Sri Lanka’s civil war may be over, but 30 years of violence have left a society devided along ethnic and religious lines. Peace Direct supports the Centre for Peacebuilding and Reconciliation’s (CPPR). CPBR have an innovative approach to building peace in Sri Lanka. They train the religious clergy and young people in peace and conflict resolution, and to act independently to achieve lasting change. By reaching out to the local leaders of today and tomorrow CPBR is building a grassroots movement for peace and reconciliation.
A recent event in Batticaloa, a province in the east of Sri Lanka, has shown how effective this approach can be.
A Hindu priest, trained as part of the programme, himself organised two community meetings on inter-religious harmony and conflict transformation. The priest convinced other community leaders to participate and the event was entirely organised and hosted by the community – with only limited support from CPBR.
30 religious leaders participated and the headteacher of a local school was so impressed he requested another workshop for pupils of his school. As a result of this workshop 35 new people have joined the Young Visionaries network
The training of just one Hindu priest has spread to 30 more religious leaders, and brought 35 people into the Young Visionaries programme. Make a gift today and help CPBR reach further into fractured communities and spread their message of peace and reconciliation.
