The Principal, Rev. Fr. Araliya Jayasundara OSB visited the College Farm on Wednesday, 7th October and met with the farm manager Mr Chandra Amunugama to discuss the present state of work and future developments.
It was in the early 1950s Mr William Sinnathamby (called ‘Bill’ by his friends and ‘Sinna’ by his students), with a new vision for promoting agriculture at Trinity, leased out land in Haragama to establish a new farm with the support of Principal Mr N.S. Walter and Vice Principal Major Gordon Burrows.
The ‘William Sinnathamby Farm’ to call by its original name, has survived through almost 70 years of ‘glad and melancholy’ days. The site visit on Wednesday proved to be productive in understanding the actual state of the farm, which, to all those who visited, seemed very promising!
Currently crops such as coconuts, bananas, papayas, turmeric, beans, corns, radishes, tomatoes, red onions, carrots and beets are grown. And, being a mixed farm, it has a considerable amount of livestock – cattle, pigs, chickens, rabbits and goats.
To promote the market for its products, a new farm shop was recently opened at the Junior School grounds to allow students, parents, staff and outside visitors to buy many of the farm products.
The Principal had this to say about the visit:
“This was an unscheduled visit amidst many other activities and how amazing it was. Contrary to popular perceptions I must commend Chandra, Anil and other collaborators for keeping this unique Trinity asset functional. We do have few challenges, least being the proliferation of stray dogs. The panoramic view of the Mahaweli, which appear before the Manager’s lodge is mesmerizing. I am sure with a little effort from the Trinity Family we can transform this venture, which provides the present Trinitians as a ‘school without walls’. I invite our students, teachers, alumni and well-wishers to visit this Trinity territory and be overwhelmed by the bounty of nature, which stands today solely as a living testimony to the unparalleled dedication of late William Sinnathamby”.
Rev. Fr. Araliya Jayasundara OSB
