Southern hospitality for Kilinochchi women soldiers
The newly recruited 103 women soldiers of Kilinochchi, on a week-long familiarisation tour to the South, met Seva Vanitha Army Branch (SVAB) president Manjulika Jayasuriya during a reception, accorded to them at Manning Town, Viru Kekulu Pre-School auditorium on Tuesday.
The Tamil women soldiers of 6 Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps (6 SLAWC), many who had never visited the South earlier, commenced their tour from Kilinochchi, following arrangements made by the Security Forces Headquarters - Kilinochchi (SFHQ-KLN) on Monday and arrived in Colombo the same evening to stay overnight with their fellow-women workmates at the 6 SLAWC rear headquarters at Veyangoda.
As the first itinerary on the first day of the tour, the women soldiers visited the SVAB-managed Viru Kekulu Pre-School at Manning Town where they were received by the SAVB president in the company of SVAB members and senior Army officers.
The women soldiers enjoyed a variety entertainment of dance performances.
One visiting woman soldier thanked the Army for hosting them during their visit to Colombo for the first time.
Broadcaster J Yogaraj conducted Tamil-Sinhala bilingual interpretations during the proceedings.
The Sri Lanka Army in November last year, enlisted its biggest ever batch of 103 Tamil girls from Kilinochchi to the 6 SLAWC of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force during a landmark ceremony at 6 SLAWC Headquarters at Bharathipuram, Kilinochchi.
Although the Army has a fair number of Tamils and Muslims serving the organisation, it was the first time in its history a mass-scale recruitment of Tamil girls from the North took place as a gesture of goodwill and reconciliation.
Over 200 Kilinochchi-based girls applied for recruitment, but the Army was able to accommodate only 103 applicants after selecting the best in three rounds of interviews.
These new women soldiers will also visit the SLAWC Regimental Headquarters at Colombo 8, National Museum, Planetarium, Nelum Pokuna, Vihara Maha Devi Park, Army Band, University of Colombo, Zoo, Presidential Secretariat, World Trade Centre, Colombo Harbour, Biyagama Free Trade Zone and a few other places of interest. Their tour will end on Sunday.
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