Building Human and Institutional Capacities for  Participatory Democracy

                                 

Report  2003-2006
 VILUTHU
Our Journey

When some of us came together to establish Viluthu back in 2003,  we were only aware of  our burning passion  to create a new world where  equality and democracy were not mere concepts but a way of life.  As to what we were going to do to achieve this dream, with whom and how, remained largely fuzzy.  The last three years can be said to be  important  formative years, escorting us towards defining our identity, role and  organizational culture.
Today Viluthu( which means in Tamil the hanging root of a Banyan tree), has dug deep into the soil of the Tamil speaking community; at the same time, it has  supported the  linkages and networks between  interest  groups and the different  communities which have branched out of the Sri Lankan polity.  We are seen as torchbearers  of a set of values that underpin  the new world envisioned by us, courageously taking forward our work  amidst  extreme forms of social upheavals and breakdown of  all democratic principles and structures.

It has no doubt been a difficult beginning.  We had to first establish credibility, an acknowledgement that we were not just another NGO carrying on development work as a business venture.  Then we had to gain legitimacy, that of an organization,  although espousing  high principles, was  rooted  in its constituency aware of its immediate problems. We had to be relevant, while all the  time balancing  the difficult  tight rope walk of  addressing the critical  issues without  going overboard threatening the
 

very existence of our program.  The biggest challenge of all was to build our team. A team that has internalized our vision in a society such as ours, where  participatory structures of governance  have least been in existence  within living memory and yet are figments of some people’s imagination.  

Of course, we did not do it alone. The academics from the  Universities of Jaffna  and Colombo, the teachers and lecturers of   educational institutions,  the government officials  from the district and provincial administrations,  the heads and staff of all media organizations and even theatre artists, they have all collaborated with us, jointly and separately, to produce/ implement  our programs. It was a steep learning curve for all of us.

I have to make special mention of two of our donor agencies FLICT (Facilitating Local Initiatives for Conflict transformation), AJWS (American Jewish World Service)  for   extending an imaginative  understanding  of  our  new and unorthodox  initiatives, and willingness to learn where and how we had fared in the areas  we  failed. Our partnerships have been forged with much mutual respect. FLICT came forward to support our  Study Circles program, despite  it being an uncertain and  many faceted venture. But it survived the test.  I say a big Thank you to them all.

We are proud to release this  first  report of Viluthu’s activities aimed at wide scale dissemination. It attempts to map the path we have tread  and fulfills our accountability  to the constituencies we serve. As we hope to build ourselves into an institution that is financially and otherwise supported by  the people of our country, this report is also intended  for all those  future  sponsors of ours.

With best wishes and hopes for new and more exciting partnerships,

Shanthi A  Sachithanandam
Executive  Chairperson

 


Our Vision and Mission

Participatory democracy is reflected in shared governance to increase accountability, enhanced participation and improved administrative performances. It regulates the distribution of power, wealth and resources. It moderates bureaucracy, and responds to the social needs of the people

Participatory democracy in a society means people have a part in how their society is governed; a community consisting of active citizens who discuss and debate the issues affecting their lives come into focus. Hence participatory democracy has the potential to engender an active civil society, a socially just economy, and a democracy which serves to channel the interests of all the people.

In a culture where human rights are violated with impunity, where there is no social justice, people power is absent. As people get further away from politics, they disengage from the public realm: the controls get in the hands of a few who wield power in the social,economic and political spheres.

Viluthu’s work sprang from the yearning to believe that there is an alternative to the apathy of lack of participation in Sri Lanka. That affirmative action can be sparked to change circumstances in the school, the workplaces and homes. This yearning, directs our programme of activities. We believe that a search for truly democratic alternatives to the present, and a commitment to social experimentation with them, is possible and is a worthy and fulfilling human enterprise.

 

MISSION

Viluthu’s Mission is promoting a culture of democracy through strengthening participatory mechanisms within  Governance structures. Viluthu will establish and work  with networks that will negotiate on behalf of their own interests and advocate for change.  We will also work with state, non-state , Media and Civil Society  institutions  utilizing  our strategy of ‘Supporting Human Capacity Building’.

  

As an organization undertaking advocacy, Viluthu builds legitimacy amongst its stakeholders. We constantly communicate to our various constituencies as to the principles we stand for.


VISION

We seek a world of Tolerance and Social Justice: A society enabled to practice Participatory Democracy. In this quest Viluthu aspires to be a national force that catalyses a social movement   for Peace,Justice and Democracy
 

The Strategy for nurturing a culture of participatory democracy

Our   strategy is  projected  in the central programme of strengthening civil society; it is transformed through  catalyzing changes in its values and attitudes, and mobilized for action.

Civil Society is mobilized through the formation of networks possessing  common interests. Viluthu’s  interventions in the areas of  education,  gender and development and the media contribute to changing of values and attitudes.    
  • Strengthening of Civil society
 

Strengthening of Civil Society is the Core of Viluthu’s programme. Creating forums where information is disseminated for men and women to hold free discussions on issues concerning them, promoting their participation in development through local governments, and supporting institutional development of interest groups, all form part of this strategy.      

    • Study circles:

      Study circles are an innovative way of creating safe and serious forums of discussions. This project was begun in August 2005 supported by FLICT (Facilitating Local Initiatives for Conflict Transformation). Study circles are small groups of 5-10 members meeting weekly in their own localities to read and discuss on any issue that concern them. Teachers, professionals, University students, community centre library members, secondary school students and community workers are part of this network.

      In addition to reading matters of their own choice, these groups are also provided with publications that are currently relevant.
      Teachers groups have been provided with two publications concerning the rationale behind educational reforms, and the implications of delivering primary and secondary education in English medium. (Described later under education.)
      Community workers, professionals and academics have been provided with publications on linking human rights to development as well as post modernist thoughts and their relevance to understanding the current socio-political context.

      A series of pocket books have been released for  the use of youth groups and the general public on the history of the ethnic conflict as well as the nature of the Sri Lankan State and the need for its restructuring in order to build sustainable peace. 40,000 copies of these were published and distributed  in both Sinhala and Tamil.

      Study circle members  are  encouraged to  identify issues that they want to explore  through a worldview that is embedded  in the rights discourse, by participating in public discourses and  feature film screenings. These public events are organized regularly  in order to provide an opportunity for gatherings and discussions. The film screening events are the most popular, sought out by people of all ages. This has been found to be an effective and non threatening medium to initiate discussions on any social and political issue.


      Film Screening in Vavuniya for teachers and students

      Despite the deteriorating security situation in the North-East, over 100 study circles have been formed in the districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar, Batticaloa, Ampara and Puttalam. A continuing challenge posed by this program is to  change study circles into a true citizen’s action towards influencing policies. At present, they are functioning as mere discussion forums for small groups of people. The experiences of the year 2006 have provided us with new tactics to bring  specific activities  into focus for the years 2007 and 2008 which we hope will set in motion a new dynamics within the groups.
    • Promoting Participatory mechanisms for public participation in Local Government: 

      The main approach is through training elected members and officials of the local government, and the general public, in instituting mechanisms for participatory approaches. Pilot projects have been started in October 2006 in the Kattankudi Urban Council and Alaiyadivembu Pradesha Sabai. This project is supported by Asia Foundation.
 
  • Establish/Support, and strengthen occupation based Community Groups:

    Occupation based community groups are the most important segment of the existing interest groups. Under this program Viluthu began its work with the fishing societies of Trincomalee district. 23 societies consisting of 3,700 members were re-activated and formed into a federation; they were provided with both management structures as well as  marketing infrastructure.

    The Trincomalee Town and Gravets Fishermen Cooperative Union (TTGFCU) thus formed, began marketing fish directly to the central market in Colombo, trading daily for more than Rs.100,000. They were able to release many fishermen from debt bondage and institute several welfare programs for the members of their community. This empowerment process led to them nominating their secretary to the list of candidates contesting the parliamentary elections in the year 2004. He received sufficient votes placing him next in line in Trincomalee district as member of Parliament under the present proportional representation system.

    Meanwhile, in 2006, he contested  the local government elections and has been elected Chairman of the Urban Council of Trincomalee. Unfortunately, the success story of  the TTGFCU has temporarily  halted due to the  continuing violence in the district from April 2006. There has been large scale displacement of the fishing community to India amidst  violence where unfortunately their President was also one casualty. This program was supported by the Jewish coalition of donors in the US through the American Jewish World Service (AJWS).
    At present, similar work has begun in the Batticaloa district with 49 fishing societies in collaboration with MANDRU, an environmental organization of that district.  

 

Capacity Building in Education

Capacity building in Education is crucial due to its role in shaping the thinking process of tomorrow’s citizens.   Teachers’ and educationists’ capacities are built to provide for a free learning environment underpinned by the values of peace and democracy.

   
  • “Aha Vili” a monthly journal for teachers and educationists: 
     

Bringing radical changes in teaching methodologies requires, first of all, an institutional framework for teachers to debate and discuss teaching and  management issues. The monthly journal ‘Aha Vili’ (meaning the Inner Eye), the first of its kind in Sri Lanka, was published with this need in mind. Today it is crossing its 28th month with over 2000 sales. Trainers and lecturers in the Colleges of education and the teacher training institutions value the contribution of ‘Aha Vili’ to their work and use it extensively in their work. ‘Aha Vilzi’ editorial staff at Viluthu are invited as resource persons for seminars and workshops at teacher training institutions. Students sitting for their undergraduate and post graduate studies in education now habitually cite ‘Aha Vili’ as their reference material. Though one of our more important outputs, this project is self funded.

   
  • Issue based work.  Focusing on relevant issues for education: 

The first issue that was taken up in the education sector was that of education reforms. It was found that teachers did not fully comprehend the rationale of the “education reforms” brought in by the government, and therefore tended to view all new regulations and requirements as mere burdens. A publication and a series of discussions were carried out on the theme of education reforms and their relevance to the national development policies.

In March 2006, Viluthu declared “gender in education” as the theme for commemorating the International Women’s Day in order to draw the attention of educationists to this important issue, as well as to sensitize them. A competition was announced and research papers (5,000 – 7,000 words) were called around a few themes such as ‘Female teachers and hurdles in the development of their professionalism’,  ‘Management issues in a mixed school’ and ‘Gender issues in the language curriculum for children between years 6 and 11’ etc.  8 entries were received out of which three of the best awarded prizes. This competition was effective in  taking the discussion of gender issues to the portals of the colleges of education in Vavuniya and in Jaffna.

Similarly to mark the international peace day in September 2006, “peace education” was taken up by Viluthu  as the other focal theme. So that in October, during the National Reading Month,  a book on how gender manifests itself in society “Kalaasaaramum Pen velippadum”, and another one on how to view history “Karuththiyalum Varalaarum” , were published (6000 copies in total) to be distributed to teachers. Thus the work plan of October 2006 was dotted with workshops conducted in schools in Vavuniya, Batticaloa, Ampara, Puttalam and Negombo to introduce these books and raise awareness amongst teachers as to how they can tackle peace and gender issues in their classrooms through literature and associated discussions. 


Drama at College of Education, Vavuniya

There is an increasing desire among Sri Lankan parents to educate their children in the English medium. Sensing the political implications of such a tendency, Viluthu has begun to stimulate study circle discussions on this issue. A small publication is brought out on this subject as a starting point to this discussion. The years 2007 and 2008 will be devoted to wide scale dissemination and discussion of this issue. Supported by FLICT 
        Gender and Development

      

     Meeting of a women’s group
     
The main element of Viluthu’s gender programme is the mobilization of  women and forming networks for promoting their public participation. Advocacy and campaign are two prongs of this strategy. Started with the support of the Australian Government, it has been continued with the support of AJWS.  A network of Tamil and Muslim women called “Inaintha Karangal” (Joined Hands) was formed with over 8,000 members. In order to strengthen activism amongst this network, a monthly newsletter “Thalaivi” (leader in the feminine) was published.   The other aspect of this program was to build capacities of government and non government organizations in implementing relief, rehabilitation and development projects that integrate gender issues in the planning stage onwards.
  • Campaign and Advocacy: 
   

“ Aduppadiyilirunthu Arasiyalvarai Aimbathukku Aimbathu” (50:50, From Pots & Pans to Politics) was the first campaign launched by Viluthu to lobby and encourage the Tamil political parties in the North-East to nominate women for the local government as well as the parliamentary elections.

It is not a coincidence that in 2004 two women (who possess an added qualification of being no relatives of any male politician) were elected to parliament for the first time from the Tamil parties. 

In the aftermath of the Tsunami disaster, when large scale relocation was on the cards for the Tsunami affected families, Viluthu joined with a national level women’s coalition in a successful lobbying for  changes in government procedures in land alienation schemes especially targeting women. The numbers of women applying and obtaining  land tenures significantly improved in the East.

In 2006 April, leaflets of intimidation were issued against the women staff of NGOs of the Batticaloa and Ampara districts. They all were given a deadline to resign from their work, which threat was taken seriously by most NGOs.  Viluthu was one of the few organizations which took a public stand against this despicable act through leaflets and meetings with individual NGOs.  As a result, the forces which had issued the first directive had to retract their initial stand.

Although some significant changes were brought about by the above mentioned campaigns, these were mostly the outcomes of individual efforts in the community. There was very little participation of the larger women’s network in these advocacy efforts. This has highlighted the enormity of the challenge facing us in the mobilization of women and in their participation in the democratic process. However much “Thalaivi” encouraged small local actions for change, it seemed that any initiative had to come from the center and center alone. Viluthu’s  aims of creating atleast 5-10 numbers local  leadership that could spearhead a women’s movement in their own localities also did not materialize. After an excruciating self evaluation session, “Thalaivi”, the oldest project of Viluthu, was brought to a close in July 2006. “Inaintha Karangal” women’s network has also been left to be dormant.

We are in search of new strategies for our gender and development programme. Till then, women’s study circles will  form the basis of Viluthu’s  outreach  and  awareness raising on gender issues amongst men and women.,.


Viluthu participated in the violence against women campaign in Batticaloa
    •  Training: 
 
       

Two training manuals were published, one on gender advocacy “Thadaihalai Thaandi” and the other on gender and conflict transformation “Sarinihar Samanamaaha” for the benefit of gender trainers attached to NGOs. Over 25 NGOs have benefited from training by Viluthu on gender, gender based violence, and coaching in mainstreaming gender in the districts of  Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara. Supported by Australian Government. 

At present, the livelihood officers and women development officers from 19 Divisional Secretary’s offices are undergoing coaching on integrating gender issues in their work and assisting in the establishment of sustainable livelihoods especially that of women. Supported by AJWS.

    Work with the Media
   


Recognizing the obstacles faced by women working in media organizations, Viluthu facilitated the formation of the first Tamil media women’s organization in Sri Lanka , called “Oodaru”. Oodaru consisted of women working in both print and electronic media. A series of workshops were conducted for them on the themes of ‘code of ethics for gender equality amongst media organizations’, ‘CEDAW and the rights of women within media organizations’, ‘learning about photo journalism’, and, ‘skills enhancement for TV and radio presenters’. The National Peace Council sponsored some of these workshops. A photo taken by one of the participant journalist was used for the first poster of Viluthu  featured  on the front page of this report.

  • Sri Lanka Tamil  Journalists Association: 

    Viluthu supported the Tamil journalists association to organize workshops for its members on the problems facing journalists working in conflict areas.

  • “Namathu Seithi” Tsunami newspaper:

    In the aftermath of the Tsunami disaster, when Tsunami reconstruction programme was commenced by government and non governmental organizations amidst allegations of  malpractices, Viluthu launched a short term bi-monthly newspaper called “Namathu Seithi” (Our News) for the Tsunami affected communities in Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara. The objective of this 12 paged tabloid was to promote transparency and accountability in all the Tsunami programs. Along with news of the progress of the various projects and other relevant information, this paper, regularly carried interviews with senior government officers and NGO program directors. Namathu Seithi closed its publication in August 2006. Action Aid supported this project.


    		•
  • Campaigns: 

    In October 2005, to commemorate the National Reading Month, Viluthu conducted a campaign to promote the habit of reading and to encourage the formation of study circles through the print and electronic media. 64 schools collaborated in this effort and contributed articles which were published in the print media. The articles covering half a page of the national daily “Thinakkural”  were published throughout the 31 days in October. In the news paper “Virakesari” which enjoys the largest circulation, and the Jaffna based newspapers “Udayan” and “Valampuri”, reviews  of rare books were published. All four papers carried an editorial  promoting reading during this month. Similarly, a radio campaign was conducted over  the private radio channel Sooriyan FM. Supported by FLICT.

    Even the tools used as visibility materials are used to building our ideological profile. Desk calendars carrying messages that denote different aspects of strengthening participatory democracy are distributed to all the DS offices, NGO offices and government departments each year.

    2004   -“From Pots and Pans to Politics – 50:50”
    2005   -“There is no peace without Justice, and there is no Justice               without Struggle”
    2006   -“The intellectual ability to tear away oppressive bonds is               acquired only through an education infused with self               respect”
    2007   -“Self-Liberation and Social Change, both can be achieved               only through  socially responsible voluntary action”

    In 2006, Viluthu released its first internal poster  “Hope Lives On… Because some of us feel anger at the way things are, and a few have the courage to work to change it”


  • Promoting dialogue on peace among children: 

    We have recently begun a limited campaign in the print media in all three languages, encouraging children to write on peace issues. Some topical images in the form of photographs depicting some aspects of the war and the current peace process are published every week. This becomes the lead for the write up by children. Termed “Voices and Visuals for Peace” this project will be concluded with the publication of the collection of writings of the children. Supported by the British Government

    		•
  • Entering the realm of alternative media:

    In 2006 June a quarterly journal named “Koodam” was released. The objective of   this journal was to promote academic writings in Tamil on social. political, economic and cultural themes. Koodam intends to give a different worldview to its readers. Just as “Aha Vili” has become the focal point of study circles of the teachers, it is hoped that “Koodam” will prove to become the focal point of  the study circles of other professionals. And, in that, it will come to profoundly influence the mainstream media in the way it conceptualizes issues. Supported by  FLICT.

    		•
  • Voice of the Voiceless: 

    Street theatre is utilized by Viluthu to provide the marginalized communities a tool to analyse their situation, and also a voice to express their concerns. Viluthu has conducted several workshops to establish and strengthen  theatre groups for the community based organizations and NGOs working in Trincomalee, Jaffna and Vavuniya districts. Supported by Australian Government.

    In 2004, Pralayan, a famed street theatre artist from India was invited to spend one month sharing his expertise and experience with the theatre groups in Sri Lanka.  He conducted theatre workshops for groups in the plantation sector, Kilinochchi, Trincomalee and Jaffna. At the end of a comprehensive script writing and production workshop in Trincomalee, a street performance named “Othukkathi Othukkan” ( Mr. Exclusion) was written and performed on the theme of peace building between the Muslim and Tamil community. This was subsequently performed 23 times in Mutur main market, Mutur Vidyalayam school premises, Vavuniya, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Jaffna. It was hailed as a pathfinder in Sri Lankan Tamil street theatre by the theatre artisits based in the Vanni districts. Supported by UNDP.

    As a result of this activity, a bond was forged between the Tamil groups from  Kilinochchi and the displaced Muslim community in Puttalam creating a positive impact of the project. They went on to collaborate and carry out 49 performances in Puttalam and Kalpitiya without any external support.


    However much be that theatre is an integral part of  our strategy, we have so far encountered  many obstacles in  sustaining a professional theatre group. Lack of a politicized constituency of younger people who are able to analyse and interpret events, and the perception that theatre is not a vocation to be pursued once one obtained a ‘respectable’ job, are two of the more important reasons  for the lack of success.  For the present, we have turned to our study circles to yield forth a radicalised group of young people  who might  form a longer term theatre group. 



    Budding teachers engaged in theatre

    		•
      Emergency Response

       

    Although Viluthu is a development organization, the Tsunami disaster in December 2004 demanded immediate and much needed responses from us. Confining ourselves to our mandate of building capacities, we worked in the Tsunami affected areas for 9 months.
             
  • First aid counseling: 

    • Viluthu trained about 250 community workers from 17 NGOs which were working with tsunami affected communities in the districts of Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara, in “First Aid Counseling”. This looked at the basic rules of interaction between affected individuals and the community workers. This was packaged as a two day in-house training coupled with reflection sessions every two weeks for the next three months.

    To reinforce this training a handbook on counseling “Uravum Thunaiyum” was also published in Tamil and Sinhala for the benefit of the community workers. Supported by Mercy Corps.
      
             
  • Counseling in class rooms:

    Recognizing the role of teachers in addressing counseling needs of students, over 350 teachers in the three districts of the East were trained in using theatre techniques to identify problem related symptoms in children. On their request, a guide book titled “A whole Village is needed to bring up every child” on how to communicate with children, was published. This book was much sought after that we had to go for a second print of 1000 copies.  Supported by Mercy Corps.   


    Teachers being trained fro Tsunami counseling

    		•
             
  • Voice of Women: 

    The field  animators of 22 NGOs assisting in Tsunami  refugee camps in the East were given further coaching on strengthening women so that they can participate in the decision making related to the Tsunami reconstruction programs. Through our partner organizations, we worked in 59 refugee camps monitoring the essential needs of each of them. The affected women were formed into groups and trained to lobby for health, sanitation and other facilities in the refugee camps. The information fed by the animators in the program were much valued in the meetings of the district networks of government agencies and  NGOs. The agencies in question were able to better respond to the needs of the refugee camps. In addition to building capacities of NGOs to systematize their  work with women’s groups, We were also able to assist some women to establish income generation ventures too. Supported by American Jewish World Service (AJWS) and private donations

    		•

    Partners  in our Vision
     

    INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT  of   VILUTHU  for the years 2004/2005 and 2005/2006
    (All amounts in Srilanka Rupes)
       

    Auditors:   W.S. Kiruparatnam &  Co
                      Chartered Accountants
                      6A, 6C, Daisyvilla Mawatha, Colombo 4. Sri Lanka

    Company Secretary: Mansecs  Services Private Limitedz
                                     6A,6C, Daisyvilla mawatha, Colombo 4.Sri Lanka

    		 
    Programme Approaches

    Training is utilized  to raise awareness of  critical issues, create an understanding of the consequences arising out of these issues and provide necessary skills to find solutions to the identified problems.

    Programme Implementation Support is provided to facilitate action-reflection and effect experiential learning in the field.

    Net Working is promoted so as to learn together and act collectively for advocacy.

    Advocacy is used to build capacities of affected communities to develop competencies to influence those who make policy decisions.

    Creating a knowledge base through research and publications is an approach used fordissemination of information and knowledge to empower communities, institutions and networks that struggle for change.

    Providing theatre forums in order that the grass roots communities possess tools of analysis and can articulate their grievances effectively.

    Our Work Culture . . . . . .  

    We work as a Team

    Each team decides its own program objectives and the associated set of indicators for each year with reporting formats, at the annual organizational strategy planning session

    Once a program is designed, each team decides on the budget allocations and pace of spending

    Flexible arrangements are available for any team member to work part time or on contract tied to outputs

    We utilize  our networks and good will for carrying out most of our project activities so that  with just  20 (full and part –time)  staff members,  a tremendous work output is produced

    In addition to review meetings of the team, each staff member goes through a participatory performance appraisal process at the end of each year

    From 2007 we have instituted a staff skills assessment procedure on which basis systematic capacity building activity plan can be rolled out

    Finally,

    We motivate  our staff to believe in the cause for which Viluthu stands, and,
    encourage   them  to dream. . . . . . .for,  our dreams are the blue prints of the future

    What They said. . . . . . . . .

    “ A journal specifically dedicated to the teaching profession, and which  has been published uninterrupted for more than two years;  Aha Vili is the fist such  endeavour I have seen in my entire professional career spanning 35 years..”

    Prof. S Sandrasekaran
    ………………………………………………………………………………….

    “ All kinds of people are visiting our office asking  for 50, 100 copies of our Sinhala publications. Madam if you can instruct as to the maximum numbers of copies I can give out for each person, then I will do so..”

    Mr. Velayutham, Viluthu  Colombo  office caretaker
    ……………………………………………………………………………………………

    “ Are donor agencies giving you money to make all of us read? Is’nt there anything else we should be doing?

    “ No, we want you to read….expand your knowledge with the information..”

    “ I cant believe this. We only know of donor agencies having their own private agendas and working towards that. They really are concerned you say in our  own intellectual development?”

    A conversation between our district organizer for Batticaloa district and a participant at a study circle inaugural session.
    ………………………………………………………………………………….

    “ We see that you are taking forward a lot of education development projects with the Vavuniya College of Education.. We are also there. We need you.  Please do not let us down…..

    President, Jaffna College of Education
    ……………………………………………………………………………………..

    “If only you had performed this  street drama before, we would not have had  Muslim-Tamil problems in Mannar……”

    Mannar  resident after viewing a performance of Viluthu’s  theatre group
    ……………………………………………………………………………………..

    “We have always respected the  range of research  pursued  by Sri Lankan Tamils, their research sensibilities and the flexibility and freedom with which they  conduct  their debates. “Koodam”  again reminds us of these qualities. It  invites all those thinkers who are disillusioned with  the narrow confines of the objectives articulated by extremists viewpoints to participate in a broader forum that supports social democracy. We congratulate “Koodam”’s journey into creating just that  multi-disciplinary  forum for dialogue..”

    N. Muthumohan, an academic writing to “Puthiya Kattru”, a reputed journal published in Tamil Nadu. 

    BOARD of Directors

    Prof. S. Sandarasegaram- Dean, faculty of Education, University of Colombo

    Dr, Sujata Gamage-Researcher and Environmentalist

    Mr. S.M.N. Marsoom-Lawyer

    Mr. A. Sivanesaselvan-Former editor, Virakesari & Thinakkural

    Mr. C. Nadarajasivam -Veteran broadcaster and consultant to electronic
                                          Media

    Mr. K.Nadaraja-Retd. Assistant Commissioner  for Local Government

    Mr. S. Paskaran-Ayurvedic doctor by training and theatre artiste by profession

    Ms.S.A. Sachithanandam-Architect by training and  Gender  Specialist by                                            profession

    We Need Your Support . . . . . .  

    Subscribe- to Viluthu’s periodicals and publications

    Learn-more about our advocacy issues and capacity building  activities so that            you too can make a difference

    Contribute-on our interest areas to our publications and our website

    Organize-discussion groups and study circles in your community or neighborhood

    Volunteer-as a facilitator for our discussion meetings and/or study circles groups

    Offer-participation in our theatre activities

    Feel free to visit our offices and find out more ways of how you can contribute to improve our programs! ! !

    Contact  Details:

    3, Torrington Avenue, Colombo 7. 
    Tel : 94-112-506272  Fax: 94-112- 585190.  E-Mail: info@viluthu.org


                                 Program  Team at  Viluthu