Hope For Better Tomorrow- Mallavi Kids With Cartwheel Team Slideshow: Manori & Parveen’s trip from Colombo, Sri Lanka to 2 cities Anuradhapura and Mallavi (near Jaffna) was created by TripAdvisor. See another Sri Lanka slideshow. Take your travel photos and make a slideshow for free.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Sri Lanka's Journey in Reconciliation
Sri Lanka’s Journey in Reconciliation
Part 1
After almost a year of preparations, the cARTwheel
Initiatives’ project to support children in post-conflict Sri Lanka, got off to a flying start at Mallavi Central College
in Mullaitivu District today.
The cARTwheel’s team
of artists from New York led by Ashok Sinha, a renowned photographer,
spent the
first day at Mallavi Central, engaging the children in 4 workshops of
art/graphic design, music, collage making & photography, and
imparting knowledge, techniques and coping tools & bringing them
hours of joyful learning
experiences.
The project, initiated by Ashok Sinha and Parveen
Dassanaike, CEO of United Holidays and co-founder of cARTwheel Initiative,
hopes to bring the therapeutic and transformative power of the arts to children
in post-conflict Sri Lanka
through 10 days of workshops in 3 schools, namely, Mallavi Central
College, Pandiyankulam
GTMS (Thunukkai) & Poonekary Maha Vidyalam, Pooneryn (Killinochchi)
The workshops, designed to open the minds of the children to
various forms of artistic expression, hopes to help children move forward from
a dark and depressing time of their lives,when they lived under the cloud of a
war which raged for the most parts of their childhood. Having had no “normal”
childhood, these children have been the innocent bystanders in a war which
divided our nation, built hatred and acrimony between communities and kept Sri Lanka from
reaching its full potential for many decades.
Psychosocial activities have been promoted in the north,
since their time in the IDP welfare villages and has continued with the setting up of Happiness Centres in many schools
in the north since early 2010. The cARTwheel Initatives' workshops are centred around the Happiness Centres
(Mahilchi Illam), which provide children a happy and safe environment in rebuilding their lives
after, the conflict.
Watching the smiles spread across the faces of the children,
slowly loosening up and engaging with the instructors, absorbing new techniques
and ideas and broadening their minds, were a heart warming moment, bringing
me close to tears. To finally witness the unfolding of the project and seeing the impact of the workshops on children was an
overwhelmingly emotional moment for us all.
The workshops will continue till 10th
December,
with each school having a community exhibition to displaying their
talents to
their families and friends, followed by a visit to Colombo and an
exhibition of art and music at the SL Foundation Institute on 14th Dec.
It is only through such acts of caring and support can we reach into their hearts and build trust, acceptance and hope for a better tomorrow - a tomorrow, where all our children will live in harmony.
To be continued ......
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Time for Reconciliation
"Reconciliation : The way forward for post-conflict Sri Lanka" was the theme at the inaugural conference on national reconciliation, that kicked-off at the Lakshman Kardirgamar Institute for International Relations & Strategic Studies on 24th November 2011.
Being the first of its kind at a national level, it drew much interest from all quarters - some skeptical, some hopeful and some determined. The Government's commitment to the reconciliation process was represented by Hon Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof GL Peiris, Secretary Defense, Mr Gotabhaya Rajapakse and Prof Rajiva Wijesinghe, Advisor to HE President on Reconciliation, among other dignitaries. Prof Rohan Gunaratna, a passionate advocate of reconciliation apart from his expertise on anti-terrorism, appealed to all Sri Lankans to work constantly every day, every hour and every minute towards a harmonious living and not to take peace and stability for granted.
The panel discussions and presentations on the role of civil society and the Tamil diaspora in reconciliation struck a cord in everyone's heart, evoking a strong desire to contribute to this national imperative.
Sri Lanka is slowly marching forward in the post-conflict period, focusing on infrastructure and livelihood development with the intention of easing the burden of daily life of the people of north & east. However, we need to reach out to these communities with our heart in all humility and embrace them as a part of our heritage, history and nation. The divide between the sihalese, tamil and muslim communities have been deepened through the 30 years of war, where we lived in relative compartments. Generations have been focused on protecting their individual racial identities, under the threat of terrorism and fear of extinction of one race by the other.
Peace has given us a golden opportunity and if we do not grab this now, it will be once again a paradise lost for Sri Lanka. Reconciliation should not be a politically correct word to be bandied about for advantage, but an action, which we can demonstrate in many ways - it can be as simple as a word of kindness, a touch in compassion, a glance with empathy, a helping hand to uplift the life of a family struggling to survive or mentor and guide a student looking to his future. These are all acts of reconciliation well within the grasp and ability of every single person in Sri Lanka and people of Sri Lankan origin, living abroad.
Many from the south and abroad, have traveled to the north/east as curious " tourists ", proudly displaying their photos of war torn north on facebook and used it as an exciting cocktail topic. However, if each of us also use this opportunity to see beyond the "attractions', we will see the faces of real people who have suffered and have not had the opportunity to lead a "normal" life. Reaching out to them, not in a patronizing manner but in true friendship and compassion, will heal the wounds in their heart and help build a society of equals, truly reconciled to begin a shared future together. Let us build a united Sri Lanka for our children.
Being the first of its kind at a national level, it drew much interest from all quarters - some skeptical, some hopeful and some determined. The Government's commitment to the reconciliation process was represented by Hon Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof GL Peiris, Secretary Defense, Mr Gotabhaya Rajapakse and Prof Rajiva Wijesinghe, Advisor to HE President on Reconciliation, among other dignitaries. Prof Rohan Gunaratna, a passionate advocate of reconciliation apart from his expertise on anti-terrorism, appealed to all Sri Lankans to work constantly every day, every hour and every minute towards a harmonious living and not to take peace and stability for granted.
The panel discussions and presentations on the role of civil society and the Tamil diaspora in reconciliation struck a cord in everyone's heart, evoking a strong desire to contribute to this national imperative.
Sri Lanka is slowly marching forward in the post-conflict period, focusing on infrastructure and livelihood development with the intention of easing the burden of daily life of the people of north & east. However, we need to reach out to these communities with our heart in all humility and embrace them as a part of our heritage, history and nation. The divide between the sihalese, tamil and muslim communities have been deepened through the 30 years of war, where we lived in relative compartments. Generations have been focused on protecting their individual racial identities, under the threat of terrorism and fear of extinction of one race by the other.
Peace has given us a golden opportunity and if we do not grab this now, it will be once again a paradise lost for Sri Lanka. Reconciliation should not be a politically correct word to be bandied about for advantage, but an action, which we can demonstrate in many ways - it can be as simple as a word of kindness, a touch in compassion, a glance with empathy, a helping hand to uplift the life of a family struggling to survive or mentor and guide a student looking to his future. These are all acts of reconciliation well within the grasp and ability of every single person in Sri Lanka and people of Sri Lankan origin, living abroad.
Many from the south and abroad, have traveled to the north/east as curious " tourists ", proudly displaying their photos of war torn north on facebook and used it as an exciting cocktail topic. However, if each of us also use this opportunity to see beyond the "attractions', we will see the faces of real people who have suffered and have not had the opportunity to lead a "normal" life. Reaching out to them, not in a patronizing manner but in true friendship and compassion, will heal the wounds in their heart and help build a society of equals, truly reconciled to begin a shared future together. Let us build a united Sri Lanka for our children.
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