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In the spirit of holistic development and long term partnership,
Sarvodaya USA is promoting twinning of Sri Lankan villages with
communities and groups from outside Sri Lanka in the spirit that we
are all one humanity. The tsunami generated a tremendous amount of
goodwill in the international community; our international well
wishers and supporters have assisted us in the immediate relief
operations. However, the need of rebuilding goes beyond immediate
relief. For the next several years, the process of rebuilding and
reconstruction will continue. |
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Villagers take rest after a long day at
Shramadana Camp
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Through our Village to Village program, we
encourage international partners to get engaged in activities
such as shramadana (sharing of
labor), family gatherings (open discussions involving all
individuals in the community) to build hope and prepare the
community psychologically to recover and reawaken themselves.
Village to Village Partnership For
Sustainable Development
Sarvodaya engages villages in a five-step development process
that can take several years. From the moment a community
contacts the Sarvodaya Movement, the idea is to empower people
through involvement and engagement. |
The involvement and engagement within a
Sarvodaya community extends to all segments in the community-
women, children, youth, employed and the elders. Sarvodaya
philosophy articulated by Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne is to seek a full
engagement and full involvement of society.
Sarvodaya USA expects to follow a similar process in this global
partnership. In the first year, the key is to identify community
strengths, resources and needs. This “getting to know you”
stage encourages the international community to look at
Sarvodaya and selected village cluster as partner communities
Through use of the information technology, such as internet and
phone or old style direct mails, communities can share
information to each other. School children and youth will be
able to participate as part of their academic requirements.
Teachers can find support for enriching their classes’ ability
to reach out beyond the schoolhouse walls. Youth organizations
and service clubs can match projects with their missions.
Information exchanges and best practice transfer advice can be
the way forward to the community reaching out to attain as a
group the Millennium Development Goals. |
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