MISSION PARTNER NEWSLETTER FROM SRI LANKA SEPTEMBER 2006
Greetings from Sri Lanka and welcome to our fifth Newsletter.
We must begin by discussing the “country situation”, a local euphemism for the war in the North and East. The Government and the LTTE seem to be prepared to fight each other, each believing that an advantage can be gained. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get an accurate or convincing picture of what is happening from the broadcast or printed media. But we do receive personal reports from church leaders that should be reliable. Here are some examples: bodies are regularly found on the beach south of Batticaloa; gruesome pictures of hacked bodies are not uncommon; figures of 100,000 to 200,000 are regularly given in the media for the number of internally displaced people; curfews in Jaffna vary in their times and people do not know whether the schools will be open; a ship leaving Colombo in a blaze of publicity did not carry anything like enough food for the population of Jaffna. In Colombo there have been more than 50 recent abductions of Tamils leading the Government to set up a special investigation unit - but it seems to us that no-one ever gets caught. As for TCL, one student’s mother is a displaced person living in a refugee camp north of Trincomalee, while another student’s mother is sufficiently desperate to want to emigrate to India. Another’s cousin was murdered by the Karuna faction (a break away group from the LTTE).
Moving to other, more hopeful, matters… The conference Rosemary helped to organise, “Celebrating Theological Education for Women in Sri Lanka” was a great success, attracting more representatives from all over the island than even the most optimistic forecast, and receiving very positive feedback. It was the first conference specifically for theologically literate women in Sri Lanka (apart from Roman Catholic gatherings of large numbers of sisters) and was an emotional and liberating experience for many. There were interesting speakers from abroad and from Sri Lanka, and plenty of participation in the various workshops, such as ecology, dance, prayers, and peace.
A scene from a conference workshop
The conference was well timed too, for on 14th September the Anglican Diocese of Colombo ordained its first three women deacons to the priesthood, an occasion we both attended. Interestingly enough Rosemary was at the first such occasion in Bristol Cathedral in the UK in March 1994
The first three Anglican female priests at their ordination, Reverends Chandrika Mayaurawathi, Malini Devananda, Glory Jeyaraj
Another conference this summer was the annual Methodist Conference held in Colombo at the end of August. We arrived last year for this. The Director of the new Centre for Mission Studies in Birmingham, the Reverend Val Ogden, was the British Representative, and we enjoyed her company very much, albeit only for a short time. Rosemary attended all the conference sessions while James prepared for his week long Development seminar he gave in September. Having learned about the subject from books and lectures in 2004/5 at Birmingham University, James was keen to learn from the students who have been living Development to one degree or another. There was plenty of discussion and each student had to prepare a case study at the end of the week. These were very interesting and many featured the effects of war on themselves and their families. The seminar began with a quiz that included many facts about Sri Lanka: 2.5 billion coconuts were harvested in 2005; remittances sent home from the one million Sri Lankans living abroad are the second largest source of foreign exchange, second only to the garment industry; Sri Lanka received more aid per person in 2004 (pre Tsunami) than its South Asian neighbours, and has a higher Gross National Income per person than its neighbours; Sri Lanka spends more money per person on defence than its neighbours for obvious reasons, (although still tiny compared to western figures); Sri Lankans live much longer than their neighbours (74 on average). (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2005; World Bank, 2006.)
But we learn more about Sri Lanka from the people we meet than from books of statistics. Recently we learned more about the education system that seems to require every child to pay expensive tuition fees, whether she / he attends a free government school or a private school. This is due to competition for limited university places, the very poor pay of teachers who also are allowed to take time off during term, and the sheer size of the syllabi. The teachers therefore have an incentive (and excuse) not to complete the syllabus in the allotted time - they can earn good money as tutors. Successive governments have allowed this situation to develop, but the victims seem to be the children who work very, very hard from a young age and, we feel, must miss out on so much of the fun of childhood. Poor parents are also victims - we met a woman recently who had just pawned her jewellery to pay for tuition fees, which was then lost when her handbag was stolen in church.
Rosemary’s teaching load (number of hours) doubles this term when she teaches the first year students “The Life and Ministry of Jesus.” Two music theory classes –a new one for beginners and one for last year’s students - will continue. She is also teaching the Spouses Spirituality.
For ten weeks we house-sat for our colleague mission partners, the Watsons, in Kandy. This meant sleeping in their bungalow and then driving to TCL early enough for 6:45 chapel, working, and then driving back in the evening of every weekday. Weekends, however, were much more relaxing because the house was situated right beside Kandy Lake, a short stroll from the bustling centre of the city. At the beginning of August we were able to walk into Kandy to see the Perehera, the famous nightly elephant procession that takes place every evening for 10 days. We went to see it on four occasions. On the last, grandest evening, fifty four decorated and illuminated elephants tramped by, some bearing Buddhist symbols, including the Buddha’s tooth relic, and some having meaning for the local Hindu population too. The car batteries feeding the hundreds of lights were carefully disguised on the back of each elephant’s neck. Dancers cracked whips, threw hoops of burning torches high into the air, stamped and jangled, while musicians thumped drums and tooted pipes. Although spectacular, the 2006 Perehera was not very well attended due to security worries. There were 7000 policemen who seemed to be everywhere (and very bored).
Elephants relaxing after their exertions the night before
On the Saturday before the final week of term the biennial college outing took place. Two coaches took most of the TCL community high into the hill country to visit Nuwara Eliya (our fourth visit) and Hakgala Gardens (our third visit). We all wore hats and jumpers whilst there! It is the coldest part of the country. There was plenty of singing in the coach, although the older members of the party (ourselves included) were more inclined to try to sleep.
In the short academic break between terms (1 week) we made our first trip to the deep south of the country. We stayed near Galle for 4 nights. There was much evidence of tsunami damage, including graveyards, as well as wrecked buildings. But there is also much construction and road improvement – much more than James saw in the East last year. The ground floor of the hotel we stayed in had been destroyed by the tsunami but has been completely refurbished. Now, according to the manager, it is the war news that keeps the tourists away. We had a good rest, explored Galle Fort – an attractive Portuguese and Dutch remnant – and swam amongst the big but warm waves of the Indian Ocean. Sadly our friends Audrey and Helen were not able to come and see us in August, not because of the war, but because Audrey’s mother was seriously ill.
As patrons of the Basil Jackson Theological Society (named after the first TCL Principal), we continue to organise Friday film evenings and seminars fortnightly. The first seminar will be given by the local Methodist minister who is very active in peace campaigning at a national level. The films this term include “The Mask”, “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Fahrenheit 9/11” – plenty of food for thought and discussion in these, we hope.
A 6’ water monitor on a log on Kandy Lake near the Watson’s
Meanwhile Rosemary is now on the piano rota at Kandy Methodist Church, and she has just had a significant birthday. To celebrate, we shared a meal on the following Friday with our mission partner colleagues, Paul & Ina Watson and Maggie, and Maggie’s husband, Kit Mudalige. On the day itself, Paul and Ina came to breakfast and we treated the TCL community to cake at tea time (10am) – which is the tradition here for big occasions. In the evening we took out our TCL next-door neighbours for a meal. The website shows we had fun! It felt a bit strange to be away from family and close friends but Rosemary thanks people for their kind remembrances across the miles.
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:
Þ For an immediate stop to the fighting and a resumption of the stalled negotiations.
Þ For the relief of all displaced and frightened people so that they can return to their homes in safety.
Þ For greater acceptance of ordained women in the churches.
Þ For better ecumenical co-operation between the churches in Sri Lanka at all levels.
Þ For a great improvement in our Sinhala language skills.
More Worship resources on our website.
You might also like to write to your M.P. asking her/him to encourage the UK Government in its potential role as an impartial peace facilitator. This role has been discussed in the papers here. The UK Government can also put pressure on both sides to stop fighting.
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