|
Sri Lanka: They say we are different |
|
|
|
Urgent issues
|
|
|
|
Lojini (17) and Shyamali (17) sit absorbed in conversation catching up on the 'happenings' in each other's lives. The two friends are waiting for World Vision Children's Forum Meeting to begin. From time to time they giggle, covering their mouths. Other times the mood becomes more serious as they intently listen to each other's stories.
Lojini and Shyamali share a unique friendship. They do not go to the same school, they do not come from the same village and they do not belong to the same ethnic group. Their cultures are different and in the backdrop of the ethnic conflict they should be rivals; but they are best of friends.
"Children don't see what makes them different from another child. It is the elders who put it into their heads," says Shyamali. "When I was small there were times I was not allowed to play with some children because they were Tamil. I didn't understand at that time, but today I have Lojini and many other Tamil friends."
Shyamali and Lojini met at a WV Children's Forum meeting one year ago. The Forum brought together children from different ethnic backgrounds within the war battered Canadian sponsored Potthuvil ADP (East Sri Lanka).
"I remember that Forum meeting. Lojini smiled with me first, so it was easy for me to make friends with her. At first we all sat in our own comfortable groups of friends. Sinhala children sat together, Tamil children in their group and Muslim children in their group. But World Vision helped us break the ice. By the end of the day we were all mixing up, talking to each other and making friends," smiles Shyamali.
"Since that day, things have changed in our forum meetings," she says, "we are comfortable to sit with anyone from any community."
Lojini smiles and nods in agreement.
"Sinhala people are different from us Tamils. The way they walk, the way they talk and the way they dress is different, but we still can be friends. I've learnt many things about their culture from Shyamali and many good things too," she says.
The two decade war has left enough room for hatred and mistrust among the ethnic communities in this troubled land and cultivated a culture of hatred in the young minds; yet, these two friends refuse to give in.
"It makes me cry when I see Tamil people killed," says Shyamali, "But sometimes it's difficult to make the adults understand."
"If every child can have a friend from the other community, it would solve a lot of problems," says Lojini, "That is what World Vision did to us"
In spite of being battered by the ongoing conflict, Potthuvil seems to still bear favourable soil for seeds of harmony. World Vision is committed to plant them in the heart of every child.
World Vision also conducts frequent peace-building programmes through its Empowering Children as Peace builders (ECaP) initiative which aims to support children and youth in conflict/vulnerable Area Development Programmes (ADPs) to become empowered peace actors in their own communities, leading to transformation of individuals, relationships, systems and structures and enhancing the community's resilience to conflict-related crises. The programme also facilitates the exchange of youth bringing them to a live-in experience of another's cultures.
|
|
