A day in the life of an NGO

Go to web site www.ahimsa.lk to check out all the various programs and people I work with here at AHIMSA.

It is easy to tell who is in the office by the sandals at the door, entering AHIMSA’s office which is on a road of homes (the one across from us has also become an office). Our building is an open plan so you can sit at our large table and see the balcony upstairs as well. Our main floor has a large open area, a kitchen, bathroom, and resource library. The second floor has three bedrooms and three bathrooms, which are offices with computers. And upstairs on the third floor is a loft type room which opens onto a balcony. All of our computers are networked and on broad band.

There is a wall around the whole property and to enter AHIMSA’s garden and building, one must ring the bell, which sounds like birds chirping. I have answered the gate very often when the birds chirp sounding much like a bell. There is actually a bird here that sounds like tweet, tweet!

Kassapa sleeps here at the office and Monica sleeps in a room here when she is not at her room in the boarding house. Monica is building a home and it should be completed by October-November. She plans to bring her parents and sister to Colombo to live with her then. Monica's 5 cats are the other full time residents of 18A Pelawatte Mawatha. All are female ginger and multi coloured and related to each other. (And all are fixed.)

Wasantha is one of the first to arrive at the office. He keeps the place clean, takes care of the plants and garden, and is very skilled with computers, organizing office needs, and brings tea at mid morning and mid afternoon every day. He is indispensable, taking orders & collecting lunch packets (rice curry) every day. He can also give cats medicine and offer help in too many areas to list.

Kassapa, Monica and Indika are the directors of AHIMSA; you can see their pictures on the web. Staff include Sureka and Himali with interns: Subha and Inosha completing projects for their degrees (focusing on Micro finance programs for low income communities). Jacky has been here for a year and is a Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO) from the UK who works with capacity building.
My work is primarily focused on Peer Mediation, a program where AHIMSA is partnered with Save the Children in Sri Lanka.

Fans keep the air circulating and cool a bit; the best cooling is after a rain storm when there are perhaps a couple hours of respite from the very hot and humid weather. Lots of water is drunk here and tape water is good here so no need for bottled or boiled.

AHIMSA began work as a conflict resolution NGO and now has expanded into relief and development programs. The conflict resolution work done here is mostly about self awareness and leadership skills with an emphasis on theatre techniques and activities. As the central aspects of ADR such as negotiation and mediation have not been aspects of their work in the past, we hope to bring on new staff as I provide training and material in support of these areas.

‘Neo Colonialism’ is the sense of a country that is once again seeing western ‘developed’ countries ‘showing the way’. It is not only the JVP political party that is hostile/cynical about the arrival of those from away. It is fair to ask ones self about the usefulness of ones work. I was invited to work here before the Tsunami relief workers arrived in growing numbers. My work is about working together with Sri Lankan staff in creating material that is context sensitive and to co-create facilitated workshops lead by Sri Lankan staff. Sinhalese, Tamil and English materials and training are provided with words which do not translate easily among the three languages. (There is no distinction between cold and cool in Sri Lankan languages, and why would there be?)

As the only white person I see on my 20 minute walk to and from the office, I wonder whether my work is seen in the same neo colonial view as all westerners are painted with the same brush. I feel very comfortable and safe here and I am happy to be working with young people who will learn new skills in their lives. I am still very aware of the capacities of Sri Lankans who have lived and worked with conflict and peacebuilding for many years now. There is a push-pull inside me as I question what I have to bring to people with a lived experience, I can not fully realize.

I feel humbled by the strength and courage people have in meeting the challenges of their ever changing context. Our day has a nice combination of relaxed visiting, writing (material, proposals, reports) meetings, work, and for some the day ends around 5-6. Some work week-ends and nights, as there seems to be a never ending possibility of work. Monica has received several invitations for training and work with other organizations. How does she balance her work with AHIMSA and all the work else where?

The sky is darkening, and there seems to be frequent rain at the end of the day. Sri Lanka’s climate changes are making the usual weather, unusual now. The storm will often shut down our power and internet so I best end this now.

I think of the huge learning curve I experienced with work in First Nations communities in Canada. Initially I spent most of my time trying to connect members of the first nations community to refer the community to, when they
Invited me to their communities. I feel a similar humble inability to meet the needs of a community that I need years to get to know in any depth. It is my hope to bring something to others which offers support for the work Sri Lankans do. Sometimes I think I would be best off serving tea.

cup of tea or coffee?

Martha