To mark the occasion and to honour the College and UWC movement, two alumni, Alexander Bent and Jacob Polny, initiated the idea of ‘Fundraising for Reconciliation – Sri Lanka’. In the lead-up to their 20-year reunion, their goal was to bring together their former classmates from all over the globe to help raise money to fund two full scholarships for two students from Sri Lanka:

“We set out to celebrate the amazing experience we had at UWC by giving back to the college and the UWC movement at our 20-year graduation anniversary.  We are very proud that our class came together and with the help of family, friends, and our wider network, successfully raised two full scholarships for two students with roots on opposite sides of the civil war in Sri Lanka. We wish the two students all the best for their two years at LPC – we know you are in for an incredible and life changing experience!  We would also like to extend our thanks to Shelby Davis, whose UWC-IMPACT Challenge matching programme made this possible.” – Alex Bent and Jacob Polny (UWC LPC, class of 1996).

Arnett Edwards, Principal of Li Po Chun UWC says: “The mission-driven work of our alumni has never failed to impress me. Representatives heard the call that not only is the college in need of greater scholarship funding, but also that the UWC movement is recognising that many of the world’s tensions are not just between countries, but within countries. Hearing this, the class of 1996 approached the College and the National Committee of Sri Lanka to raise funds to bring together two students from either side of the country’s conflict. We applaud the alumni of 1996 for initiating this ambitious project.”

Several members of the class started their own initiatives to raise funds, including Belinda Bagge, Kresse Wesling, Andrew Paquin, Nico Iacuzzi and Jacob Polny – who took part in a challenging trail running and obstacle course in June; and also Emma Hogan who cycled along the coast of England in July. Their second-year counterparts (class of 1995) also donated their surplus reunion funds to support the scholarships.

HK$600,000 was raised by July, and thanks to the Davis-UWC IMPACT gift matching challenge, the total value of all donations for this initiative rose to above HK$1,000,000. With this funding, two Sri Lankan students, Lambotharan Sivasubramaniam, (North Province) and Disal Wannaka Wattage, (Western Province) were able to start their LPCUWC journey, in September 2016.

“Thank you very much for making this opportunity possible for me. I never thought that I can study abroad.  It was a dream and now my dream has come true. LPC is a great place; they do not only focus on academics but also encourage students to do sports and extracurricular activities. They help us develop a balanced personality.

All LPC students are very friendly and helpful. I was worried about my English before I came and I did miss my family and friends the first week I was here. Now, I have a strong sense of belonging here as a member of the LPC family because of the great support from new friends here and the tutors. I am really enjoying my life! Now I am confident that I can accomplish more and am ready to serve the world. Thank you again, everyone who made this possible for me.” – Disal Wannaka Wattage (UWC LPC, class of 2018).

“In the first week of my arrival at LPC, I really underwent a very, very challenging situation. I missed my home, I had difficulties in speaking English, I was not able to communicate with others easily, and I was introduced to a totally new education system. All these worried me and made me very sad and nervous.

But now, I don't have any of those problems; the difficulties in my first week feel like a dream now. I am now surrounded by good friends, roommates and teachers. I am satisfied about all these positive changes. I also have faith in myself that I will be able to face all the new challenges and do a good job in the end. I like all my subjects even though they are somewhat difficult for me. I also like my QCs (IB CAS) very much.” – Lambotharan Sivasubramaniam (UWC LPC, class of 2018)