Saturday, 7 June 2014 00:05
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Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) recently organised a book donation program at Cancer Hospital Maharagama to provide books for the hospital and set up mini libraries in 21 wards of the hospital. The program, arranged to coincide with the Vesak season and in keeping with the true spirit of the season, was an effort by the company and its employees to light up the life of another person in need, in some way, and to bring joy to the life of others.
A total of 1,500 books voluntarily provided by SLT employees were donated to the hospital during a special program held at the hospital auditorium. First Lady of Sri Lanka Shiranthi Rajapaksa was the Chief Guest of the event. Member of Western Provincial Council Hirunika Premachandra, Cancer Hospital Director Dr. Kanishka Karunaratne and other staff of Cancer Hospital, SLT Group Chief Executive Officer Lalith De Silva, other officers and staff of SLT were present at the event.
Chief Guest Rajapaksa commenting on the program, said, “I am glad to see Sri Lanka Telecom’s active participation in such a worthy cause which will help to uplift the lives of patients and the staff at the Cancer Hospital. I am very passionate about deeds such as these, which seek to better the life of another human being in need of support, and am always happy to see organisations especially in the private sector, rally behind activities such as this. I would also like to encourage other organisations to look beyond their normal routines to seek ways of contributing to the general uplifting of the lives of our people.”
The Cancer Hospital Maharagama has 21 wards, each of which will now have a mini- library located within. The books donated comprised of a wide variety of subjects including spirituality, education, children’s books, novels and story books to suit the reading preferences of a diverse audience including children, youth, adults as well as senior citizens who come for treatment at the hospital.
“We wanted to do something special and meaningful for Vesak this year, and we have focused on one of the key virtues preached by Gauthama Buddha ‘giving to others in gratitude for the blessings that we have received’, which we all are encouraged to espouse,” commented De Silva. “Our staff volunteered to provide books for the cancer hospital in the hope that the patients, while waiting for their treatment will be able to engage themselves in a more productive activity such as reading which will help them to acquire knowledge, obtain spiritual uplifting, entertain themselves and especially use it as a measure of relief from the unfortunate situation they find themselves in. We hope that this small gesture will help to brighten up their lives and give them hope for the future in some way.”
Dr. Karunarathna said, “Sometimes patients have to wait for days or even weeks to undergo their course of treatments. During this time, they may be low emotionally and psychologically, especially being away from their families etc., not to mention the physical discomfort of the treatments they undergo. We introduced these libraries to help to ease these waiting periods for patients by encouraging them to occupy their minds with something productive during their stay. We truly appreciate and are grateful to SLT for donating these valuable books and for the mini libraries arranged at the wards.”
SLT commemorated the important events that took place in the life of Gauthama Buddha on this Vesak full moon day at the SLT Vesak Kalapaya under the theme ‘Kalaguna Selakeema’, by focusing on showing gratitude and appreciation by giving to others in need.
