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| Saturday, 6 March 2004 |
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Ashoka Foundation - a force for peace By Kalakeerthi Edwin Ariyadasa Bill Drayton was inspired by the example of Emperor Ashoka, who in his deep remorse over the bloodshed of war, dedicated the totality of his imperial rule to elevate man spiritually and to wage a war for social welfare. And, this Bill Drayton is the founder President of Ashoka Foundation. The Foundation was originally set up in 1980 and now for 24 long years, the Foundation has pursued its ideals and goals, extending its services throughout the world. In this global effort "Ashoka Fellows" from many 1400 countries in the world make their contributions. Since 1981 more than one thousand four hundred Ashoka Fellows have been selected. Ashoka is also the first global association of leading social entrepreneurs, who devote and dedicate their skills and resources to solve social problems on a large scale. Bill Drayton defines how and Ashoka Fellow works: "Rather than building a new school for example, an Ashoka Fellow launches a better way of teaching - an idea that can spread for beyond the school where it is first demonstrated." Ashoka Foundation identifies leading social entrepreneurs around the world. These personalities attuned to pragmatic thinking possess the vision, entrepreneurial drive and creativity to bring about large scale social change, their specific fields. Ashoka fellows have been selected from about 48 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the US and Europe. Ashoka Fellows works in six broad fields: Education, environment, health, human rights, economic development and civic participation. Ashoka started its operations in Sri Lanka in December 2003, and Ashoka Foundation is a non-profit, international organization. To be selected an Ashoka Fellow, an individual should possess an original idea for solving an important social problem a creative vision and a capacity for problem solving. Such an individual must have a skill for goal-setting and the knack to think through details of implementation. He should have a realistic action plan to elicit a national impact. Above all, an Ashoka Fellow must be ethically unblemished. Recently, Ashoka Foundation has conferred fellowships to three distinguished Sri Lankans. These three outstanding individuals were offered the Fellowship at a ceremony held in Mumbai, India on the 20th of February. Heading the list of recipients, is Professor Harendra de Silva. Ashoka has made him a Senior Fellow, in recognition of is not inconsiderable service, in the field of Child Protection. Prof. de Silva has, for well over a decade, crusaded, to rid society of the harrowing forms of child abuse, that are a disgrace to humanity. Established authorities, would rather sweep these disturbing details under the carpet. The relentless efforts of Prof. Haendra de Silva, have raised these issues to national level, creating a strong public opinion. He guided the foundation of the National Child Protection Authority of Sri Lanka, that became a reality in 1999. He is currently campaigning towards the achievement of a series of urgent goals. He feels the need to end child abuse, by setting aside outdated legislation, weak co-ordination among non-government and public inaction and prejudice. His pioneering effort in this field, has elicited wide-spread interest in various regions of Asia. In a high accolade, UNICEF has proposed to promote his innovative initiatives as an international model. Recently, in Bangkok, he was offered the Outstanding Asian Paediatrician Award 2003, by the Asian Congress of Paediatrics in Bangkok. His recent publication, "Power Games in War and Peace - the tragic impact of corruption, violence and impunity on the Sri Lanka child," is an impassioned plea. Ashoka also recognized the efforts of Dr. Darin Gunasekera's insolving the housing problem for the urban poor in Colombo, Sri Lanka's commercial capital. Given the exorbitant prices of land in the Colombo, the urban poor had to live as squatters and thus were deprived of obtaining basic amenities such as water, sewerage and electricity. Dr. Gunasekera's innovative scheme enabled the urban poor to obtain entitlement certificates for apartments in exchange for vacating areas that they had squatted, giving them legal tenure their new dwellings. His innovative idea also created new products for banks and opened up areas in the city centre for productive usage. The government was also coached into a new role of regulator for transparent transactions rather than the role of provider of housing for urban poor. 670 families have found houses through his innovative programme and he has been approached by parties from United Kingdom and India. Dr. Gunasekera also proposes to make use of this concept in Eastern Europe too. The third fellow selected by Ashoka in Sri Lanka is Paul Hogan, who has conceived a way for child victims of war to reconnect with their inner psychological world via the outer material world. Mr. Hogan found that the residents of the Eastern Province, who had been affected due to the hostilities in Sri Lanka, were receiving support for basic food, shelter and physical health needs, but very little was being offered in terms of psychological counselling for the traumatized, especially children who had been severely scared by the war. The Butterfly Peace Garden in the Eastern Province was created for children from all ethnic communities who are brought together, encouraged to free their imaginations and share them with others. It is a sanctuary of peace where the children begin to heal. While during the initial years a number of local prejudices had to be overcome, about 1300 children between the ages of 6 and 16 have passed through the gates of Butterfly Peace Garden since this inception in 1996. The families and the teachers see remarkable changes in the children after the nine months program and request to take in more increases. The children are also turning out to be the garden's agents for healing the wider society. With the dawning of peace, this programme has attracted the attention of other areas affected by war, and there have been requests for replicating the programme in these areas too. All over the world Ashoka Fellows march along, relieving human suffering, through their social entrepreneurship. |
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