It is sunny throughout the year though rains are frequent in this side of the country. The heat here is bearable like any other area in the country. It is the warmth of the people living that makes this town special. A little south of Colombo, with the blue ocean on the west and on the banks of Bolgoda Lake lays the beautiful town of Moratuwa.
Away from the main road with the Lunawa lagoon on its side and in the quiet neighbourhood of Uyana lies the Oldest Catholic School in Colombo and the third Oldest Catholic School in all Island, our Alma Mater, the St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa.
In 1854 in the veranda of the St. Sebastian’s Church with only 22 students. The school had the most humble of beginnings one could imagine. From the veranda of the church to Chevalier Bungalow to Uswatte and then finally moved to current premises in Uyana road in 1926. Today our College stand out as one of leading educational institutions in the country with over 4000 students under its guidance.
There is a saying, “It takes a village to raise a child“. Well in our case “It takes a town to build a School” is true. For 17 centuries it is the people of this wonderful town who were responsible for the growth of the College to where it is today and it will continue to be true in the future too. We are proud as Sebastianites because our school was built by us not by anyone else like most of other schools.
We are sons of Carpenters, we are sons of Engineers, we are sons of Doctors, we are sons of Fishermen, we are sons of Bankers and above all we are sons of mother Sebastian and we are all proudly Sebastianites. And today on 19th January 2019 we celebrate 165th birthday of our school with huge pride.
Happy birthday Mother Sebastian! Long live!
Prihesh Ratnayake (Batch of 2012)
Photo Credits Rovin Shanila