Service Civil International - Sri Lanka

It was the dawn of THE new millennium - the year of 2000. SCI-SL was busy as usual with preparations for the routine Asia Europe Exchange Program.   International Work Camps were organized in three locations where people of different ethnic, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds were living. Due to unavoidable circumstances one camp had to be cancelled and we were compelled to look for an alternative location. The camp was moved to a leading girls’ college in Kandy which was treated as a “Buddhist School”. Students of different ethnic communities were mixed with the Buddhist girls during the work camp to improve their environment corner. The work camp concept and moving with Tamil and Muslim girls of different socio economic backgrounds was a quite novel experience for the Buddhist girls belonging to the so called elite class. They enjoyed the work but as anticipated by us preferred to cluster with their own feathers. So we introduced the tested work camp techniques to bring them together and to our surprise all of them became one soul within a day or two. The interaction of students was closely observed and evaluated at the end of the work camp. The final outcome was very impressive and students of all ethnic communities strongly felt that the project should continue on a wider scale. Thus SCI SL embarked on another fruitful long term project called Peace through Environment Protection Initiatives.

The project proposal on “Conservation of the Catchment Area of Nillamba River” was approved by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in 2001. Nillamba River is a small tributary of the Mahaveli River which is the longest and much utilized river for the provision of drinking water, irrigation and hydro power generation. Sometimes, it gushes down the steep, huge hills rising to the sky producing milky white suds and flows serenely through the valley with a long stretch of paddy fields on the river bank creating a very attractive panoramic view of the project area. Before it sacrifices its soul to the gigantic snake like Mahaveli river, it feeds the Nillambe Hydro Electricity Plant which generates 15 million units to the National Grid, provides drinking water 11,500 Cu. M. /day and irrigates thousands of acres of paddy fields.

The very first problem we faced was that the implementation of the project was much difficult than what we thought it would be, due to very poor infra structure facilities. But we were encouraged by the beauty of project area and its mammoth contribution to the country. The next problem was to find a suitable young activist who loves the nature…soft spoken with leadership qualities…. Honest in financial dealings…. And so on… to be appointed as a LTV. We started to scan our young members. Soori, the recently joined, youngest volunteer was successful. How Soori joined with SCI-SL was yet another interesting story. He came from a middle class family in a remote village. Both Soori and his elder brother Sampath were not successful in their university admission examination and were clicked with a team of lads from the village. Their parents were so worried over this incident and requested a senior member to help them. She introduced SCI-SL to the parents and they agreed to the elder son Sampath the next international work camp. It was totally a novel experience for him. He brought his younger brother to the next camp. Soori became very popular among fellow campers and the seniors as well. His pleasing words accompanied with a warm smile put the girls at ease but for the seniors he was just like a “raw material”. A lot of things have to be done before the steering wheel of the project was given to him. His English knowledge was very poor. He knew absolutely nothing of Agriculture. Gami Seva Sevana, a leading NGO in the project area agreed to provide him with a 3 months residential training at their center.SCI –SL successfully completed the project in 2002. He went to Europe through AEEP and became very popular among SCI activists in Europe. Soori now lives in Belgium with his Spanish wife and contributes to SCI – SL whenever the needs arise.

Dhammika filled the vacancy of Soori. He too was a lad from a remote village. He joined SCI-SL during his secondary school days. He too faced the very same problem, ie. Very Poor English knowledge. I still recollect the way he tried his best to master the language… he always spoke in English… very loudly… in his own accent. Nobody understood what he attempted to express but we appreciated and encouraged his endless efforts. I need not make you monotonous by repeating the same story of Soori for Dhammika as well. He volunteered to manage the Asian tsunami relief program at Kalamatiya Bird Sanctuary and Fishing Harbour. He was successful in university entrance examination in 2004, followed the degree course in English medium and obtained Bachelor of Arts honors degree in Economics. He participated in a series of work shops/training programs and improved his leadership skills and knowledge in human rights issues, environment conservation etc. and now help us as a resource person and a work camper.

Gayani joined us in 2007. She too comes from a remote village. She had completed her bachelors’ degree with a first class pass before she was introduced to SCI-SL. She had got married soon after graduation with Anil… her schoolmate boy friend and was hard up for an employment of any type. It is the English language that threatens their future. Both of them work as LTVs in Udunuwara environment project and are in the process of mastering the language, leadership qualities, and responsibilities of NGOs in this country. They will succeed in the near future. That’s our wish as well!

THE CHILDREN OF TODAY ARE THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW. The responsibility of guiding and training them to be future leaders lies with us. There is no doubt whatsoever about that. If it is so, what is our vision and mission on issues such as peace, solidarity, environment protection, human rights etc. We should pass the message of peace….. Message of solidarity…… message of environment protection……. And so on to the next generation at their early childhood itself. We should not be satisfied by just passing the message… but we should hold their hands… be with them throughout their teenage and guide and train them until  at least such time the seeds of peace… solidarity…. And so on settle down in the deepest spot in their mind. It will then grow up with age and become a huge tree when they become adults. Who do you think who would be able to shake it? Just believe me …. My answer is “No body”. That is what exactly my parents did to me. When I was a small child, a murder wherever it happened in this tiny island, caught the headline of all national newspapers on the following day itself. This country was in total peace during my childhood. Did our generation pass this message to our children? “No” we ran behind money… wealth…. Social status…white color jobs… etc. Our mission of the “Breaking Barriers …” is to initiate a change in this fierce tendency. The big demand among teachers and parents for this program indicates its success.  

We are proud that we are not all alone. There are so many institutes, NGOs and individuals who come forward to assist us in this fruitful cause. We have networked with University of Peradeniya, Central Agriculture Research Station, Schools, Girl Guides Association, Keshala Jayawardena Foundation, like minded NGOs such as Sarvodaya, Gami Seva Sevana, Sathyodaya, Practical Actions, Political bodies such as the Provincial Council of the Central Province, Udunuwara Divisional Council, Government Departments/Offices, Banks and the Private Firms etc.

We have networked with not only with the local bodies but also international teams such 350.0rg which is the first large scale grassroots global campaign against climate change. One of our activity photographs was selected out of thousands of photos from all over the world for their press conference held in Madrid, Spain on 3rd November, 2009.

“Peace Village…..”, “Peace Center…..”, “Peace House”…., we have been dreaming these words over the last so many years. Since it is a mammoth task we kept on postponing. After a decade or so we thought of forming a Mini Peace Center instead of a fully pledged one in the premises of a Buddhist temple situated in close proximity to SCI-SL center in Kandy. There are thousands of temples, kovils, churches and mosques in this country. Usually devotees visit their own places of worship only. Since they do not get the opportunity to observe the rituals of other religions they are unaware of the religious cultures of one another.

Sinhalese speak Sinhala and Tamils and Muslims speak Tamil. A negligible percentage of the population is conversant in both languages; it is quite evident that language has become a big barrier for integration of different ethnic communities. In the present education system, almost all Sinhala students go to “Sinhalese Schools”, While Tamil Students go to “Tamil Schools” and Muslim Students go to “Muslim Schools”. There are a very few national schools where students of all communities are enrolled but even there is little or no integration on the basis of a common program of activities. These we believe are the major causes for the disparities between the three major ethnic communities. The SCI-SL view this situation with grave concern and recognizes the need to evolve meaningful programs to bridge the disparities that divide the nation through mutual understanding and co- operation. Our approach is two fold ie. Providing a suitable environment to mix up and improve English proficiency as a link language.

With the blessings of the chief incumbent thero, we organize various programs such as week end work camps, international work camps etc. to conserve and improve the temple premises. Local volunteers of all three communities and foreign volunteers take part in these activities and get the opportunity to observe Buddhist rituals, mix up with Buddhist monks and the villagers and freely share views, practice Buddhist meditation, study Buddhism and, visit other religious temples. We have recently started a program to improve English language skills as a link language. A foreign MTV from Serbia and a local volunteer have already commenced this program and won the hearts of people around irrespective of their age, ethnicity, caste or creed etc. Let me please finish this short narration with Buddhist teachings on violence:

“Hatred never conquers hatred… Only non-hatred conquers hatred”.
“All dread death and physical harassment. Taking oneself as the example, kill not, hurt not”.