Kudagama Minority Community Development Program

A Sri Lankan project which aims to improve relations between the marginalised Kudagama village by providing education and development in the Thelingu language.

Description

The initiative is conducted for the children and adults of the Kudagama village, its neighbouring villages and the area's government officials. Kudagama suffers discrimination due to the origin of the villagers, whose ancestors come from Thelingu-speaking people in Andra Pradesh, India, and are similar to gypsies in their lifestyle. Traditionally, the main occupation of the adults in this village is to travel in groups, the men performing snake dances and the women reading palms. The initiative attempts to create peace between the surrounding villages and Kudagama through holistic development. It concentrates mainly on education, including vocational training, self-employment, cultural studies, etc.

Aims / Objectives

The inhabitants of Kudagama are discriminated against because of their difference from surrounding villages. Their mother tongue is Thelingu, and most of them cannot communicate beyond a basic level in Sinhala or Tamil, the languages used in the surrounding area. Therefore they are seen as inferior outsiders and are unable to receive education, which is provided mainly in Sinhala. The initiative aims to assist them in safeguarding their human rights, to build their confidence, to encourage them to become economically independent and to empower them through providing education in their own language, Thelingu.

This helps improve neighbouring villages’ attitude towards Kudagama, and with an attitude change, the chances of violent conflict decrease.

How it is Articulated

SLIMG conducted team building and trust building programmes for the selected community and assisted in procuring small investment loans for self-employment. This was the approach used to enter the community.

Following this, they conducted education programmes and opened an evening school in the Thelingu language for the inhabitants, aiming for holistic development of the community.  This development is expected to addresses the conflict in the village, changing the status of Kudagama from its formerly victimised and powerless position to a position of equality with its neighbours.

Achievements / Learning Points

Through the programme, the segregated people in the village have come together as a stronger, united group. They show increased interest towards education, and the evening school which SLIMG opened to provide free, Thelingu, activity-based education draws more children than the regular government school in the area. The entire development and the change in the community is focused on the child and it has the child as its centre. This is appropriate to the context of this village, where the parents travel for nearly three months at a stretch, two or three times a year, to earn their living. It is difficult to conduct continuous programmes aimed at the adults, and so Slimg intends to make an impact on the younger generation’s lives and influence the adults through their children. As a result of improving their standard of life through these means, the conflicts with the neighbouring villages are gradually ceasing.

In conducting particular initiatives like this, it is important to take account of the changes that occur in the community and to adjust the direction of the initiative accordingly. Also, the people’s willingness and motivation to change determine the amount of difference that an initiative will make. Therefore, in order for the initiative to succeed, they have to be considered and addressed accordingly.

Geographical area of operation

Tambuththegama in Anuradhapura District.

Funding resources

Slimg conducts this project with its own resources.

Associated Organisations

Interactive Children's Society-Thambuththegama, Kudagama Welfare Society.