Inspired by what he had heard from friends about Buddhism, Hermann Acker from Oberndorf takes a leap of faith and gets ordained in Sri Lanka after listening to and meeting the Chief Incumbent of the Mihintale Raja Maha Viharaya at a function in Germany.

Far removed from his duties as the Mayor of the small German town of Oberndorf, Hermann Acker decided to get ordained as a Buddhist monk at the Mihintale Rajamaha Viharaya recently. Mr. Acker (55), who has served as Mayor for over 14 years developed an interest in Buddhism after he heard about the teachings of the Buddha from two of his friends who were frequent visitors to Sri Lanka and keen students of the teachings.

Some parts of Sri Lanka including North Central Province is full of hardness, fluoride and   compounds of heavy metals such as Cadmium, Arsenic, Lead and such contaminated water has caused chronic kidney disease among children in the region.

A none political none commercial voluntary organization named “Organization for Prevention of Kidney Disease in Children (OPKDC)” consisting of well known Sri Lankan consultants, physicians, medical doctors and senior government officials have embarked on a project to install water purification machines in the schools of those affected areas.

Balzhausen is approximately 8,000 kilometres away from their tropical homeland. Wrapped up in warm jackets the members of a delegation from the distant Sri Lanka get off the bus in front of the company Energeticum Energiesteme in Balzhausen. The delegation is formed by 15 entrepreneurs from the energy sector and two representatives of the state-run ministry of energy in Sri Lanka. The guests were welcomed by CEO Robert Specht, his employees and Balzhausen’s Mayor Gerhard Glogger.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), held every two years to enable leaders of Commonwealth countries to come together to discuss global and Commonwealth issues and to decide on collective policies and initiatives will be held in Sri Lanka from 13th - 17h November 2013. Sri Lanka is privileged to hold this summit this year, as this is the first time an Asian country is hosting this in 24 years. This prestigious event presents Sri Lanka a valuable opportunity to promote and reposition Sri Lanka as a strategically important economic centre of the world.