On the 26th of December 2004, a devastating Tsunami struck many parts of Asia.  One of those worst affected was the South Coast of Sri Lanka.  As the effects of the natural disaster unfolded, it became apparent that the cost in human terms would far outweigh the immediate financial challenges.

In the Summer of 2005, Bobby Mc McCormack and Margaret Downey travelled to Sri Lanka to explore the ancient Island and also visit the areas worst affected to see if we could do anything for the communities living there.  It became apparent to both individuals that we needed to understand lots more about some of the challenges involved in development before we could do anything that would really benefit any community.

Upon our return to Ireland, we decided to investigate the possibility of bringing a group of people from the North East of the Country who was interested in learning about development to visit Sri Lanka for a number of weeks during the summer of 2006.  From this genesis, came the approach to Youth Work Ireland – Louth to investigate whether or not they would be interested in such an idea.  Kevin Matthews (Regional Director – Youth Work Ireland – Louth) pledged his support to the project and on the 12th of April, 2006, we received word from Irish Aid that we were successful in our funding application.

Aims of the Project 2006
•           To establish a network and pool of skilled, informed and motivated development education trainers and facilitators within the North East of Ireland.  Each group would develop the skills, knowledge and competencies needed to design, develop, facilitate and evaluate development education initiatives.   This group will lead and multiply the quantity and quality of development education initiatives within the region in formal, non formal and adult education sectors.

•           The second aim is to create an interactive development education resource that can be used by all organisations within the region that have an interest in development education. This resource will take the form of an interactive exhibition comprising of photographs, film footage, audio interviews, written information (fact sheets), music, games, role play and theatre.   The panel of trainers involved in the process will be heavily involved in the facilitation of this exhibition.

Learning in Circles

Sri Lanka Trip

Pre Departure Phase
Three preparation weekends were held in Sonairte between the end of April 2006 and Mid June 2006.  They were held on the 12th and 13th of May, the 26th and 27th of May and the 24th and 25th of June.

Debt and Development Coalition and Glencree – The Centre for Peace and Reconciliation both facilitated workshops during this time.  We also spent time dealing with Intercultural Learning with the group and conducted team building activities in order to help forge relationships.  Our time together on the pre departure phase also looked at the concept of development and examined some of the issues involved in Global Development.  We also started the process of looking at the material that we would need to collect as a group for the exhibition phase of the process.  Life in Sri Lanka was also examined and explored with the pax having the opportunity to see photos of the area that we would be staying in during the overseas phase.

Participants were encouraged to fundraise to help with the cost of the project and to help with the personal costs that they would incur such as flight, insurance and medical costs.  Some of the participants raised over 2,000 euro which they then donated to development agencies in Sri Lanka.
Another integral part of the pre departure phase of the programme entailed Bobby and Margaret visiting Sri Lanka for one week in June 2006.  This enabled us to meet with our overseas partners and to visit the work placements which would form the backbone of the project.  It also provided us with the opportunity to visit the schools that the pax would be working in and to meet the principals of each school who informed us of the needs of the children that our group would be working with.

Sri Lanka Phase of the Programme
Participants arrived in Sri Lanka in the 3rd/4th of July 2006 for the 3 week placement.  The first 2 days were spent familiarising the group with the community and its environment.  Team building activities were also engaged in.  During the following 2 ½ weeks participants took part in workshops that addressed the following topics

•           Human Rights and Amnesty International
•           Non Formal Learning
•           Systems Thinking
•           Faith and Development
•           Peace and Conflict
•           Oxfam UK and its role in development and its work in Sri Lanka
•           Service Civil International and its work in Sri Lanka
•           Coastal Conservation and the work that it is involved in
•           Goal Setting and Development
•           Satish Kumar and Sustainability
•           Reflective Practice

Participants also worked in three rural primary schools using sport, music, arts and crafts and games/activities to engage the students.  Intercultural learning took place here as did a general sharing of knowledge, ideas and opinions regarding education and its role in development.
Participants also had the opportunity to get involved in a housing project that was formed by an American NGO that intervened in the aftermath of the Tsunami.  This NGO built houses for 90 families who were affected by the disaster, however there was a lack of interaction between children in the area so our work involved playing sports and games on a daily basis for those children who wanted to take part.

The largest component of the Sri Lankan phase of the programme involved clearing a lagoon of debris that was preventing the local fishermen whose livelihood was heavily reliant on Shrinps and Prawns.  The group cleared the lagoon and planted mangroves in order to help with food security in the future.
Social days were also organised were places of historical significance were visited.  One of these visits was to Galle fort  which coincided with a football match which was organised between a team from Galle and our team.  The match took place in Galle fort and even attracted the attention of the local media as stories appeared in the local newspapers the week following the match.

The Post Sri Lanka Phase of the programme

The group re united in Sonairte on the 23rd of September 2006 to discuss the next steps in the programme and also to catch up with each other to hear and see each others stories since their time together in Sri Lanka.  There was a genuine sharing of feelings amongst the group about the process and what it involved.  The plans for the exhibition were revealed and participants then began the process of designing the exhibition, which took place in November 06.  This served as the experiential phase of the process of becoming a facilitator of non-formal learning activities. 
Two further weekends (14thand 27th of October) of the post Sri Lanka phase of the programme  involved making participants aware of the many bodies and organisations that they could get involved in to further their involvement in development issues.  This was an important exercise as this group of participants will act as multipliers in their own communities both directly and indirectly in the years to come.  Allied to this was the time spent on creating an awareness of the non formal learning process and how best to optimise it from a facilitator’s point of view.  It was crucially important to be able to utilise the exhibition as an experiential exercise in this regard.

Exhibition 2006

Sri Lanka Exhibition 21/11/06:
An interactive exhibition focusing on development issues using our teams experience was held in the Droichead Arts Centre on Tuesday the 21st of November 2006.  Over 120 people attended the exhibition amongst which was our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern.  The Mayor of Drogheda welcomed the audience and then left the floor to our team who presented a wonderful grasp of the issues and challenges that development  presented.  Video, music, food, photography, jigsaws, installation pieces and interactive games and activities all formed part of our showcase.   Minister Ahern congratulated the team on their efforts on welcomed the initiative within the North East and went on to encourage us to continue our work into the future.  The feedback from the audience served as another indicator that our project should continue to examine development issues around the world.