Time Travel

Come. Join us as we take you back in time, centuries into the past when Sri Lanka was an unexplored little island. We’ll trace back to how your ancestors got to the speck of an island that you call home– whether you’re Sinhalese, Tamil, Burgher, Moor or Malay or smurf.

Expert on the Subject, Asiff Hussein–anthropologist, linguist and journalist, will lead the discussion offering his knowledge on the subject. Feel free to ask questions and explore a bit of history .

Bohemian Pursuits

Rajiv is torn between pleasing his parents and pursing his passion. Time is running out and he’s cornered into choosing a safe but dull career in the field of commerce or trying his luck as an artist. As the walls close in on him, Rajiv picks the latter; but at a dire cost of losing his family.

What would you suggest could improve the course of events and bring about a happy ending?

All those who’d come for the Galle Literary Festival had the chance to help Rajiv and his family, as the BB FT team staged ‘Bohemian Pursuits’. Enacting events from Rajiv’s life from making his decision to becoming a successful albeit uncaring artist- callously refusing to attend his father’s funeral.

The overall play highlighted many pertinent issues brought up by the youth in Galle. These include the influence of foreigners who seems to be taking over the fort, parent-child relationships, ambition, career guidance and the Sri Lankan mentality regarding ‘acceptable careers’.

The FT was performed twice at the Galle Literary Festival and here are some scenes from play.

And we present the FT team-

Hard work, sleepless nights and a bumpy ride to Galle- the team charged on and performed the first BB FT down south.

This is the first of many more FTs by BB that will be performed out of Colombo this year. Watch this blog for more updates.

Performing Virus

Member of the audience changing a scene in the play

No; not like a virus circus that can only be viewed through an electron microscope. This was a notch better. Our Forum Theatre group staged a play about HIV AIDS- how the disease is contracted, how to protect yourself and wrong notions about the disease.

It was back on 10 December at the Royal Skills Centre Auditorium. It went pretty well with several interventions during each scene, questions raised, answers delivered and a happier not-so-oppressed character in the end.

A big thank you out to all of you who attended the performance! Keep watch of the blog; we’ll be posting teaser trailers of the next Forum Theatre performance- ‘Bohemian Pursuits’ which we’ll be performing for the Galle Literary Festival. Here’s hoping we see you there!

Gearing up for the Galle Lit Fest

Preparing for the Focus Group discussion

In the run up to the 2012 Galle Literary Festival in which Beyond Borders will be participating in  two sessions, we decided to run down to Galle to gather some ideas for our dramas.

We didn’t get up early in the morning, as is customary when going our of Colombo, to catch a bus. Rather we decided to go a little late and well late we did become. However, we managed to have a lovely bus ride to Galle, chilled, well rested and ready for action!

We spoke to youth residing both within the Galle Fort and outside, and were enlightened to a variety of issues that were unique to that area.

The youth we spoke to, between the ages of 16 and 20, mostly felt that their parents were not giving them the freedom they sought. This was the key issue, resonating the discussion throughout the time we spent in discussion with them. This when questioned, boiled down to external problems like the Western influence within the Fort. According to the children, the parents felt that they were unable to give too much freedom to their children because they might run astray. We realised the locals were experiencing a certain reverse culture clash. The group we spoke to felt that their parents were not like the ‘cool’ Colombo folk who gave their children ample freedom to engage in youth activities and social work. However, most of the youth were rational, citing the pros and cons of their parents’ reasoning, but they wished that they had less restrictions on socialising.

Another problem that arose was on the topic of education. Like youth from most other places, the youth from Galle too felt that the education system does not allow them the best of opportunities to showcase their talents. They felt the current education system only made them ‘bookish’ and did not allow them the chance to engage in the sporting activities they are otherwise good at. We found that this is the same story everywhere. When the child comes to higher levels of education in school the parents want their children to prioritise on their education, keeping all other extra-curricular activities at bay.

Of course, the guys felt that they couldn’t talk to the girls and that they were shy; but that was besides the point during the interactive session we had with these energetic youth.

The Galle Literary Festival will be held from the 18th to the 22nd of January 2012 and beyond Borders will be performing on the 20th and 21st of January.

- Bhagya Senaratne

Bhagya is a board member of Beyond Borders. She is currently reading for her MA in International Relations and she’s our mole in the government. She blogs here. Her opinions are her own.

 

Day: Fourteen

Day Fourteen features a photograph by the BB team.

Fists Don’t Listen

by Abdul Halik Azeez

Fists don’t listen in my blurry state

I’m a dog without a home

My psyche can’t love; slave to a world

that never throws me a bone

The system rules the outer world

My task is your sustenance

The system makes me sub human

And my mind is past its penance

No, my fists can’t hear your blurry love

My fists are our survival

I’m angered by your garb of innocence

With no jungle nor a rival

So I beat and beat away from me

How incorrect can I prove you?

And somewhere inside I know it’s wrong

But ‘right’ is nothing I am used to

The economy’s gotten my humanity

My failings have gotten my heart

And what’s left of my morality

has gone without a spark

An animal inside human flesh

A clam a parrot an idle jest

Life is just a lark

And all I see is dark

The poem was inspired by a news clipping i read long ago about a retired champion heavy weight boxer. His son had given an interview saying that his father would come home drunk some nights and slam his mother (the boxer’s wife) with a combination. Anyone who’s watched boxing knows the power a heavyweight puts into a hard combination (a series of hard punches meant to destroy an enemy). Now imagine that combination slamming into soft, yielding flesh. imagine them pulping brittle bone. The bone of a person that loves you, or they would have undeniably left by now. I think men who beat their wives do so out of a sense of deep frustration about they way they are treated in the world. About how their illusions of reality don’t play out the way they think they should. Their ambitions are thwarted again and again and they have no moral or spiritual framework to release the tension. It is undoubtedly a failing of the man concerned, but it is also a societal disease, this shouldn’t happen in a healthy God fearing society.

Halik

Watch this blog for the next 2 days. We’ll be posting a featured photograph each day till 10 December as part of WMC campaign against GBV.

For more information about this campaign click here

The photograph concept was thought up by Halik- a board member of Beyond Borders. With the help of the BB team, a borrowed camera, bad lighting and a few doughnuts- the featured photograph was captured. Halik is a board member of Beyond Borders and blogs here when he is not bumming out or being a journalist/economist.

Virus

The good news- Sri Lanka is a ‘low prevalent country’ for HIV AIDS.

The bad news- With the country’s precipitant development, the risk of HIV AIDS spreading wildly is a burning problem.

What’s worse- The youth are highly vulnerable to contraction of the virus due to the “increase in migration internally, externally and internationally due to economic, leisure, [and] displacement”- according to the Family Planning Association.

So ask yourself- do you know all there is to know about HIV AIDS? Did you know that the virus can be contracted due to momentary carelessness?

One of the best methods of prevention is to keep yourself informed and Beyond Borders is inviting you to a Forum Theatre production on HIV AIDS. Bring your friends too and watch the enthralling interactive play and discussion.

The event is for free. All you need to do is register here- online form.

Shutterbugs; Behold!

A week long treat for photo-enthusiasts is brought to you by Rotaract Club of Panadura. Rotaract Shutterbug has a line up of fascinating sessions ranging from photojournalism (which will be held today), followed by a session on new media tomorrow and an exhibition of photographs from November 03 to 05. Be sure to call them up and register ahead if you’re interested in attending a session.

For more information visit their website- www.rotaractshutterbug.com

Charles Nigel de Silva – Supporter, mentor, friend.

Beyond Borders is deeply saddened by the death of Nigel de Silva – a close friend of Beyond Borders and personal friend to many at BB.

Nigel came into the world of Beyond Borders shortly after the inception of BB, as a facilitator, a resource-person and mentor, and a valuable asset to the HIV/AIDS related programmes of BB. He was always full of advise and insights, and had a knack for clicking with young people – the key audience of BB.

His work was at his heart, and Nigel won the hearts of many who had the privilege of working alongside him. His sharp wit meant that work that would otherwise be tiresome and grueling would be rendered into a fun exercise – and he manged to leave a lasting impression on every single person who listened to him speak passionately and emotively.

But the magic of Nigel was off the field of work.

Nigel became a close friend to many at Beyond Borders. A much loved persona who entered – and forever stayed – in our hearts.

Nigel will remain in the thoughts of all BB-ites and will be deeply missed – as a partner of BB, as a supporter, an advisor, a mentor, but mostly as a loved friend. May he rest in peace.

Patriot

 

 

-The poster, like the play, is more than usually out there

 

Our latest Forum Theater production will appear on November 2 at the Bishops College auditorium.

Forum theater is about audience interaction and expression. The play generally consists of five short scenes that last about 20 minutes. The audience is allowed to absorb the story in the first run and then the play is repeated; except this time the audience has the freedom to stop it at any point and attempt to redirect its course.

Normally the play focuses on a relevant social issue. The thespians’ last three productions tackled racism, disability and censorship, this time around the topic will be ‘Patriotism’. The play is rather straightforwardly titled ‘Patriot’.

It is however, anything but straightforward. The protagonist, David, is an adman who has to face tremendous opposition from the powers that be and his loved ones alike as he tries to stay a moral course that is compatible with his beliefs as well as capable of supporting his family.

He is caught in a dilemma when a promotional campaign for what he considers to be questionable government propaganda is thrust upon him by his boss. The consequences of his decisions are far reaching. And David is ultimately forced to find out just how far he is willing to go to stand by his beliefs.

The play is darker and more abstract that Beyond Borders’ previous attempts. Our last effort, Elected based on racism, drew record crowds.

The play starts at 6 p.m. Come with your acting juices flowing for maximum satisfaction. Entrance is strictly based on invites and there are still a few left. Call 0777 491718 to grab em.

U Can Haz Constitution.lk

We have just launched a website about the constitution. Now stop that yawn and go check it out, because we’ve tried to convert the heavy worded constitution of the Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka to something more well, readable.

The project is a part of Beyond Borders’ Peace and Governance initiative. The site will have Sinhala and Tamil versions soon. In the meanwhile we would really like to hear what you think about the English version that is already up.

Why we did it

If you haven’t already rushed off to check out our shiny new website then let us tell you why we thought of doing it. Beyond Borders Peace and Governance from the outset had the primary goal of combating  youth apathy towards governance issues. Our research indicated that a lot of youth simply don’t bother with getting to know the fundamentals of our governance structure unless forced to by way of academics or threat of assault by blunt metal object.

One of the many reasons for this, we discovered, was the unavailability of youth friendly information sources. A lot of young people feel marginalized by our system. Others feel used by the powers that be. So the website idea came about as a humble effort by us to provide a young person friendly version of the constitution.

There, that’s the short answer. The long answer is too long to type, but this is the general gist of it. Remember to leave a comment about the site. Bouquets and brickbats equally appreciated.