Winning the peace:

Friends of two cities

There should be no bridges or barriers disrupting the peaceful co-existence of children in our motherland. And, the novel concept introduced by Mother Sri Lanka, a non-profit making organisation with the collaboration of the Ministry of Education to bridge the gap and foster harmony, especially among the children of the North and South is laudable.

Denuwara Mithuro or Friends of Two Cities is a series of camps with the ideal platform to foster reconciliation and peaceful co-existence among the different ethnic and religious groups in the country.

The first camp of this series was held at the Meepe Management Training Centre from September 30 to October 4, bringing together 200 children from Kilinochchi and Homagama. It gave the children from the North and South an opportunity to meet, exchange their cultural values, rituals and lifestyles, and forge lasting friendships.

Even though children have the knack of forming bonds despite language barriers, those attending the camp were given a brief introduction to Sinhala and Tamil languages enabling them to communicate more easily.

While the sermons delivered by leaders of the four main religions in the country at the onset gave the children an opportunity to identify what’s common among the religions and also learn to understand and respect each others religions, the interactive nature of the camp enabled children to raise questions and find answers to many issues. With the objective of promoting tri-lingual communication further among these children, Mother Sri Lanka, gifted each child a valuable English/Sinhala/Tamil dictionary at the end of the camp.

As Mother Sri Lanka is keen that the ideals of peaceful co-existence are inculcated in the children, the movement’s trustees, Renton De Alwis, spoke on the importance of being a good citizen, while Deepal Sooriyaarachchi, a member of Mother Sri Lanka, guided the children on how to develop confidence, think positively and succeed in life. Capt. Elmo Jayawardene, Founder and President of Candle Aid Lanka and member of Mother Sri Lanka, highlighted the importance of each individual changing attitudes for the better in order to bring about improvement for the whole country.

The children also learned the benefits of healthy living when Dr. Kalyani Guruge (member of Mother Sri Lanka) underscored the health values of local foods and good lifestyle habits.

Activities were aplenty. Yoga and meditation, singing, dancing, games, dressing up, drawing and sporting events, enabled the children to further enhance team spirit and bonds of friendship. And on the last day the children were able to express their own views of their experience providing an important insight into the effectiveness of the camp. A visit to Temple Trees, and a meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was the highlight of the five day camp.

The past experience has been that the children will continue to stay in touch by writing to and visiting each other, thereby cementing the friendships formed at the camp. The children will be able to introduce their new friends to their families, extending the inter-communal alliances among the adult population too. As a result, Mother Sri Lanka expects that families in the North of the country will form close relationships with those in the rest of the country. Under the second phase of the camp, children from Homagama will travel to Kilinochchi for a similar camp in the future.

Mother Sri Lanka has joined hands with the Social Cohesion and Peace Education Unit of the Ministry of Education which has been conducting similar camps in the past, to take this programme to newer heights.

This camp was sponsored by Save the Children and GTZ.

The next camp that has been planned will include children from the Mullaithivu, Akkaraipattu and Polonnaruwa areas. The consequent camp will bring together children from the Vavuniya, Paddirippuwa and Gampaha areas. Another camp will see children from the Matara and Pottuvil areas attending. Volunteers and sponsors are welcome to participate in the projects.