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: Four

Day Four features a photograph by Rushda Mohinudeen.

Each year young women and even younger girls from distant villages are coaxed to Colombo with false promises of well paying jobs. When they reach Colombo however, they’re are forced into the sex worker trade.

It’s involuntary. It’s illegal. It’s against fundamental human rights.

Watch this blog for the next 12 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

Rushda Mohinudeen is a member of the steering committee of Beyond Borders. She heads ReachOut (a women’s rights group), works at an advertising agency and enjoys calling people koonjis. More of her photography can be found here.

Scripted Perversion- A Victim’s Tale

Several months back, I was asked by a few friends to come be a part of a network of young girls (and then some guys joined too!) who were working towards creating a safer space for women in Sri Lanka. Their initial work started in Colombo.

As part of ‘reaching out’ to society, the Reach Out bunch decided on using types of theater; and disruptive theater was singled out as one of the means to address this issue. We decided on having sessions of disruptive theater in the random bus on different bus routes, so that we spread the word to a variety of people commuting in public buses.

We also decided, disruptive theater in buses alone won’t help. Public spaces where youth and women visit and spend time at were deemed equally important. This is where I was came into volunteer and be a subject of a scripted ‘perversion’.

The actors were to go to Majestic City (MC) and act out a scene of guys perving and annoying a lone girl walking and window shopping. Two friends were to follow and randomly cat-call. Their basic motive was to be that of a normal pervert and annoy me. The experience was baffling, especially when I went up to people to ask for their help! Most of them just turned and walked away, leaving the victim (me) in distress! Alternatively, when I approached a lone guy whom I was randomly passing to help me, he actually stopped to help. He didn’t say a single word, but he made sure to stand by till the two ‘stalkers’ went. I thanked him, because I did not expect him to help me as none of the others did so when previously approached.

I suppose I can easily say that I am generally a ‘perv-magnet’. I attract all the wrong attention and get perved on quite often, be it touching, squeezing, rubbing on etc. on a normal day-to-day basis. So for me to actually go to a public space and act out reality had be on my nerves with something bordering on paranoia! I was skeptic and I was practically refusing to go up to strangers to ask for help. But the two other ‘support’ friends that were there, insisted that it needs to be done, at least for the project’s sake. From this ‘experiment’ I realised my basic notion of other people not wanting to meddle in another’s worries was correct. Then again I also came to realise, that not everyone is like that, and there is the odd person in society who will go out of his way to help someone in distress.

Thanks to this lovely project, my perceptions on people changed a bit and kudos to Shiffani and Rushda for giving me this opportunity and to Himal and Naveen the two professional perverts!

You can access the Reach Out blog for more information on the project and also on the Beyond Borders site.

-Bhagya Senaratne

Bhagya is a long standing (in every sense of term) 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.

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.

Silence of the Land Of Lotus Eaters

In a democracy the constitution should ideally epitomize everything that its people stand for. It is intended to be the document which protects the people from unfettered powers of its Leader while protecting the individual whether he is a political minority or a racial minority. But in a country like Sri Lanka with a unique interpretation to constitutionalism we might as well stop using the façade of democracy as our country codifies unlimited powers to an inevitable despot thus allow the “all knowing” head of the state to do as he pleases for as long as he pleases.

So we Sri Lankans do not complain and have complete faith in our noble leader to make choices for us and as many say the amendment only gives him the opportunity to seek elections if the people are unsatisfied with the leader they surely will be able to show their dissent through their vote. Sadly, in Sri Lanka the only form of the average Sri Lankans involvement in the Political process and how he is governed is reduced to just casting his vote. And as observed time and time again in any form of election in Sri Lanka, our elections have been far from “free and fair.” The election in which leading political party’s openly misuse public funds, ignore the directions of the Election commissioner will surely not be more reliable specially in a situation in which the incumbent is certain of retaining power indefinitely . The credibility of Election results will be further hindered as the new constitutional changes take away the powers of the Election commissioner of issuing guidelines to prevent the misuse of state resource while he may oppress the private media by imposing specific guidelines.

The only glimmer of hope for the de-politicization of the currently politically infested Public service Commission and other institutions was the 17^th amendment which ensured a certain form of independence in the Constitutional council. However the proposed Parliamentary council will undoubtly reflect the whims and fancies of the political Party’s as it will purely consist of MP’s. This council is not empowered to make any recommendations merely to make certain ‘observations’ which the President is not inclined to abide by.

Impeachment is the only safeguard available even if the President is despised by all during his infinite reign. But this too is made next to impossible with the constitutional requirement of two third support at various stages for such a motion supported by the Supreme Court.

In a country where incidents of openly violating the Fundamental rights of an officer, publicly bashing of media personnel goes without any recourse it is highly unlikely that the an individual may seek any form of justice where his fundamental rights are violated. If the constitution does not protect the individual, does not serve as a check, or seek to preserve the separation of powers among the different arms of government, one questions the essence of the Sri Lankan constitution.

With such impending dooms apparent for anyone with an atom of a brain to realize it’s shocking that the opposition is silent on these matters. Where is the public debate that should be present before such important constitutional changes?  An unconstitutional bill may receive public outcry and will be severely criticized in a vibrant democracy if the people object to it. In Sri Lanka where judicial review of legislation is non-existent this may never happen, but its saddening to see that even as a constitutional amendment of such public importance is being rushed through we tacitly accept the “wise” decisions made by our representatives.

Is it due to public apathy, ignorance or absolute faith in the current ruling system that we the people sit and watch as the rulers of this country entrench their powers further by manipulation of the constitution, which ironically is the document of the people and not a person.

Anushka is a core group member of Beyond Borders and a lawyer in the making, currently studying in her second year of law. Her opinions are her own.