(January 27, Jaffna, Sri Lanka Guardian) Traditional courtesies and rituals complete with melodious nathaswaram music to the accompaniment of rhythmic thavils, nilappavadai welcome, garlands especially of cloves and cardamoms and Golden Shawl honour greeted the US Ambassador in Sri Lanka Her Excellency Ms. Patricia Butenis when she arrived at the Green Memorial Hospital, Manipay Tuesday January 25.
She was welcomed by the Rt Rev Dr Daniel Thiagarajah, Bishop in Jaffna of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India and Chairperson of the American Ceylon Mission that counts a long relationship with the people of Jaffna.
Bishop Thiagarajah is also the Chairperson of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka.
Among those who welcomed the Ambassador was the Tamil National Alliance Member of Parliament, Mr M A Sumanthiran,
In the field of modern medicine, the Green Memorial Hospital has a monumental history. Founded in 1848 by the American Missionary Dr Samuel Fiske Green, it was Sri Lanka’s first Medical College. Associated with its sister hospital, Inuvil’s McLeod Hospital, it did yeoman service until it was ravaged by the recent civil war.
It is a matter of great relief that the JDCSI headed by Bishop Daniel Thiagarajah is determined to bring both hospitals back to their pristine glory.
Marking the visit of the Ambassador, a public meeting was held in Centre for Holistic Healing at the hospital premises at which Bishop Thiagarajah gave an indication of the hospital’s development goals. He briefly traced the pioneering efforts of the early missionaries and their visions and the elements that uphold democratic values they propagated in North Sri Lanka. It is these values that will guide us, observed the Bishop Thiagarajah as we help create a new nation for the generations to come.
Mr. Sumanthiran added to these sentiments with welcome greetings and emphasized the need to effectively continue the mission carried out by the dedicated missionaries who came from New England, USA.
Her Excellency also chose the occasion to visit the Uduvil Girls College, the first girl’s school with a hostel in Asia founded by Harriet Winslow, in whose memory a Girls Home has been established at Pandatheruppu.
Following the visit to Manipay, the Ambassador and her party briefly called at Jaffna College whose origin goes back to the 1820s with the founding of its forerunner the Batticotta Seminary.
Managed by a Board of Directors with fraternal relationship with JDCSI, it is headed by Bishop Thiagarajah as the Chairperson of its Board of Directors. Jaffna College receives funds from its own fiduciary body, the Trustees of Jaffna College Funds in Boston, Massachusetts.
The history of the JDCSI goes back to 1813 with numerous firsts in education and health when missionaries from the US committed themselves to the command to go out into the world and preach the gospel.
Her Excellency Patricia Butenis made many references to the work of the American missionaries in the North counting many firsts in their achievements when she declared open the American Corner at Jaffna City the previous day.
In her speech she said: “Not everyone may realize that Americans have a long relationship with the people of Jaffna. American missionaries arrived here in 1813, almost two hundred years ago. They taught English and learned Tamil, founded the first printing press in Jaffna(American Ceylon Mission Press), started the first Tamil language newspaper anywhere (The Morning Star) , and established Sri Lanka’s first medical school.
Last June, during my first trip to Jaffna, I visited a cemetery in Uduvil where several Americans lie in rest. There I learned that former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, one of the United States' most renowned diplomats, visited the gravesite of his great-grandmother Harriet Winslow, founder of Uduvil Girls School whose choir sang earlier in the ceremony. This was the first girls’ boarding school in all of Asia.”
“The opening of the American Corner,” she said, “is a symbol of our sustained commitment to the people of Jaffna. And, with its opening, we add another American "first" to the list for the American Corner is the first facility in Jaffna to have an operating ADSL internet connection.
“An American Corner is much more than a small library where people can read books, magazines, or current newspapers. The American Corner is a place that will connect Jaffna with the rest of Sri Lanka, and with the world. Through digital video conferences, the Jaffna public can now interact with American scholars or business leaders in New York, Los Angeles, or Washington D.C.
“Of equal importance, you can also connect with a network of universities throughout Sri Lanka and with our American Corners in Kandy, Oluvil, and Colombo, as we are doing today. We will engage young people via the internet, web casts, and programming to develop their communication and leadership skills. Our online databases, English language library collection, regularly scheduled book clubs and film screenings will provide educational and cultural resources to both children and adults. We hope and expect that the American Corner will quickly become a vibrant community center, and provide a space for dialogue between Sri Lankans and Americans.
The American Corner is only one of the ways we are engaging with the people of Jaffna. The U.S. Agency for International Development created 20,000 full-time jobs in the North and East through an innovative series of partnerships with private companies. We have also given many small grants to youth organizations for projects such as training translators, promoting the performing arts, and addressing domestic violence. I even gave the Jaffna Public Library some books from my own collection of detective stories and mysteries.”
Bishop Thiagarajah recollected the glorious days when these two mission hospitals along with the one at Murasumoddai, Paranthan gave their best to the community. He further added of the importance of traumatic counseling for the people who suffered the war and those who are now being resettled in the Wanni. Special mention was made about the contribution of the JDCSI Centre for Holistic Healing which has now become an inseparable part of diocesan mission to the people at large. The function was organized by this Centre on behalf of the JDCSI. Dr Ms. Thaya Thiagarajah, Director, Centre for Holistic Healing, has made all arrangements with the assistance of the students. She had earlier garlanded the Ambassador and adored her with a golden shawl. Mr S.R. Jesupalan, Secretary of Mission Hospitals and Mr Noel Vimalendran, Chairperson of Medical Board were among those who were present and helped to make the visit a memorable one.
The Ambassador made a quick tour of the Green Memorial Hospital and appreciated the commitment of JDCSI to carry forward the ideals of the early American Missionaries.
Bishop Thiagarajah presented a copy of the Centenary Souvenir of GMH and a write-up titled “The Challenge Before Us.” The Ambassador, in response, presented the diocese a copy of Mr Thiru Arumugam’s “Nineteenth Century American Medical Missionaries in Jaffna, Ceylon.”
She was welcomed by the Rt Rev Dr Daniel Thiagarajah, Bishop in Jaffna of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India and Chairperson of the American Ceylon Mission that counts a long relationship with the people of Jaffna.
Bishop Thiagarajah is also the Chairperson of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka.
Among those who welcomed the Ambassador was the Tamil National Alliance Member of Parliament, Mr M A Sumanthiran,
In the field of modern medicine, the Green Memorial Hospital has a monumental history. Founded in 1848 by the American Missionary Dr Samuel Fiske Green, it was Sri Lanka’s first Medical College. Associated with its sister hospital, Inuvil’s McLeod Hospital, it did yeoman service until it was ravaged by the recent civil war.
It is a matter of great relief that the JDCSI headed by Bishop Daniel Thiagarajah is determined to bring both hospitals back to their pristine glory.
Marking the visit of the Ambassador, a public meeting was held in Centre for Holistic Healing at the hospital premises at which Bishop Thiagarajah gave an indication of the hospital’s development goals. He briefly traced the pioneering efforts of the early missionaries and their visions and the elements that uphold democratic values they propagated in North Sri Lanka. It is these values that will guide us, observed the Bishop Thiagarajah as we help create a new nation for the generations to come.
Mr. Sumanthiran added to these sentiments with welcome greetings and emphasized the need to effectively continue the mission carried out by the dedicated missionaries who came from New England, USA.
Her Excellency also chose the occasion to visit the Uduvil Girls College, the first girl’s school with a hostel in Asia founded by Harriet Winslow, in whose memory a Girls Home has been established at Pandatheruppu.
Following the visit to Manipay, the Ambassador and her party briefly called at Jaffna College whose origin goes back to the 1820s with the founding of its forerunner the Batticotta Seminary.
Managed by a Board of Directors with fraternal relationship with JDCSI, it is headed by Bishop Thiagarajah as the Chairperson of its Board of Directors. Jaffna College receives funds from its own fiduciary body, the Trustees of Jaffna College Funds in Boston, Massachusetts.
The history of the JDCSI goes back to 1813 with numerous firsts in education and health when missionaries from the US committed themselves to the command to go out into the world and preach the gospel.
Her Excellency Patricia Butenis made many references to the work of the American missionaries in the North counting many firsts in their achievements when she declared open the American Corner at Jaffna City the previous day.
In her speech she said: “Not everyone may realize that Americans have a long relationship with the people of Jaffna. American missionaries arrived here in 1813, almost two hundred years ago. They taught English and learned Tamil, founded the first printing press in Jaffna(American Ceylon Mission Press), started the first Tamil language newspaper anywhere (The Morning Star) , and established Sri Lanka’s first medical school.
Last June, during my first trip to Jaffna, I visited a cemetery in Uduvil where several Americans lie in rest. There I learned that former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, one of the United States' most renowned diplomats, visited the gravesite of his great-grandmother Harriet Winslow, founder of Uduvil Girls School whose choir sang earlier in the ceremony. This was the first girls’ boarding school in all of Asia.”
“The opening of the American Corner,” she said, “is a symbol of our sustained commitment to the people of Jaffna. And, with its opening, we add another American "first" to the list for the American Corner is the first facility in Jaffna to have an operating ADSL internet connection.
“An American Corner is much more than a small library where people can read books, magazines, or current newspapers. The American Corner is a place that will connect Jaffna with the rest of Sri Lanka, and with the world. Through digital video conferences, the Jaffna public can now interact with American scholars or business leaders in New York, Los Angeles, or Washington D.C.
“Of equal importance, you can also connect with a network of universities throughout Sri Lanka and with our American Corners in Kandy, Oluvil, and Colombo, as we are doing today. We will engage young people via the internet, web casts, and programming to develop their communication and leadership skills. Our online databases, English language library collection, regularly scheduled book clubs and film screenings will provide educational and cultural resources to both children and adults. We hope and expect that the American Corner will quickly become a vibrant community center, and provide a space for dialogue between Sri Lankans and Americans.
The American Corner is only one of the ways we are engaging with the people of Jaffna. The U.S. Agency for International Development created 20,000 full-time jobs in the North and East through an innovative series of partnerships with private companies. We have also given many small grants to youth organizations for projects such as training translators, promoting the performing arts, and addressing domestic violence. I even gave the Jaffna Public Library some books from my own collection of detective stories and mysteries.”
Bishop Thiagarajah recollected the glorious days when these two mission hospitals along with the one at Murasumoddai, Paranthan gave their best to the community. He further added of the importance of traumatic counseling for the people who suffered the war and those who are now being resettled in the Wanni. Special mention was made about the contribution of the JDCSI Centre for Holistic Healing which has now become an inseparable part of diocesan mission to the people at large. The function was organized by this Centre on behalf of the JDCSI. Dr Ms. Thaya Thiagarajah, Director, Centre for Holistic Healing, has made all arrangements with the assistance of the students. She had earlier garlanded the Ambassador and adored her with a golden shawl. Mr S.R. Jesupalan, Secretary of Mission Hospitals and Mr Noel Vimalendran, Chairperson of Medical Board were among those who were present and helped to make the visit a memorable one.
The Ambassador made a quick tour of the Green Memorial Hospital and appreciated the commitment of JDCSI to carry forward the ideals of the early American Missionaries.
Bishop Thiagarajah presented a copy of the Centenary Souvenir of GMH and a write-up titled “The Challenge Before Us.” The Ambassador, in response, presented the diocese a copy of Mr Thiru Arumugam’s “Nineteenth Century American Medical Missionaries in Jaffna, Ceylon.”
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