Going back to Jaffna
The Unity Mission Trust (UMT) is returning to Jaffna, where their story started. It has been six years since the Trust was born following a simple act of donating school supplies to children of the North.
Shyamala Pinto Jayawardene
Today this volunteer-driven organisation has reached over 6,000 student leaders around the country with their regional Unity Mission Camps.
North bound, part of the UMT team stationed in Colombo is packing-up for their 8th Unity Mission Camp in Chundukkuli. “It is UMT’s 25th major event,” says co-founding Trustee Shyamala Pinto Jayawardene adding that there is high demand for it among students and teachers who have been to camp previously.
Tolerance through awareness and celebration of diversity paired with self-development programmes are planned throughout the five days of the camp.
Gathering 500 students supervised by about 65 teachers for five days hasn’t been easy, even for the veterans. “There’s always a lot of work involved,” Shyamala says, navigating cautiously around the political undercurrents of the north to pull-off next week’s camp.
Milinda Perera
Their previous camps and various other empowerment programmes have brought in former campers who have come on-board to help with the organisation. When we first meet Sushmitha Ramesh, she’s hurriedly moving a stack of boxes.
“I’m 20 now,” she says, having joined a UMT camp in 2013. Former head-girl at St. Theresa’s College, Vavuniya, she says her school sent her for UMT’s Power 100 programme following which she participated at the Unity Mission Camp in Kilinochchi.
She’s an “administration assistant” for this year’s camp, a role which entails “co-ordinating with UMT’s team in Jaffna” to keep the entire operation’s logistics in check.
“I wanted to help,” she says because before her camp experience she was too shy to speak to anyone. Hoping others in her place will shed similar fears she says it was UMT that encouraged her to come out of her shell.
Brought-up to believe that entering state university “was the mark of intellect” she says UMT opened her horizons to think of other options.
Malathie Kodituwakku
Having just completed her A’ Levels, Sushmitha is determined to “be involved in the media industry.” This isn’t all she credits UMT’s camp with. “The exposure I got by working with other volunteers is remarkable,” she smiles, “even my English is improving.”
Recognised as last year’s Most Outstanding Female Camper, Shehani Leo has returned as a volunteer. “I was sent by the school quite suddenly,” she recalls representing Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya at the last camp.
In the pre-camp finance team she says once Unity camp is underway her role is to change. “We’ll be in the command and control division,” she says, tasked with showing new campers the ropes.
Thishara Rajakaruna and Milinda Perera are part of this year’s PR team. Neither of them have been campers but “have heard that it’s a profound experience.”
Constantly told by former campers that they would “love it” they say most of the ground-work has been done.
Sushmitha Ramesh
Entrusted to make real time updates to UMT’s social media feeds there’s no way to really prepare for 500 students according to Milinda, “You can’t really anticipate anything.”
Getting UMT’s paperwork in order among the younger volunteers whizzing around is Malathie Kodituwakku. She has been involved since UMT’s camp in Kandy “I think it was in 2010.”
It was her media background of 27 years that landed Malathie a place in the Executive Committee. This isn’t the first camp she’s helped out with and “We’ve come a long way” she says.
“Each camp has been an improvement from the last. When you’re in media, you see a lot of things that require fixing.”
Five days of music, drama, sports and art have been broadened as of late. The theme which has been reconciliation and self-development has grown to address newer issues faced by the youth.
“We have included some anti-drugs, anti-abuse and anti-pornography programmes,” says co-founder Trustee Bertal Pinto-Jayawardene.
Shehani Leo
In the hope that campers will go back into their schools and spread UMT’s message of equality, love and unity among peers, UMT is also working to create school-level clubs to promote healthy citizenship and awareness.
This commemorative Unity Mission camp has the makings of an ideal launching-ground. “For the first time, we have strong representation from all parts of the island,” says Bertal. The UMT Kilinochchi camp takes place from October 24-27. -V.P.
Thishara Rajakaruna