Colombo Expats Cultural Association (CECA), Sri Lanka, which is a multi-national community comprising members from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, organised and celebrated the Festival of Lights – Diwali in Colombo.
The celebration was presided over President Ranil Wickremesinghe, First Lady, Prof. Maithree Wickremesinghe. The High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay and First Lady, Beena Baglay was the Guests of Honour.
Along with the President and High Commissioner, the other dignitaries included Secretary to the President, Saman Ekanayake, Deputy High Commissioner of India, Vinod Jacob, Chief of Staff, Sagala Ratnayake, Seniro Advisor, Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, Chairman UNP, Wajira Abeywardena, Secretary to the Minister of Technology, Prof. Niranjan Goonawardana, Director Special Projects, Theekshana Abeywardana, and Private Secretary to the President, Sandra Perera.
CECA President, Captain Anirban Banerjee, the Association mentors Ranjan Chakarawarthy and Sanjay Baid were other dignitaries who took part in the function.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe during his speech commended CECA’s commitment and highlighted how it has helped Sri Lanka in the moment of darkness by lighting up lives of underprivileged children during those crisis situations.
He was very appreciative of CECAs continued involvement and commitment towards Sri Lanka.
President Wickremesinghe also said that “India and Sri Lanka are two sides of the coin and while both countries have their differences in culture and religion, there are commonalities. Diwali is one such commonality that we all enjoy.”
During the event, President Wickremesinghe participated in a firework s display and made the event more memorable.
To bring out the cultural and festive occasion, CECA organised a cultural fashion event, with members of CECA representing various states.
About 25 couples took to the ramp walk and represented the cultural importance of each State with their colourful display of cultural attires.
In 2020, amid the Covid-19 pandamic orphanages across the country were reeling with scarcity of supplies and were detaching from continued education.
CECA in all its capacity came forward to contribute essentials as well as brand new computers for online education that helped 52 orphanages in the country.
In 2021, CECA organised an all island-wide painting competition for orphanages. The talented children from these orphanages were brought to Colombo, accommodated in a 5-star hotel and provided a life time of memories and aspirations.
In 2022, CECA undertook a massive food donation drive when it received a request from the Ministry of Child Care and Probation to support the orphanages who were struggling due to the economic crisis.
CECA strategised this drive to support 10,600 children across 300 orphanages with 100 days of dry rations, including rice, dhal, potatoes and onions. CECA completed this massive donation end to end and made sure all the dry rations were delivered to the orphanages.
