Don’t cry for me Sri Lanka
“When you go to Sri Lanka, you cry twice – once when you arrive and the other when you leave.” – Italy’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Rita Giuliana Mannella. This was part of the outgoing Italian diplomat’s message to commemorate the 77th anniversary of her republic on 29 May.
We’d like to think that this sentiment resonates among Sri Lankans across the globe – and if the first two editions of Sri Lanka’s first international magazine are anything to go by, there’s little doubt that they do.
Many fellow Sri Lankans have been away for years if not decades, and thousands more are following in their footsteps as we speak. Sift through the pages that follow to decipher ‘why?’ and ‘where?’ – and indeed, the clarity of an underlying emotion of ‘missing home’ for a number of reasons.
Among them perhaps is the Italian ambassador’s cry. Or we’d like to think so!
LMD International is setting out to remind our friends that their homeland is alive
So as we journey across the seas in search of ways and means of connecting fellow Sri Lankans, LMD International is setting out to remind our friends that their homeland is alive and kicking – the latter, to break the shackles of a crisis ridden island so that not only will there be an end to the ongoing brain drain but a reversal of it in the years ahead.
While this may be the stuff of dreams, at the very least, we believe that opportunities abound for our people living on foreign soil to come to the island party… by engaging with it, giving back to it and even helping it rise from the ashes.
Do spread the word across the world… because if there’s a will, there must be a way!
– Editor-in-Chief