Seminarians pull together to save cash

ucanews.com reporter, Chilaw

Around 100 seminarians and some of their parents are rolling up their sleeves to provide much needed help in extensive renovation and building work at a seminary in Chilaw diocese. St Paul’s Minor Seminary in Marawila, which was built in 1950, has been in need of restoration work for several years, according to Father Jayantha Perera, its rector. So to minimize high labor costs the seminarians are putting aside their books and are volunteering in their spare time to do much the work themselves, along with several of their fathers who are craftsmen. “We had to do something, the original buildings are falling apart,” Father Perera said. “The students were finding it difficult to concentrate on their studies especially during the rainy season. Plaster was missing, there were huge cracks in the walls and water was coming in.” Several washrooms, an infirmary, a