Celebrating the Sri Lankan residential training

Hi everybody,

We've just finished a ten-day residential training here in Sri Lanka. We trained a group of fifty Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims from all parts of the country. I'm still feeling uplifted. As far as I know, everybody's expectations were exceeded in terms of the depth of mutual understanding and community that we felt.
<!--break-->Initially we were worried that people wouldn't talk. We needn't have done - the group participated and gave us feedback from the first session. I felt honoured to do a three-day introduction for the majority of the group, and enjoyed the deep connections that formed. I enjoyed hearing about sessions of transforming enemy images, understanding the fears of 'the other side', and doing a session on social change: I asked people to imagine the kind of country and world that they would like to live in. I heard some wonderful dreams of mutual respect and unity in Sri Lanka.
I loved the party and the 'No Need for Talent Show' on the last night. I was amazed to see how both Tamils and Sinhalese come out of themselves when they are performing: songs, comedy, more songs, a mock-fashion show (which I participated in), etc. etc.
I'd like to appreciate the effort and enthusiasm of:
- the training team: Liv Larsson, Kay Rung, Jeyanthy Siva and myself, assisted by Sejal Chad and Claudia Schraewer.
- our team of Sinhala and Tamil translators.
- the Sandhi team for organising the whole event: Jeyanthy, Chamila, Gayathri and Harsha
- Sewalanka for providing the venue and accommodation
- everybody who contributed financially to making this happen.
If you're on Facebook, I've posted a few photos, with comments: www.facebook.com/shantigarbha
Love and life, Shantigarbha