Protecting children from violence and abuse 

October 1 was World Children’s Day. It is a time to reflect on the violence that is found in schools, institutions (such as orphanages and other residential care), on the streets, in the workplace and in prisons. Children experience violence at home, within their family and from other children. A small proportion of violence against children leads to death, but most often the violence does not even leave visible marks. Yet it is one of the most serious problems affecting children today.

Much violence is hidden. Children may not feel able to report acts of violence for fear of retribution from their abuser. Both child and abuser may see nothing unusual or wrong in the child being subjected to violence. They may not consider an act of violence actually to be violence at all, perhaps viewing it as justifiable and necessary punishment. The child victim may feel ashamed or guilty, believing that the violence was deserved. This often leads the child to be unwilling to speak about it.

Violence pervades the societies within which children grow up. They see it in the media. It is part of the economic, cultural and societal norms that make up the child’s environment. It has its roots in issues such as the power relations associated with gender, exclusion, absence of a primary care giver and societal norms that are not protective or respectful of children.

Other factors include drugs, availability of firearms, alcohol abuse, unemployment, crime, impunity and cultures of silence. 

Violence can have severe implications for children’s development. In the most severe cases, it can lead to death or injury. However, it can also affect children’s health, their ability to learn or even their willingness to go to school at all. It can lead children to run away from home, exposing them to further risks. Violence also destroys children’s self-confidence and can undermine their ability to be good parents in the future. Children subjected to violence have a heightened risk of depression and suicide in later life.

Wishing children a bright and healthy future  

The Chief Executive of Nature’s Classroom Montessori Teacher Training Centre, Preneetha Tissera has been a Montessori /primary teacher and lecturer for the past 21 years. Realising the urgent need for proper Montessori training in Sri Lanka she set up the Nature’s Classroom Montessori Teacher Training Centre with the main objective of helping and educating Sri Lankan teachers to be professionals in their profession.

Tissera in an interview spoke of the revolutionary dietary supplement introduced to the market which is referred to as Manoll and its link to a child’s developmental process. 

“Teaching has been my lifelong passion, and  being able to work with multi age children had given me hands on experience with young children over the years. The popular Montessori programmes conducted by me on the Sawarnavahini TV has given me the opportunity to educate parents on the right type of Montessori environment that children should learn in, the proper use of Montessori materials etc.

“The main objective of this programme is to make parents aware of the right and wrong methods of teaching and that Montessori need not be confined only to a school but parents are able to create a conducive environment for their little ones at home so they will benefit while they are with them as well . I strongly believe that parents and teachers have the greatest task and  that is to help a young child reveal his unrealised potential by giving them an opportunity to learn in an environment which is suited for them, in doing so the adult in the environment must realise his/ her role and understand that in the task of educating them there would be no space for error,” said Tissera. 

Being an individual with a vast background in teaching, Tissera was the ideal candidate to promote the revolutionary dietary supplement Manoll which is marketed by Harcourts Limited. Commenting on the benefits of this product Tissera said, “Manoll is an excellent product which should be administered to a child starting from 18 months onwards. The dosages differ according to an individual’s age. I have done extensive research on this product on my own and can safely say that Manoll is a wonderful dietary supplement that helps to build up a child’s immunity levels, increase concentration and develop a child’s cognitive skills.” 

 Children between the ages 1 to 6 years often have very low immunity levels and are constantly prone to infections especially when they attend Montessori or preschool. It is also a known fact that children of this age have low appetites too and most parents do complain that it is a very difficult task to get them to eat fruits and vegetables that are needed for them. This eventually makes feeding time unpleasant for children as well as parents.

What should one do in a situation such as this? We all know that it is imperative that a child has a balanced meal in order to  grow and the early years are said to be the most crucial years of a child’s total development. In fact 80% of the child’s brain is developed during these formative years  which means that the nutrition  the child  receives during this period is of utmost importance to his/her later stages of development. They need that extra boost to their metabolism in order to stay healthy and replace the vital ingredients that may not be included in a meal.

In a Montessori environment children love water and sand play.  However parents have requested  teachers not to allow children to get involved in these activities because the children seem to get ill after a day at the sand pit. In the  Montessori school  these are the type of activities that children enjoy the most. However these are also the types of activities that sometimes cause children to fall ill. Children are active learners and most of the time rapidly exhaust their energies through the types of activities that they are involved in.  Due to these reasons a child’s exhausted energies need to be replaced through a healthy dietary regime. 

“Healthy food is not always fast  food, so children have the habit of rejecting the nutritious foods which are in most cases replaced with better tasting ones which are high in oils and sugar. Most often the leafy vegetables, spinach and carrots etc., are not always the type of foods that children like to eat. Therefore children may not receive the proper levels of nutrients and fibers that are vital for their healthy growth.

“All of these nutritious vitamins and fibres are offered in Manoll in their natural forms through a special syrup which also tastes good as it has a consistency of bees honey included in it in addition to ten other natural vegetables and fruits,” stated Tissera. 

What parents always worry about when thinking about administering a vitamin or dietary supplement to their child is the after effects. In most cases vitamins and dietary supplements can cause your child to be hyperactive, drowsy or develop allergies. Since Manoll is manufactured using 100% natural ingredients no side effects will occur. This is the edge Manoll has over every other product available in the market. 

“Parents must be very careful of what they introduce to children. In today’s fast placed society most often both parents work, which can cause your child to face certain nutrition problems with regard to what they eat. Fast-foods and other food types that are low in nutritional values have become the trend which also prevents the child from receiving his or her proper dose of daily nutrition. Manoll supplements this lack of proper nutrition in children as well as adults and helps to maintain their overall performance levels. 

“The thoughts that I would like to leave during this year’s International Children’s Day is  for parents and adults to think intelligently, feed intelligently and buy intelligently for their child.  We cannot take it for granted when it comes to the life of a child — his/her total needs must be met. It is only then that we can hope to have a child fully balanced in every way.” It is the child who makes the man and no man exists who was not made by the child he once was… Dr Maria Montessori 

Most of us often give children what they want and not what they need and what they want may not be the ideal and one of the best dietary supplements that parents can start their kids on is  Manoll,  which has received the authentication and approval of the Sri Lanka  Ayurvedic Commission.

“The world at large has clearly understood the value of taking natural products to keep healthy  Our children are the future of this world  keeping them healthy is the greatest desire of any parent. Manoll dietary  supplement would actually relieve them of the pressure of looking for immunity and  appetite boosters which have natural contents in the market. It is one of the safest and most effective products  for ensuring that your child receives the best nutritional supplement to keep healthy, active and alert  when they are growing,” said Tissera.

House & Property

MBSL takes over Ceylinco Building Society Limited 

The Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka has decided to take over the management of Ceylinco Building Society. Ceylinco Building Society is a building society established under the National Housing Act No.37 of Sri Lanka. The Society was established in 1995 and commenced operations from 1998.

The Society operates in a similar fashion to the Co-operative societies and is structured broadly along the lines of building societies in the United Kingdom. Ceylinco Building Society has a branch network of 18 branches with a strong presence in the north and east and has managed to retain customer confidence despite the current Ceylinco crisis due to the dedication and commitment of the young management team and the staff.

With MBSL coming in as the managing agent, the Building Society and associate companies will take new initiatives and strategies of diversification and expansion in the near future. In addition, this will also help to boost customer confidence and stabilise their business activities due to the reputation and the strength of MBSL.

The majority of customers are small scale entrepreneurs, self-employed persons and people employed in Sri Lanka or overseas who save regularly with the society with the objective of obtaining housing loans. In addition these companies are also involved in real estate activities and are the owners of the “6th Avenue Apartments” at 188, Havelock Road, Colombo 5.

The company also owns several other valuable real estate sites in the city.

With the take over of management by MBSL and under the Chairmanship of Janaka Ratnayake who has successfully overcome many a challenge, the society is confident in widening the objective of broad basing home ownership in Sri Lanka.

Cost  effective construction solution 

The construction of houses and buildings has become an arduous task due to the exorbitant cost of construction.

International Construction Consortium (Pvt) Ltd., better known as ICC, a giant in the construction industry was established in 1980. It is an ISO 9001:2000 certified MI class construction company and has won the IFAWPCA Gold Medal for Civil Engineering Construction  and ICTAD Award for construction excellence in 2002, 2003 and 2004. ICC is a pioneer solution provider in the construction industry. ICC has now introduced the innovative pre-cast SBS Floor system as a revolutionary alternative to insitu concrete slabs.

This SBS Floor system translates into a cost saving solution on reinforcement steel, concrete shuttering, and labour costs compared to the conventional cost in-situ method, achieving maximum saving out of minimum investment by constructing sturdy, single beam floors (for housing) and double beam floors (for shops and offices).

The SBS floor has a multitude of advantages and has generated rapid demand at present in the construction industry. The SBS system requires no scaffolding, props and shuttering and this saves the usage of timber, an eco- friendly solution for the future timber related problems. Normally slabs are designed to impose 150kg per square metre, but SBS slabs have an enhanced strength up to 500kg per square metre. All precast elements are manufactured and tested in ICC’s state-of-the art laboratory.

Technical Officers of ICC visit the construction sites and deliver free technical advice and provide transport up to 20 km from their yard at Madapatha, to ease the hassle of customers.

At present, this is the ideal solution for the construction of homes for thousands of Sri Lankans ensuring quality and maximum use of space while saving time and money.

SBS slab systems have now come up with an innovative way of constructing balconies without projecting the structural beams of the building. The SBS pre-stress beams can project outwards to form the balcony. This is  becoming extremely popular among builders. 

Pests: they may be small but their cost is huge

They are a constant threat to business. The consequences of pests in your hotel, restaurant, warehouse or even your office can be devastating. You run the risk of violating health regulations, possible closure or negative publicity. So how do you combat the threat? How do you protect your business?

Just one pest can have a financial impact on your business, but a larger infestation could cripple your operation. Since a few pests can multiply quickly once inside, preventing them getting in is the key. They cause physical damage to your structure and possessions, spread diseases such as TB, cholera, typhoid, yellow fewer, dengue, chikungunya, malaria and Japanese encephalitis and germs irritate allergies and generally make the living environment uncomfortable, even deadly by their presence.

No matter how clean you keep premises, how well the premises is constructed, pests will find a way in and stay in.

How do pests invade your environment? They enter via cracks as small as 1/64 of an inch, access holes where pipes and wires enter your home and around window sills.

Pests can eat away at your profits in many ways: Structural damage • Transmission of harmful diseases • Food poisoning • Damage to raw materials and inventory • Negative customer experience • Violation of health regulations • Decrease in employee productivity and morale.

There are many species of pests in Sri Lanka including ants, rodents, cockroaches, termites, spiders, snakes, wasps, tics, bed bugs, fleas, ticks, mosquitoes etc.

In response to your phone call, the typical pest control company will apply chemicals throughout the interior and exterior of your home. Although well intended, a pesticide in the wrong place or using the wrong materials and amounts or possibly treating in inappropriate areas can contaminate your living environment and put your customers, employees and your family and pets at risk. And these techniques rarely keep pests away for long. Then it’s back to square one

Exterminators’ commercial and domestic pest management is the ultimate solution to fight the pest invasion.

Exterminators Commercial Pest Management ECPM is a comprehensive integrated pest management system that is not only designed to control the problem, but focuses on one of the most important factors of protection — prevention. 

Wouldn’t it be better to keep pests out of your home in the first place? Exterminators can protect your family from pests. They adhere to integrated pest management concepts using state of the art chemistry to control pests without harming you, your family, pets or plants.

Exterminators know that pests don’t just magically appear in your home. Pests systematically seek out entry points and invade your home to obtain food and water, and even shelter. Exterminators fights the pest invasion with common sense techniques and materials geared toward sending those pests packing.

Orange electric wins silver again 

Orange Electric Sri Lanka’s foremost electrical accessories manufacture was once again recognised as a significant contributor to the national economy by winning the National Chamber of Commerce Silver Award in the Extra Large Industrial Section for Exports - 2008. This is the second consecutive year that the company won this prestigious award by the chamber.

Currently the company exports to 15 countries across four continents. The company’s world class state of the art factories are located in Maharagama, Boralesgamuwa, and Meegoda.  Today over 90 million switches and 25 million sockets manufactured by the company decorate homes and commercial buildings throughout the island and the world.

The brand has received many accolades from both local and international bodies such as Superbrand International, Maubima Lanka Foundation, SLSI National Quality Award and most recently the Asia Pacific Quality Award.

Orange Electric brand is owned by OREL MFG (Pvt.) Ltd., a fully Sri Lankan family owned company.