“Celebrating The People of Lanka” (appé lanka event)
On Saturday 5th of March, a friend outside of school invited me to take part in this really cool event going on in Colombo. I watched four different people discuss current Global Issues in Sri Lanka and what has been done/what needs to be done to tackle these relevant issues. It was very educational and eye-opening for me because I really haven’t heard anything about these people and the amazing things they are doing before.
The first speech was given by Randhula De Silva and was titled “Locally Rooted, Globally Minded.” During his presentation he discussed about how social media can be used as a tool to bring likeminded people together to take climate action locally. It was really interesting because he looked at the positives and negatives of social media-activism .
Appé Lanka poster
The next presentation was titled “Learning & Unlearning Politics.” Ms. Vraie Balthazaar gave a really detailed presentation on her life as a woman-political activist in Sri Lanka, and the struggles she has faced. I learned a lot about political issues in Sri Lanka and the misconceptions about things taught at local schools and how political ideologies have effects on our daily lives.
Sadly I din’t manage to get photos of the final two speeches given. However the third speech was about this animal care taker named Shilpa Samaratunge who runs a dog home in Kandy with her husband. “Life In A Sanctuary” was actually quite an emotional speech about how people running homes or “Sanctuaries” for others need to also look after themselves. She gave me a unique perception on what she has to go thought to properly look after these dogs.
The final presentation was given by an environmental activist called Harinda Fonseka. We learned about local changes being made in Sri Lanka in order to solve environmental issues. The theme was think global act local. I dint realise how many people in my area were making efforts to combat the climate crisis. This relates to CAS specifically because in order for change to be made, you have to be educated on the subject and hear from different viewpoints. This is the first step of Service.
To conclude I learned lots about things going on in Sri Lanka and it was really interesting to here from people and their stories. Having a learning experience outside the school realm gave me a wider insight into the things going on around me. The speakers each had lots of different things to say, and I was very motivated to do better in order to support these people’s causes. Im glad i was able to support amazing local activists, outside the realm of school.