Sarvodaya Annual Service Report 2016/17 - English Executive Summary

Annual Service Report 2016/17 Lanka Jathika Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangamaya(Inc) 1

Sarvodaya Annual Service Report 2016/17 Executive Summary Sarvodaya is an organization that goes beyond the scope of a regular Non-Governmental Organization. It is a People’s Movement that links the past, the present and the future in its progress towards development.

Sarvodaya, which maintains a long track record of wide-spread public service, was incorporated on 03 May 1972 under Act no.16 of Parliament of Sri Lanka.

In a time that Sri Lanka looks forward to a decisive future, Sarvodaya is completing 60th years of genuine and steady commitment to the rural society of Sri Lanka.

It is with great pride that Sarvodaya reaches its 60th anniversary of a journey of awakening the public consciousness to the duly aligned six fold goals of spiritual, moral, cultural, social, economic and political development.

This report summarizes the services rendered in line with our functions and objectives in 2016/2017 period. Each paragraph reports briefly the progress made in different areas of involvement by the Sarvodaya Movement.

Personal Awakening – "Paurushodaya" Early Childhood Development Through long term experience in rendering services, the Sarvodaya movement has realized the significant role played by the relationship between the mother and child in the development of the individual. Therefore, the Sarvodaya movement has implemented a number of programmes that focus on pregnant mothers, lactating mothers, children between the ages of 0 to 5 years (early childhood) and children between the ages of 5 to 15 years.

During the year 2017 Sarvodaya carried out 4 training programmes for teachers engaged in early childhood development. As at the end of year 2017, there are 1105 preschools with 1257 teachers trained in early childhood development in 26 administrative districts in Sri Lanka. This endeavor has supported personality development of over 25890 children.

By the end of July 2016, Sarvodaya was able to develop the "Meth Medura" early childhood development center into a model early childhood development center. By now, this model child development center has been successful in contributing resources to train 236 Pre-School teachers in the Estate Sector under 3 diploma programmes in early childhood development.

Under the theme "My Duty, Your Responsibility for a Safe Childhood" the Sarvodaya Movement successfully implemented a programme to commemorate World Children's day with the participation of 1003 religious leaders, schoolchildren, adults and government officers that work with children. The objective of this year's programme was to empower children on child safety.

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Sarvodaya Shanthisena "Shanthi Sena" programme of the Sarvodaya plays a significant role in personality development among youth. It is a programme which covers a cast array of subjects which are useful for the development of the personality of young men and women. Therefore the programme is active in sectors such as national reconciliation, inter-faith cooperation (URI), youth leadership, environmental protection, natural disasters as well as corruption (Youth Against Corruption is an organization established under the auspices of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption). A total of 509 individuals comprising of 56 youth representing Christians, 165 youth representing Muslims, 108 youth representing Hindus and 180 youth representing Buddhists participated in the 13 training programmes organized to promote national peace and reconciliation.

This programme is a timely intervention. As a follow-up to the initial series of progammes, action was taken to hold an Iftar ceremony at the Kochchimale Mosque of the Kaluthara Disrict and to hold 2016 Chirstmas celebrations at the Galle Divisional Secretariat Division. There endeavors have been highly instrumental in promoting peace and unity in Beruwala where residents were affected by the Sinhala-Muslim clashes.

This year has been a year of significance to the URI project since a number of Cooperation Circles and Youth Leadership programmes were successfully executed this year. 550 individuals benefitted from the 08 training programmes which were carried out while interventions such as the effort made by the Galle Religious Cooperation Circle to assist those who were affected by the floods and the provision of relief and assistance to those affected by landslides in Aranayake aided immensely in developing a humanitarian personality in youth involved in these interventions.

Furthermore, the programmes carried out this year at global level for global interfaith cooperation too have been of significance to social progress. Shanthi Sena of the Sarvodaya Movement acted as an intermediary in getting the involvement of youth in global level efforts of this nature.

-Two representatives took part in the Travelling Peace Acadamy held in India -Youth representation was made in the Special Summit held in Bangalore, India with the objective of finding solutions to the issue concerning clean water The 3 day tour to Sri Lanka, undertaken by Ms. Alice, the International Representative of URI is another highlight of the year.

Paurushodaya Division Sarvodaya gives priority to personality development of fulltime employees involved in the activities of the Sarvodaya Movement. The human resource undeniably is more important than every other aspect in a people's organization. Sarvodaya employees in particular tend to render their services with great commitment and little thought of personal gain.

Therefore, together with the support of other independent bodies, the Sarvodaya Movement took action in 2016/2017 to spend Rs. 181,000/- to purchase books and school equipment required by school-going children of the staff of Sarvodaya. Rs. 185,000/- was spent to support the children of Sarvodaya staff who are studying in universities. Rs. 5000/- grants were made to 10 children who passed scholarship examination. Furthermore, future programmes for the benefit of the staff of 3

Sarvidaya have been planned in keeping with the performance of fulltime employees as per the skill audit which was carried out. Action was taken to felicitate retired employees in appreciation of their services.

Awakening of Family – "Kutumbodaya" Sarvodaya movement continues to strive towards establishing quality inter-personal relations within the the family which is the smallest unit in the society. Sarvodaya believes firmly that spiritual development of the individual can play a vital role within a family for its development. Therefore, the Vishva Niketan International Peace and Mediation Centre continues to provide a number of services aimed at achieving this outcome.

"Mau Padaviya" Dhamma approach to motherhood programme, meditation programmes for children, students, prisoners and other individuals, Dhamma discussions, meditation programmes for foreign individuals are programmes that were carried out covering many different facets of society with the objective of awakening the family through focusing on the awakening of the individual.

Vishva Nikethan has successfully completed 104 programmes with the participation of 3942 individuals in total.

Awakening of Village – "Gramodaya" Village is the center of focus in the activities carried out by the Sarvodaya Movement. The Movement continues to forge ahead in many different aspects of village life in order to give rise to the power of people in the villages. The Field Operations Division of the Sarvodaya Movement acts as the lifeblood of this endeavor. Furthermore, the other Independent Units continue to strengthen villages through the provision of their respective services. The Field Operations Division has continued its services in various districts of the island under 5 main programmes this year. They are namely, Shramadana Societies, Deshodaya, Community Development, Resource Development and Development Education.

Sarvodaya Shramadana Societies At present there are 5446 formally registered Sarvodaya Shramadana Societies in the 25 Districts of the island and 53 Annual General Meetings have been held by these Societies. However, the fact that only a smaller percentage of these Societies have submitted their Annual Reports and Audit Reports to Sangamaya is problematic. 260 Societies were identified in 2016/2017 under the plan to activate dormant Shramadana Societies. Under this plan 36.54% progress has been achieved. Under the programme to train office bearers of the Societies, 317 office bearers have successfully completed their training.

Community Development Under community development, 11 education and welfare programmes which provided services to 4965 beneficiaries were carried out. Out of these programmes which were carried out with Divisional and District level participation, the programmes implemented with zero financial provisions must be highlighted. These programmes were carried out in the agriculture sector with Divisional and District level participation and contribution. 61 such programmes which included organic home gardening and construction of agri-wells were carried out with the participation of 894 individuals. 75 farmers from Padaviya area were educated on the use of organic fertilizer while the 4

construction of agri-wells for the community of 167 farmers in the Moneragala District is another highlight of this programme.

Resource Development Resource development is another area in which the Sarvodaya Movement was able to gain considerable progress during the year. Sarvodaya employees were provided with training on resource development and a special effort was made to generate income from each District. 5 training programmes were held and projects for each District were planned. As a result of this effort, most Districts except for a few have been successful in covering their District level maintenance expenditure 100% while they also show 25% to 100% progress in strengthening their respective District Resource Development Fund.

Development Education Development education programmes carried out with the intervention of Sarvodaya Institute of Higher Learning (SIHL) and the Field Operations Division show significant progress this year. 30 government officers were trained in development education while 20 farmers were trained at the Sri Tissapura Farm, Padaviya under the Meththa programme. Furthermore, 600 individuals in the Colombo District were educated on oral health and hygiene.

Relentless efforts have been made by the Sarvodaya Movment to find solutions to the Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology (CKDu) which is faced by the community in the North Central Province. As a part of this endeavor, the Tissapura Farm was started in Padaviya in 2016 as a model organic farm. considerable progress has been made by this model farm as it has successfully gained government recognized organic farming certificates Sri Cert and "Good Market" for the produce of the farm.

Urban Awakening – "Nagarodaya" This is a programme that focuses on the Colombo District. The Colombo District which has a population of 2,309,809 comprise of 13 Divisional Secretariat Divisions and 566 Grama Niladhari Divisions, is a city with intricate ethnic, religious and political complexity.

Nagarodaya or the Urban Awakening or the advancement of city is one stage in the achievement of the objectives of the Sarvodaya Movement. Under this programme, 223 Shramadana Societies have been formed and registered. Furthermore, Development Finance Centers with respect to economy have been established and are in operation in Borella, Homagama and Piliyandala.

Many programmes are carried out in the city by the Sarvodaya Movement in collaboration with our independent divisions.

In 2016/2017 period International Children’s day was commemorated in Moratuwa with the participation of 300 children. In response to disasters that struck the public 1700 families in Salawa were provided with cooked meals over a period of 17 days; 200 families were provided with kitchen utensils; 250 families were provided with mosquito nets and sanitation kits; and 450 schoolchildren were provided with schoolbooks and stationery.

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Awakening of the Nation – “Deshodaya” Having realized the timely significance of the “Deshodaya” programme, the Sarvodaya Movement focused particular attention to this programme in the context of current political realities. Under this, action was taken to promote the concepts and values attached to the Independent Commissions - Police Commission, Elections Commission, Constitutional Assembly and reconciliation, through the “Deshodaya National Council”.

As at 31 March 2016 the Deshodaya National Council had 13495 members across the island. During the year an additional 317 persons have obtained membership of the Council. Deshodaya Working Committee has held 05 meetings.

An important part of Deshodaya programme (National Awakening) is carried out by the Sarvodaya Institute of Higher Learning (SIHL).

Following are some of the priority areas in which the Sarvodaya Institute of Higher Learning is active: -Opportunities were made available to local and foreign students pursuing higher education to study the Sarvodaya community development model -Research studies are carried out in collaboration with local universities and international universities Direct and indirect contribution made by independent bodies working in collaboration with Sarvodaya indeed is has been a great asset to the Movement. Sarvodaya Development Finance , Rural Technological Services, Fusion, Suwasetha, Women’s Movement are some of these independent bodies which work in close collaboration with the Movement.

Global Awakening – “Vishvodaya” International Division of Sarvodaya renders invaluable service in the Movement’s journey to achieve “Vishvodaya”. During the year, a considerable number university students, university lecturers and volunteers from countries such as Japan, Belgium, UK and USA collaborated with the International Division of the Sarvodaya to carry out the services and functions of the Movement.

Visitors coming from other countries to collaborate in our efforts to achieve rural development amount to approximately 50 in number and the number of days in total that they rendered their services in Sri Lanka amount to 355.

What is more important in establishing such connections with different countries of the world is that understanding and awareness of our programme to achieve “Vishvodaya” is improved and strengthened by such exchanges.

Another notable aspect of the “Vishvodaya” programme is the lectures and exchanges made by our Chairperson in many different international forums.

Looking back at our journey in 2016/2017 we are confident that we made some very valuable and positive strides in all our areas of engagement.

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