past.

"Didn't your sister try to save you?"

"She didn't know that I was still alive... Neither did our parents or the other elves. I tried to ask for help but the spell did not permit me to become visible to them. I had to wait for years till the sun is covered by a full eclipse so that the real phoenix returns to roam the sky. It only happens once every century. Twice I missed him for he is too quick for me. His heat is unbearable. I could not quite get close to him. I thought I had to spend the rest of my life trapped in this body of the fake phoenix till today. There is danger in the air. I felt it."

She paused and shivered her beautiful widening with sudden fear.

"Then it gripped at me like chains and I had to hang onto the tree for dear life to avoid being pulled into this evil snare."

To be continued

First place in all island art competition

Text and Pic by Nimal Jayasinghe, Gampaha Roving corr

Isuri Anjani Kahawewithrana of Sribodhi Vidyalaya Gampaha won the all-Island first place in the Grade 3-5 category in the art competition held among schoolchildren in October 2010.

This competition was conducted by the Housing Development Finance Corporation Bank of Sri Lanka (HDFC Bank) in collaboration with the Education Ministry and Un-habitat program to commemorate World Habitat Day.