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Twinning Villages
PPF has helped to increase inter-ethnic sensitivity, understanding, and communication through the twinning of war-torn villages in Sri Lanka. Working with the Sinhalese community in Anuradhapura and Tamil community in Jaffna, they have established an exchange program for the reconstruction of damaged homes in these areas.
Description
The Twinning Villages project brings together the two communities of Sinhalese (from Anuradhapura) and Tamils (from Jaffna) who have directly suffered from the ethnic conflict, to work together to reconstruct homes destroyed in the conflict. The participants spend time with each other, sharing their different perspectives and experiences and rebuilding 12 homes
Aims / Objectives
The initiative aims to facilitate inter-ethnic understanding and cooperation, and allow the development of cultural awareness and tolerance for diversity. This builds grassroots inter-ethnic relationships that are stronger for having lived with each other for a period of several days.
By conducting the initiative in the border areas where communities have suffered in the conflict, it’s hoped that the initiative will help in healing and conflict transformation.
How it is Articulated
The initiative is articulated as community exchange programs combined with community activities.
It selected three directly war affected border villages and six homes in these villages: from Anuradhapura, a dominantly Sinhala area, and in Jaffna, a dominantly Tamil area. For the first phase of the program, people from Jaffna were invited to reconstruct the homes in Anuradhapura and the second phase of the program invited the same people from Anuradhapura to reconstruct the war-destroyed homes in Jaffna.
In each exchange, the guest community spent a week with their host community rebuilding the homes. Accommodation and food for the guest community was provided at the houses of the host community. Other than rebuilding the homes, the participants of the program had experience sharing sessions and cultural programs during their stay.
This enabled the participants to get first hand experience of the generosity and day to day lives of people from other ethnicities.
Achievements / Learning Points
Through this program the participants understood that the conflict is not something that exists between communities belonging to different ethnicities, but a power struggle between separate groups. This enabled them to transform their previously held antagonistic 'enemy' images of each other and develop new relations that are lasting and real.
The program intended to reconstruct the war-affected homes in border villages. We realised that it was best to reconstruct a place or a space of common ownership in such an initiative, since this minimises individual disagreements and gets the entire community’s support for the initiative.
Before launching the program, it was beneficial to spend time with both the visiting and hosting community separately, discussing the history and root causes of conflict.
Geographical Area of Operation
Anuradhapura and Jaffna.
Funding Resources
FLICT
Organisations Involved
Samasevaya, Women Development Foundation, National Peace Development Centre.