A key component of the CWS Asia Pacific Regional Risk Management Program is to train local groups so they can return and train others, such as at this session in Sri Lanka. Photo: Damon Perry/CWS
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – On a hotel rooftop, overlooking the ocean waves crashing on to the beach along the coastline a group of young men and women, mostly Tamils, is in good spirits considering the gravity of the conversation’s subject matter: security issues, from landmines to traffic accidents.
The local aid group Organization for Elangai Refugees Rehabilitation leads the workshop but it wouldn’t have been possible without Church World Service.
CWS Asia Pacific has worked closely with ACT Alliance to organize security workshops throughout the region. The ultimate goal is to have CWS workshop participants return home to train even more people in the importance of safety and security.
“Security is everyone’s responsibility, and the more people we can train, the more it becomes universal,” CWS Asia/Pacific Regional Coordinator Marvin Parvez says. “It’s especially critical for vulnerable communities such as refugees, who may be dealing with a whole host of threats and take great risks.”
Loud laughter and group chatter simmers down as Gowry, a slight woman with a long black pony tail, asks them to report back on the task at hand, identifying security threats in the geographic areas covered by their respective regional offices. The workshop, which spans two days, is lively, interactive and generates a lot of discussion.
Gowry was one of several senior staff from OfERR to attend a CWS risk management training and return home to train others. The strategy – part of CWS’s Regional Risk Management Program, funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department and DanChurchAid – targeted local NGOs, aiming to raise awareness of safety issues and pass on practical knowledge for the development of security protocols. In organizing her staff from around Sri Lanka to attend this two-day workshop, Gowry demonstrates a proactive approach to sharing what she has learned courtesy of CWS, as well as a determination to institutionalize her knowledge with the inputs of her staff.
Sangeetha talks to a classmate during the workshop. Photo: Damon Perry/CWS
Conducting the training in Tamil, with some English interludes, Gowry presents the key principles of risk management adapted for Sri Lanka. This process of knowledge-sharing also serves to consolidate risk management within the NGO’s official policies. The inputs of all the regional staff collected from the workshop will help finalize OfEER’s security manual. After the workshop attendees return to their regional offices, further consultations with their colleagues there will continue the cascading of safety and security principles and provide final inputs to the organization’s security manual. The bulk of the manual was already produced, with the help from CWS’s security planning session, but the consultative process initiated during Gowry’s training workshop will help to ensure that the plan is sensitive to the different security contexts in the regions.
There is a great team spirit in OfEER, which shines through over these two days. Its staff express great receptivity to, and gratitude for, the security training. For some staff members, their gratitude to the organization extends back to their experience as refugees during childhood.
Sangeetha, a shy but articulate young woman from Jaffna in the north of Sri Lanka, was displaced to Tamil Nadu in India when she was 6 years old. She was fortunate to be offered a place at university in Tamil Nadu under a special educational program for refugees, which was advocated by OfERR. She was awarded a scholarship, through OfERR, from the Ecumenical Scholarship Programme of German Churches to fund her studies. Sangeetha returned to Sri Lanka in 2005 when she was 21, determined to give something back to the organization that assisted her as a refugee. After studying for a Master’s degree in Sri Lanka in Integrated Water Resource Management, she now works for OfEER as an Agricultural Project Consultant, advising farmers on the east coast of Sri Lanka in the methods of organic farming. Sangeetha is positive that the security training is something that she can integrate into her assistance to local farmers.
Sathesan, a refugee turned aid worker. Photo: Damon Perry/CWS
Sathesan, a young man with a huge smile, has a similar story to Sangeetha. He was also a refugee in India, financially supported by OfEER during his studies there, and likewise returned to Sri Lanka determined to give something back to the organization and other refugees. When Sathesan joined OfEER in 2005, he assisted in the clear-up effort after the tsunami, providing both psychological counselling, as well as material support, to the affected people. He acknowledges the strong capacity building ethos of the organization as important for he and his colleagues to do their jobs, and expresses appreciation for OfEER senior management’s emphasis placed upon developing safety awareness.
OfEER was founded in 1984 in India by a group of Sri Lankans, including Sooriya, the current president of the NGO. When asked about the usefulness of the training CWS provided to OfEER in 2010, she enthuses, “Our organisation is based on values. The implementation managers, not just the top management, have to be aware of safety and security issues. We don’t have to wait until an incident takes place to be protected, but we can be proactive. So for that, this training was really useful.” Yet the credit for making the most of CWS’s assistance must go to her and Gowry’s professionalism and dedication to their organization and staff. The approach they have taken is an exemplary model of best practice in terms of institutional learning and knowledge-sharing.
OfEER’s initial aim was to assist Sri Lankan refugees in India improve their well-being and prepare them for their return to Sri Lanka. In 2004, it began activities on the island, and now it is involved in a wider range of projects, including education, health, income generation and advocacy for human rights. Building the capacity of its staff to provide this assistance has been an enduring value of the organization. But capacity building has also been a central element of its assistance to refugees. “One outcome from this training,” says Sathesan, “will be to have a security plan. This is important for our staff. But we’ve also learned safety and security principles which we can communicate to the communities we are assisting.”
OfERR has built up an impressive range of programs. Perhaps a secret of OfEER’s success is that there is no “us / them” divide between OfEER and the people it is dedicated to help. Many of its staff were refugees, and that it has trained more than 600 refugee volunteers as counsellors, health workers and teachers.