MISSION PARTNER NEWSLETTER FROM
SRI LANKA MARCH 2007
We will begin by reporting on some of the disturbing events taking place in this country. First there is the war in the North and East. The Government seems to be winning back territory from the LTTE but only at the cost of much destruction and the displacement of large number s of displaced people – 200,000 people are reported to have been displaced since the fighting started last year. This needs to be added to the 400,000 still displaced after the previous two decades of fighting. The LTTE is abducting children to train them as soldiers and the breakaway group, Karuna, (now friendly with the Government) is also accused of child abductions. In Jaffna the people struggle to manage their lives as the Government’s closure of the main road continues. There is a particular shortage of basic medicines. There are occasional LTTE attacks in Colombo (e.g. the recent air attack on the airport) and elsewhere. In Colombo Tamil business people and journalists live in fear of being kidnapped and then ransomed or murdered. No-one is ever caught. Police/ army complicity is widely suspected. The Government itself has the largest cabinet in the world (50+ posts!) as more and more politicians are given lucrative positions. Incredibly, the President and his brothers are accused of making a deal with the LTTE to reduce the other candidate’s vote in the Presidential election of Nov. 2005.
Having been advocates of fairly traded produce in UK we wanted to visit the only fair trade tea estate in Sri Lanka.
Some estate families outside their homes
We are fortunate to be in contact with a Canadian couple, Matthew and Rebecca Baker who export fairly traded tea as a sideline to help support the school they run, the Beacon Hill Academy in Nuwara Eliya. (The Academy teaches young people (aged 18-24) life and work skills and has a near 100% record in placing its students in jobs when they complete the one year course. This is good news in an area where secondary and tertiary education has been poor for many generations.) We went to the Koslanda Organic Tea Estate which supplies the Bakers. Being organic, the estate does not have the immaculate look of other estates - weeds are allowed to grow between the tea bushes for mulch, and the bright green of new leaves ripe for picking is less apparent because only compost is used, not chemical fertilisers. Homemade organic pesticides are used, and there are many more species of bird on the estate than there were in the previous inorganic days. Other benefits from being organic include the widespread keeping of dairy cows to keep down the grass, provide milk and manure. In fact, each house is given a cow and the Estate buys its dung. As for the fair trade aspect, one expects a fair trade business to pay its workers more, but sadly, tragically even, the estate management cannot do this because the agreement between the producers and the unions forbids it. The unions too seem to have an interest in keeping the tea workers where they are. Instead the company renovates and builds more new houses than the average, and supplies some furniture. Also the tea dust (normally sold) is given to the workers free, and factory workers wear protective clothing and masks - unusual in our experience.
Recently tea workers across Sri Lanka went on strike asking for 300 rupees a day but settled for 270 rupees, (200 to the £). Overall, the visit was encouraging but the fact remains that no other estate in Sri Lanka sells fairly traded tea. By the way, the estate manager told us that his biggest problems at present are four wild elephants that regularly visit the houses and gardens on the estate. One even stole food from a kitchen! We didn’t see any – only the photographs of a recent dawn raid.
Rosemary has become a godmother to her sixth godchild! (When she was asked she said she should be its god- grandmother!). We have been friendly with the Rev’d Sujithar and his wife Chrishanthi ever since we arrived. Suji it was who came with us on our first drive from Colombo to Kandy. Suji has recently been transferred to Muttur, north of Trincomalee, which is in the middle of the war zone. In fact, his entire congregation is displaced and living in and around Trincomalee. He has a huge task to try to re-form the church and help his people get back to what remains of their homes and livelihoods. His wife, her mother and grandmother have been our neighbours here at TCL for the confinement since January.
Rosemary, in her white sari, shows Henosha to the congregation of Kandy Methodist Church Sunday March 4th 2007
The baby was born on TCL’s Unity Sunday in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and is called Henosha (from the Greek for “unity”) Sujethra. That day at Kandy Methodist Church Rosemary beat all her records: she played the piano, preached, celebrated Holy Communion and was godmother. The Superintendent Minister conducted the Sacrament of Baptism! The family will join Suji in Trincomalee soon after Easter.
Rosemary has been travelling with the Kandy Methodist Circuit, visiting its social responsibility projects in the south and east. First, she went to a poor village on the south coast near Tangalle. Here they are supporting a nursery. Interestingly, the villagers now call the tsunami the “Golden Wave” because there are now much better facilities than before – and there was not major loss of life.
Most recently Rosemary went to Thirokovil on the east coast, the same place James visited in Dec. 2005. This area is 80km south of Batticaloa where shelling is a daily occurrence, and apart from checkpoints, Rosemary did not see any signs of war.
Foundations of houses being built by the Methodist Church on reclaimed lagoon near Thirokovil to re-house tsunami victims.
The Circuit is supporting a pre-school and other projects: one war widow was given a cow by the Circuit and now runs a yoghurt business to support herself, her mother and aunt, and her two children. So there are signs of hope. On both of these (long) journeys Rosemary learned more about the country’s political situation from her companions, as well as seeing more of this stunning country. Alan Paton’s phrase “Ah, but your land is beautiful” comes to mind, but there is nothing beautiful about the war. Money is wasted every day on shelling when there is so much poverty in the country.
Meanwhile, the mundane tasks of a lecturer at a theological college get done. Rosemary enjoyed teaching the very pleasant second years. On one of the non-teaching days this term we organised a visit to a Centre, run by the NGO Fridrso where they work with people living with disabilities in the Community. Issues of disability are not well handled here so we wanted the students to have some exposure. We learnt that there are only 170 physiotherapists for the whole country. We also treated Rosemary’s Sunday music class to a rare classical concert - a pleasant change for us but a new experience for them. The varied duties of the College Development Officer continue too. During the long vacation the classroom block and men’s hostel will undergo a major refurbishment which will greatly improve the facilities. Next academic year (starting in June) the number of students will increase by more than 50% so the improved facilities come at a good time. There is a month of orientation for the new students after Easter and field work for the continuing students after Easter and then the college closes for 4 weeks for its annual vacation.
When we wrote at the end of November, we were looking forward to the visit of our special friend Jennie. This indeed happened and was the tonic we needed at that time. She helped us turn a corner, as we had been feeling low. In February a couple from Wroughton Methodist Church, where Rosemary was Minister 1990-96, spent a long weekend in Kandy. We enjoyed showing them places too. Our Sinhala continues to needs more attention than we give it and progress is slow. However, we never fail to be uplifted by sights of e.g. elephants on the roads, mongooses on the campus, mountains all around, beautiful flowers and birds, and amazing butterflies.
Can
anyone identify this huge moth or butterfly (6” wingspan!) pictured here
resting on a neighbour’s wall?
We end by sending you every blessing for Holy Week and Easter, and by thanking those of you who keep in touch with us. We really do appreciate those of you who write to us and share your news and respond to ours
There are more photos of our life here in SL on our website: www.rosemaryandjames.methodistchurch.co.uk
For more about TCL see: www.tclsl.org
Please
consider the following prayer points: More Worship
resources on our website
Þ For an immediate stop to the fighting and a genuine commitment towards a negotiated solution.
Þ For the relief of all displaced and frightened people so that they can return to their homes in safety.
Þ For the work of Rev’d Suji in Muttur
Þ For better ecumenical co-operation in Sri Lanka at all levels. Rosemary is now Convenor of the Connexional Committee for Anglican /Methodist relations.
Þ For the work of Kandy Methodist Circuit.
Þ For the new students preparing to come to TCL.
Þ For the only final year student, Ridgeway, who leaves TCL in April to work in the Diocese of Colombo
Þ For Rosemary’s brother William and his partner Nicola as they get married on 7th April.
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