Sister Newsletter of Nihanda—35 years of existence

Issue 16 01 October, 2013 Publication of the Young Men’s Christian Association of Pamunugama

Youth came up with the Beragala Declaration at the end of the “Youth Participation for a Just

World” ICY Seminar held in August 15—18, 2013. Read more: pg 03

Published by: The Young Men’s Christian Association of Pamunugama Suruwela Rd, Seththappaduwa, Pamunugama Sri Lanka

“The Voice of Silence” (Nihada) is the official news-

letter of the YMCA of Pamunugama. This has been

published occasionally to mark some special events

of the YMCA or happenings in the YMCA operational

area.

The YMCA of Pamunugama has been involved in

many different activities in Pamunugama area and

when it is necessary YMCA goes beyond its bounda-

ries and conduct activities (Eg; community empow-

erment project in Gomarankadawala- Eastern prov-

ince and scholarship programmes around the coun-

try)

The need and necessity of sharing information

among the YMCA members, its partners and

stakeholders was discussed by the Board of

Directors of YMCA and decided to continue

publishing the Voice of Silence as an e-mail

version. This would help us to reach a larger

crowd.

This issue of the Voice of Silence brings you

information and news about different

programmes that are being implemented by the

YMCA.

The Voice of Silence wishes to discuss any issue

which affects the YMCA and its members in fu-

ture and to create a platform for a constructive

dialogue in the YMCA circle and outside.

We invite all our readers to send their feedback

to the articles, news items and photos of this is-

sue.

Editor: Ridma

Pg 02

24 Children of YMCA Children's Club, Girl

Guides Group and Scout Group went on a Sa-

fari trip to the Wilpattu National Park on 30th

June, 2013. It has been a annual custom to or-

ganize a trip and this year it was planned in a

way to give a novel experience to the children.

Children with 5 leaders left from Pamunugama

around 2 am by a rented bus and arrived at the

Wilpattu National Park gate around 6 am in the

morning. Group entered the park by 2 safari

cabs which were reserved in advance.

Children were very lucky to have a good

weather and to see the animals on the tour.

Hardest to see in Wilpattu is the leopard which

was visible for the children few yards away

from the cabs in bushes. There were many ani-

mals including fox, wild pig, eagles, dear and

many other kinds. It was a little scary with the

elephants met on the way out of the park.

Other highlights of the park were the palace of

Kuweni and the horse point where the

landscape was special.

By the Horse point in in Wilpattu

Off Road brought a lot of fun

Weekly Children’s Club Meetings on every Saturdays give children the opportunity to work

together in different activities including, educational, sports, cultural and social.

Pg 03

"Youth Participation for a Just World" was the theme

for this year's Thirst for Peace ICY International

Seminar 2013. The seminar was organized by the

YMCA of Pamunugama in partnership with ICY

Oslo, Norway and conducted up in mountains in

Beragala and attended by 26 youth from Pamunu-

gama, Matara, Moratuwa and Oslo.

It was a well

designed pro-

gramme with

different ses-

sions on ‘Just

World’ and

‘Youth Partici-

pation’ in creat-

ing a just world.

Three ICY members (Helena, Karoline and Elisa-

beth) conducted a session emphasizing the need for a

common action to make a just world with the action

by the international community. They also presented

the activities carried out by the Y Global- Norway

related to a project identified as "Stop Poverty".

As a result of the inputs and learning of the seminar ,

the group came to a

common understand-

ing to work for a just

world. The members

of the group signed a

declaration and com-

mitted themselves to

work for a just world.

It was named as the “Beralaga Declaration”.

Statement by the youth members of the Oslo

and Sri Lanka YMCA ICY groups who

met at a seminar under the theme "Youth

Participation for a Just World" at the

"World's End Lodge", Beragala, Sri

Lanka from 15 - 18 August wish to state -

• People of the society are made to suffer

due to injustice prevailing at all levels -

politically, socially and economically;

• At the same time, these realities are

forcefully hidden from the minds of the

people so that the exploiters are able to

continue with their own agendas;

• Therefore it is very necessary to create an

awareness for us and others to under-

stand the real situations that control our

life locally, nationally and internation-

ally;

In responding to the issues we analysed, we

agree to plan out strategies in educating and

mobilizing ourselves and others and carry on

activities that will help reducing the injustice

placed upon our shoulders in accordance with

our capabilities and capacities.

In agreement of the above, we place our sig-

natures below and commit ourselves for such

objectives.

Signed by; 26 participants, on 18 Aug,2013

Signing of the Declaration by participants

Pg 04

The Dialogue Circle is the

new programme intervention

of the Youth Club of the Pa-

munugama YMCA where the

members come together and

discuss about a subject and

issue that affects the lives of

people. The last Dialogue Cir-

cle was conducted on 05th

September, 2013 at YMCA

library and discussed about the

13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri

Lanka.

Different ideas and opinions were expressed on

the 13th Amendment and youth shared their

openion while listening to different perspec-

tives on the 13th Amendment which mainly

main aspects of

the 13th amend-

ment have not

been practiced

due to various

reasons. With

the Provincial

Council Elec-

tion in the North

held 21st Sep-

tember we hope

that this would be a much debated subject in

the political arena of Sri Lanka. The follow-

ing topics were discussed at the previous dia-

logue circles:

Political Situation in Sri Lanka - 19 May, 13

Evolution of song in Sri Lanka - 11 July, 13

YMCAs around the world celebrate 06th of June

as its founder’s day. This is the birthday of Sir

George Williams who founded YMCA in 1844.

It has been a tradition of the YMCA of Pamunu-

gama to organize and conduct various events to

mark this special day.

Car Wash Parallel to YMCA

Founder’s day, the

youth members of the

YMCA of Pamunu-

gama organized a

Fundraising event to

support its youth ac-

tivities on 02 June, 2013 at Seththappaduwa

(Close to the YMCA). This was organized for the

second time and youth were able to raise around

Rs 10,000 rupees during the day by washing ve-

hicles in the area that were running on the road.

Flag Day Second event of celebrations was held on 09

June, 2013 where the youth and children were

going around the village selling YMCA flags and

distributing leaflets about the YMCA. 1st Flag to the President: Shivankara

Pg 05

“Ape Sindu Patiya”(Our Songs Party) , the Annual Fundraising programme of Pamunugama YMCA was held on 14 Septem-ber, 2013 at the YMCA Interna-tional Hotel in Kurana. This year the “Ape Sindu Patiya” was organized to raise funds for Youth Programmes of the YMCA of Pamunugama. There were around 200 friends and well-wishers attending the event. YMCA of Pamunugama raised funds by selling song books, and meals at the event. It was a three hours programme with many entertainment and fun activities such as singing, dancing and raffle draw etc. YMCA is thankful to the people and institutions who supported this event with best wishes, ad-vertisements and banners. YMCA wishes to announce that Ape Sindu Patiya will be conducted next as well in the month of September.

We invite all our YMCA members and

friends to join hand with us and extent

your support and cooperation to make our

programmes and projects much more

meaningful to the community.

You may participate in our programme/

projects as a volunteer supporter or make

your financial contribution. Your contri-

bution will help us to expand our present

activities to a larger community.

For Further Information Contact:

YMCA of Pamunugama

Suruwela Road, Seththappaduwa, Pamunugama Sri Lanka Tel: 0094 31 222 65 71 E mail: pamunugama_icy@yahoo.com Blog: http://ymcaofpamunugama.blogspot.com/

Pg 06

The students of the

Sunnfjord Folk

High School in

Forde, Norway are

now in Sri Lanka

attending an ex-

change programme

mainly involve in playing Volleyball matches

and attending a training camp. 25 students of

the school with their coach and the leader visited

Pamunugama YMCA on 19 September, 2013.

During their visit they played two friendly

games with the

YMCA chil-

dren and

youth. We

thank Sunn-

fjord Folk

High School

for this visit

which really gave an international experience to

our youth and children.

32 youth from Taichung YMCA of Taiwan vis-

ited Pamunugama YMCA on 23 - 24 August,

2013. They were traveling around Sri Lanka and

conducting Children's

Programmes in 4 YMCAs

in Sri Lanka.

23rd evening ,Taichung

youth went on a boat trip

together with the Youth

of the YMCA of Pamunu-

gasma in the Negombo

lagoon. 24th they conducted a children's camp

for 50 children at the YMCA. The camp was

colorfully arranged by the Taichung youth with

number of activities such as, talent shows and

games etc. The children had a

great day and it was a great learn-

ing for the YMCA youth pro-

gramme leaders where they

learned some new activities in

camping .

We thank Mr. Kishan Gunawar-

dene, the President of NCY for

initiating this partnership with

Taichung YMCA.

Bronnoysund

is a small

town in Nor-

way. Pamunu-

gama YMCA

has been

working with

the Scout

group in Bronnoysund since 2001. There had

been many exchanges and visit between two

groups.

This year the YMCA - YWCA Bronnoysund

Scouts invited Pamunugama YMCA to attend an

International Friendship Camp held in Bronnoy-

sund. Around 100 scouts attended the camp in-

cluding 26 scouts from Sri Lanka from

Moratuwa, Jaffna and Pamunugama.

Two girl Guides (Nufla and Rashini) attended

the camp together with Ann Sudeepika (The

Girl Guide Leader of Pamunugama YMCA).

The Camp was held from 04th to 12th August and

they were in Norway

from 01st to 16th Au-

gust, 2013. During

their stay in Norway

they visited several

scout families and had

a great time. They also

visited a Zoo and vis-

ited Vega which is an island protected under the

UNESCO Heritage List.

Pg 07

Udara at "The Love 2 Live" Festival at

Prague Prague Festival is the

biggest Tensing Festival

in Europe and it is a life

time experience for any

youth to attend this

event. Ms. Udara Devmi

of Pamunugama YMCA

attended this huge

YMCA Festival to-

gether with two youth

from Sri Lanka.Our

President, Mr.

Shivankara Ranaweera also attended this event

before Devmi. “The Love 2 Live” Festival pro-

vided an unique opportunity for 10,000 young

people from across Europe and the world. They

celebrated life, culture, diversity and all that in-

spire of being a Youth.

Udara first stepped in to the YMCA in 2007 as a

student attending a Prefects Training Seminar

organized and conducted by YMCA. Since then

she showed a great interest on youth pro-

grammes in the YMCA. In 2012 she was se-

lected by the National Council of the YMCAs of

Sri Lanka to represent Sri Lanka as a Change

Agent which is a programme of the World

Council of the YMCAs to promote youth par-

ticipation in the YMCA world-wide.

Priyan in the YPP Exchange Mr. Priyan Pri-

yathilaka is a

youth member of

YMCA of Pa-

munugama and

presently attend-

ing the Young

Peace Performers

(YPP) Pro-

gramme. This is a

ten months pro-

gramme com-

menced in August

2013 and will be ending in April 2014. YPP

is a youth exchange programme organized

and conducted by the KFUM- KFUK Global

- Norway with their partners in Kenya, Pal-

estine and Sri Lanka. Through this signifi-

cant international exchange proramme

young people get the chance of travelling

and working for peace in different contexts.

Through this year’s YPP programme the

organizers are focusing on the Conflict

situation in Palestine. YPPs have started

their initial preparation in Jordan and cur-

rently in Kenya as they have to wait for visa

to enter Palestine. The final part of the pro-

gramme will be held in Norway starting

early 2014.

Come-share Extends support to 20 new

students through YMCA.

Come-Share Foundation has been a longstand-

ing partner of YMCA of Pamunugama. During

the past 8 years Come-Share Foundation has

supported over seventy students providing

scholarships and financial support for additional

classes. Further Come-Share has extended their

support for English and Computer courses and

other educational activities of the students.

Extra classes for students in the East

While providing individual scholarships Come

Share Foundation also provides financial sup-

port to conduct four extra classes in Horowpo-

thana( a village beyond Madawachchiya) Under

this initiative, Mathematics and English classes

are conducted in Medavachchiya Vidyalaya

while there are Science and Mathematics class

being conducted in Kivulekada Vidyalaya.

We thank Come-Share Foundation for their continues assistance to students and all the

support to the YMCA of Pamunugama.

Pg 08

Women have been paying a vital role in YMCA

of Pamunugama since its inception in 1974.

Two out of seven founder members of YMCA

Pamunugama are women and the “Senasuma

Death Donation Programme of the YMCA of

Pamunugama also have come a long way with

the great participation of women.

The latest women activity of the YMCA of Pa-

munugama is the Micro Credit Programme.

Eight women are provided with small loans of

Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 on 23rd May 2013 at

the YMCA of Pamunugama. Some of them are

having small groceries while others have self

employments of producing sweets and food.

The beneficiaries started savings with the

YMCA of Pamunugama three months before

and they started paying back their loans from

June, 2013.They will complete paying back

within ten months. Pamunugama YMCA Devel-

opment Committee is responsible for the project

and keeps a close look on the progress of the

beneficiaries.

The novel

“Maruthaya Nima

Viya” by Aruna

Shantha Nonis was

presented to the pub-

lic on 22 June at the

YMCA International

Centre – Katunay-

ake. The beloved mother of Aruna Shantha

Nonis received the first copy from her son, the

author and two copies were presented to Rt.

Rev. Maxwell Silva the Auxiliary Bishop of Co-

lombo Diocese and Francis Palihawadana a

teacher who has been guiding Aruna Shantha

Nonis from his school days.

“Maruthaya Nima Viya” is the love story

of Wasantha Bandara and Nisansala Jaya-

manne. Based on this love story Aruna Shantha

Nonis prepares a stage for a dialogue to see

through the human lamentation unheard during

the 30 years of wretched war.

He emphasise on the fate of the affected people

and the concern exhibited by the people and in-

stitutions in the

south who came

forward to pro-

vide relief. He

further sheds

light on certain

paths open before us in creating peace and rec-

onciliation in Sri Lanka drawing strength from

the South African example in the post-apartheid

era. This novel leads you in somewhat different

style through 430 pages.

“Maruthaya NimaViya” is another project of the

Peace and Reconciliation programme launched

by the Pamunugama Young Men’s Christian

Association.

During the ICY Seminar 2013 held in August

2013 in Beragala the contents of the novel was

taken for case studies to study and understand

the post war situation in Sri Lanka and also to

identify potential strategies to work towards

most wanted Restorative Justice Process in Sri

Lanka

Pamunugama YMCA thanks “Karibu Founda-

tion – Norway” for its generous contribution to

this project.

A Novel on the unheard suffering of 30 years of war in Sri Lanka….

Pg 09

The members of the YMCA Children’s Club

wanted to play volleyball at YMCA premises

and they just put up a net and lines and started

playing volleyball. Few days back two young

boys (Ruvinda and Shamal) approached me and

shared their interest of playing volleyball. One

of them is a member of the youth club and the

other one has attended the YMCA pre-school

many more years ago. Both of them have just

stepped into their twenties. Together with them

I inspected the ground and found that it is very

much below the standard to play volleyball for

teenagers and young adults. They said that they

can convert this around into a good volleyball

court.

They went back home and on the next

day they came with several youngsters

and started cleaning and preparing the

court. Major challenge was to stop ball

hitting the windows and going out of

YMCA premises. YMCA agreed to

buy them some used fishing net and

with their hard work they managed to make a

good wall around the court.

Now they are playing volleyball and the mem-

bers of the YMCA Children's Club also have a

place to spend their leisure time!

As we all know the volleyball is our (YMCA)

game. The YMCA introduced volleyball to the

world and also to Sri Lanka. We are now in a

process of forming YMCA volleyball team.

Most importantly this process has already

brought 12 new youth members and there are

many more to join.

Ridma Fonseka

General Secretary- YMCA of Pamunugama

We wish to emphasis the importance of the par-

ticipation of members in all activities in the

YMCA as we believe that YMCA is an organi-

zation of members. We are grateful to the foun-

der members of the YMCA of Pamunugama

who gave their time and resources to develop

the YMCA up to this level which is the only

established social service organization in Pa-

munugama area that serves people through dif-

ferent programmes. While recognizing the ne-

cessity and importance of having programmes

and events now we realize the value of having

our own resource mobilization programme to

raise and collect funds for YMCA programmes

and projects. In this connection we conducted

our Annual Fundraising event; “Ape Sindu Pati-

tya” on 14th September 2013. We are also a part

of the Resource Mobilization Training Pro-

gramme of the Asia & Pacific Alliance of

YMCAs (APAY)

and we thank Mr.

Charith De Silva-

Executive Secre-

tary of NCY – SL

for organizing

and conducting a

training workshop on Resource Mobilization on

18th – 19th Sept; 2013 where Jesssica Rawn

(Volunteer Consultant for Resource Mobiliza-

tion) and Ms Eloisa Borreo (Executive Secre-

tary of APAY) also attended.

Pamunugama YMCA is committed for a better

world for our people and and we invite all our

friends to join hand with us.

Shiwankara Ranaweera

President – YMCA of Pamunugama

Note from the General Secretary

Note from the President

Before Now