A Framework for Rebuilding Communities in Sri Lanka
From 1983 to 2009, the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka experienced a bloody and brutal civil war between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Experts claim that over 70,000 lives were lost, with hundreds of thousands more displaced during the three-decades of war. This war was termed the ‘No Mercy War’ by the International Committee for the Red Cross. Its impact is painfully evident in the affected communities, with the most tragic effects being the untold numbers of Sri Lankans who have been maimed, physically and psychologically. The war also took a devastating toll on the municipal and social infrastructures that are meant to hold communities together.
While the recent victory by the GoSL has ended open warfare between the parties, the Herculean tasks of physically rebuilding the country and reconciling after almost thirty years of violence lies ahead. Understanding the importance of post-war peacebuilding and development, and acknowledging the opportunity for peace presented at this juncture, Realizing the Dream (RTD) is engaging with the GoSL and the people of Sri Lanka in their quest to build positive peace in the island nation.
Realizing the Dream, Inc., is a nongovernmental organization based in the US, with a global mission to foster peace through nonviolence. Founded by Martin Luther King III, son and namesake of the great twentieth century champion of nonviolence, RTD has been engaging the Government of Sri Lanka since November 2009. RTD views nonviolence as: First, a philosophy that renounces violence in all its forms, while actively responding to it. Second, as a way of life, that is transformational. Third, as a tactic, that is a transactional process, based on principle with specific objectives to be attained. Fourth, as a process for achieving social change through active, peaceful means. Fifth, as a means whose end is community, where each person is empowered to realize their greatest potential.
Understanding the important roles of post-war development and reconstruction relative to peacekeeping and peacebuilding, RTD commissioned an international team to conduct two assessment missions on the island in November 2009 and January-February 2010. During the second of those missions, Martin Luther King III and the RTD team visited some of the former LTTE strongholds within the Vanni area. RTD’s Chief Operating Officer, Johnny Mack, and Manager of South Asia, Maneshka Eliatamby, returned in March 2010, to continue the evaluation. Based on their evaluation, RTD identified Mallavi, a village in the Northern Vanni region of Sri Lanka, as a location that requires urgent post-conflict development work.
At the end of open warfare in Sri Lanka, nearly 300,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were housed in camps run by the Government of Sri Lanka in the North of the country. While the GoSL has been returning IDPs to their lands, a process that RTD was able to witness firsthand during their visits, many have returned only to find that their homes, roads, schools, hospital clinics, and other infrastructure have, in most cases, been destroyed. There are currently over 11,000 individuals in Mallavi alone who are living in makeshift tents of plastic and polythene, and in partially destroyed structures. There is no running water or proper sanitation, resulting in a number of cases of Dengue fever. Additionally, there is a severe food shortage, and a lack of clean drinking water.
While the GoSL provides all of those leaving the IDP camps with dry rations for a six-month period, there are numerous problems related to the implementation of such projects. A number of local villagers mentioned that while they thought they would receive dry rations and funds to get themselves back on their feet, they either did not receive these goods, or the goods and money were not enough to get by. Additionally, Mallavi is traditionally an agrarian society, and while local farmers hope to return to their lands, the issue of land mines needs to be addressed before that can happen.
Rebuilding the lives of individuals, families, and communities begins in large measure with physical reconstruction and sociocultural reconciliation. Such efforts may be achieved through the employment of nonviolent philosophy and principles that lead to the empowerment of the Sri Lankan people, in this case a form of community empowerment. Some of the projects that RTD hopes to engage in are; Rebuilding Mallavi One Home at a Time; The Road to Mallavi Project; Humanitarian and Military De-mining; Wells and Water Sanitation Project; Eradicating Dengue Mosquito Net Campaign; Mallavi Hospital and Dental Clinic; Educating Mallavi–Rebuilding the School; Taking Mallavi into the Information Age Computer Lab Project; Tools for Mallavi; and the Northern Empowerment Institute. RTD believes that the situation in Mallavi presents itself as an opportunity to demonstrate how nonviolence principles can be employed in the reconstruction and reconciliation process.
In anticipation of rebuilding any community, infrastructure must be established that supports and maintains the quality of life. This is true of both physical and social communities. RTD’s programmatic strategies promote investment in a Community Empowerment Infrastructure, the empowerment subset of civil infrastructure. This approach strengthens the community’s capacity and promotes the development of an internetwork among the community, public, and private sectors. Using such an infrastructure, stakeholders can identify problems, stake positions, and determine strategic solutions. Through the collaborative efforts of government and nongovernmental organizations, citizens can acquire the tools to rebuild their lives individually and collectively.
Community-based and community-serving organizations are uniquely positioned to help realize the dream of an empowered community. Through their efforts for reconstruction and reconciliation (community development and community building), the powerless can find the personal and social capacity to acquire tangible resources that will aid in the transition from poverty to prosperity. The powerful can find the personal and social capacity to acquire the moral growth that bridges the divide from mere prosperity to full civic life. Both are transformed to become the place Dr. King called the “Beloved Community.”
RTD hopes to partner with the Foundation of Goodness (FOG), which rebuilt an entire village in the South-West of Sri Lanka that was destroyed in the December 2004 tsunami. FOG, is an NGO based in Seenigama, a small village on the south-west coast of the island, which exemplifies the framework of leadership, vision, mission, services, and collaboration necessary for a vibrant and robust empowerment model. RTD is collaborating with FOG and its founding visionary, Kushil Gunasekera, to replicate this model in the Vanni district. The partnership will focus on the Northern Empowerment Institute and the rebuilding of homes and livelihoods.