A tale of two cities
Mother Sri Lanka bonds children from Kilinochchi and
Homagama:
Ruwini Jayawardana
Mother Sri Lanka Trust Chairperson Janaki Kuruppu |
Savithri is from Kiranchi. Mallika is from Nallur. Both girls
travelled more than 170 miles along with 98 others from the Kilinochchi
district to meet a group of equally dynamic children from the Homagama
district.
They enjoyed a five-day camp aimed at fostering reconciliation and
peaceful coexistence among the diverse ethnic and religious groups of
the island. There the girls were introduced activities like yoga and
meditation, singing, dancing, playing games, dressing up, drawing,
leadership building and sports.
They were able to associate with events, most of which were alien to
them, ones which they began to understand and enjoy because though they
had their own diverse flavours, they were very similar to those in their
culture in many aspects.
Apart from taking part in various activities, the two girls soon
became fast friends with Thamara and Shazna, their roommates from the
Homagama zone. They exchanged ideas through a few words that held
similar meaning in their mother tongue and via gestures but on the final
day of the camp, despite language barriers, it felt as if they had known
each other for years.
Cultural values
Students from Hindu College, Kilinochchi.
Pictures by Thushara
Fernando
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This is not Savithri and Mallika’s experience alone. Around 200
children, 100 each from Kilinochchi and Homagama, took part in Mother
Sri Lanka’s Denuwara Mithuro (Friends of Two Cities) camps which
unfurled at the Meepe Management Training Centre from September 30 to
October 4. It is the first in a series of camps that is held to create
the platform for children from the north and south to meet, exchange
cultural values, rituals and lifestyles as well as forge friendships.
Partnered by the Education Ministry, Denuwara Mithuro also included a
series of speeches by religious leaders in the country. These events
gave the children an opportunity to nurture a respect for other
religions as well as see what is common about the teachings. A brief
introduction to Sinhala and Tamil helped them along with their
communication process.
Some of the lectures held at the camp included speeches by trustees
like Renton de Alwis who spoke on the importance of being a good
citizen. Deepal Sooriyaarachchi upgraded the young minds on developing
confidence, positive thinking and succeeding in life. Candle Aid Lanka
founder and President Capt Elmo Jayawardene highlighted the importance
of changing attitudes for the better and its impact on the development
of the country. Healthy living is the topic addressed by Dr Kalyani
Guruge in her lecture. She focused on the health values of local food
and good lifestyle habits.
“I took part in singing Sinhala folksongs and acting in a Sinhala
drama for the first time in this workshop. It was a bit difficult to
pronounce some words but my friends helped me. I did not have a lot of
dialogues to recite. I wrote the pronunciations in Tamil and then wrote
the meaning of the sentences below the wording so that I know what I am
saying. Luckily most of the Sinhala and Tamil terms are alike so I did
not find it that much of a problem,” Anusha Vijayakumar (18) from St
Theresa’s Girls’ College, Kilinochchi said.
“Most of the cultural items were new to us as we have never been out
of our region. We did not get the chance to travel such a long distance
from home until Denuwara Mithuro happened. The food is different too as
we are use to Tamil food like dosa, pittu and vadai. We have a lot of
memories to take back home,” smiled Sharmini Rajendra (17), another
student from St Therasa’s.
Donning red, green, yellow and orange t-shirts with the Mother Sri
Lanka tag line ‘My family of 20 million people’ the children flocked in
groups, chattering away in a language comprising a mixture of Sinhala,
Tamil and English.
“We underwent some physical training sessions on the third day. Those
were fun to do as there were many of us to take part in the games. We
learnt aspects like team spirit and working in harmony. I know a bit of
Tamil but have added a few more words to my vocabulary,” Dulaj Sachintha
(17) of Meegoda Maha Vidyalaya said.
For Vijaya Lakshmi Ganeshan (16), a student of Puwakpitiya CC Tamil
Maha Vidyalaya, the camp is a bridge between two cultures that she had
grown up in.
New experiences
“I was brought up in Jaffna but later moved to Gampaha with my
family. Since I am fluent in Sinhala I can interact easily with both the
Sinhala speaking and Tamil speaking students. Me and my friends learnt a
lot about what our friends in the north had undergone during the
conflict. It makes us feel very sad that they had to withstand such a
terrible period. They enjoyed their tour and we were happy to share a
lot of new things with them,” she said.
A group of students from Hindu College, Kilinochchi, said that
visiting a Colombo region school was a novel experience to them.
Inter-communal alliances
“The class environment was very different to ours in one aspect but
we were made to feel at home by our friends. They taught us songs and
dances and we in turn shared our culture with them. We have invited them
to visit our area and hope to keep contact through mails,” they said.
To make communication easier Mother Sri Lanka gifted each child with
an English\Sinhala\Tamil dictionary at the end of the camp.
“The children are agents who will take back the message of peace back
to their families and friends. They will be form inter-communal
alliances among the adult population. The second phase of the camp will
take the children from Homagama to Kilinochchi for a similar camp.
Volunteers and sponsors are welcome to take part in the projects,” said
Mother Sri Lanka Trust Chairperson Janaki Kuruppu.
The next phase of the event is to link two schools in the Senehasata
Thaksalava (Love for the School) programme. Then 10 schools from each
region will work on projects named Senehasata Pavula (Love for the
Family).
The next camp will include children from Mullaithivu, Akkaraipattu
and Polonnaruwa. The consequent camp will bring together children from
the Vavuniya, Paddirippuwa and Gampaha areas. Another camp will see
children form Matara and Pottuvil working together. |
