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Friendly exchanges
By Pia Leichter
The Canada-Sri Lanka Youth Exchange Programme for 2003-2004 came to a close recently and mixed expressions of happiness, relief, melancholy, and satisfaction flashed across the faces of Canadian and Sri Lankan youths who attended the end-of-programme reception on March 18 at the Canadian High Commission in Colombo.

The group of 15 Canadian youth from different provinces in Canada and 18 youth representatives from district based youth clubs in Sri Lanka completed the exchange programme in the Galle and Gampaha districts. This concluded the second chapter of their journey, which began seven months ago in Orillia and Peterborough in Ontario, Canada. The group have been in Sri Lanka for three and a half months.

Head of Aid of the Canadian International Development Agency, Christian Tardif spoke on the importance of cultural exchange: "You have been ambassadors of Canada and witnesses to issues facing developing countries," he said. The exposure had given the Sri Lankan youth an opportunity to improve their knowledge and skills in the English language, computer literacy and confidence building.

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is the federal agency responsible for delivering most of Canada's official development assistance programmes and has been providing humanitarian relief and development assistance to Sri Lanka since the 1950s. CIDA actively supports the Canada-Sri Lanka Youth Exchange Programme through its partnership branch. Canada World Youth (CWY) and National Youth Service Council (NYSC) are the Canadian and Sri Lankan partners in this programme.

The programme certainly introduced new worlds and perspectives to the Dickhena village in the Galle district, and the Ranwela village in the Gampaha district in Sri Lanka, as it did in Orillia and Peterborough in Ontario, Canada.

The Sri Lanka National Youth Service Council (SLNYSC) started the Youth Exchange programme in 1975. It was stopped in 1987 due to political unrest and recommenced in 2000. Canadians and Sri Lankans were each paired together for seven months, during which time they lived with a host family first in Ontario and then in Sri Lanka, and worked in various community projects which included pre-schools, medical centres, a public library, communications, a home for the aged, an outdoor prison (for young offenders) and a day care centre.

This close living and working arrangement in a foreign home and country allowed for an intimate understanding of what it means to be culturally distinct, and inversely, not so different after all. By being completely immersed in a different language, many participants walked away with a new language.

Both Canadians and Sri Lankans had to adapt to different surroundings, and they didn't always come in the obvious form. Some Sri Lankans, especially from the city, had a rough time adapting to rural life in a village.

In both Canada and Sri Lanka, youths interacted with one another and their host families, worked at their volunteer work placements and participated in Education Activity Days (EADs) and Community Activity Days (CADs), which included painting a temple and cleaning roads. During EADs teams came together for group educational activities that focused on issues such as globalization, sustainable development, health, politics and the environment. Youths therefore both experienced and investigated development issues and concerns of the corresponding community.

During the entire programme, groups were under the supervision of two project supervisors, on both Canadian and Sri Lankan teams. Said Sri Lankan supervisor Ramya Kumari, "Different country, different experiences, culture and feelings - I gained a lot of experience, especially how to work in a different environment."

Galen Fick, from Ottawa, Ontario, was on the Orillia-Dikhena team. He learned Sinhala during his stay in Sri Lanka, which then alleviated what he identified as one of the most challenging aspects of the exchange: integrating into a different community. "I learned a lot about Sri Lankan culture and language and it made me think about what it means to be a minority - how it feels to communicate in a language you don't know."

One of Galen's work placements in Dikhena involved helping a family that started a a mushroom farm: "While planting and picking mushrooms we listened to an old, taped together, ad-hoc radio that played music at sometimes fast and slow speeds." The memory lights up his smile, as he toys with his specially made purple batik sarong, blond hair blowing in the hot Sri Lankan breeze: "It's going to be hard to go home."

Some participants had a more difficult lesson to learn, especially Anita Kumar, a Canadian of Indian origin from Vancouver. The perception that Canadians are white by certain members of the village community, and their subsequent disappointment at receiving a 'brown' Canadian, shocked Anita. This was an element of prejudice she had never encountered before, "It was difficult because I may look like a Sri Lankan but I act like a foreigner, and people had a problem with that." These experiences, although difficult, can be the most revealing and illuminating.

For most Sri Lankan youths, the main gains of the programme were learning English, acquiring computer skills, and experiencing Canadian culture. Rushira Fernando from Puttalam, who was on the Peterbourough-Gampaha team recalls: "In Canada I had to speak English without Sinhala. It was the best challenge of my life in Canada and I succeeded."

Access to computers in Canada was beneficial: "In every house there is a computer." Rushira wants to improve her Englis computer knowledgeh. She also wants to start an Internet Café in her village so others can access it. Rushira wants to continue working in youth groups and share her experiences with other youth members.

Anupama Adikari says that the Youth Exchange is an important programme for Sri Lankans: "When we are from villages we don't get the chance to interact with other countries." This programme provides an opportunity to explore and go beyond what some youths maybe limited to.

During the closing ceremony, youths were asked how the programme had changed their lives, perspectives, and what their plans for the future are. Some had a newfound interest in global affairs. Others had a renewed interest in their own country and wanted to volunteer and improve their own communities.

Each youth brought home a unique insight and experience. Nilantha Rathnasiri returned with a yellow belt in karate: "In my free time I went to the YMCA and learned karate and got a yellow belt. I want to teach English and karate in Sri Lanka, and share my experiences in Canada with youth members and my village." Dominique Bastien, a Canadian youth from Quebec, states: "I learned how to work in a team and live with others; and to understand that others may not always have the same ideas as me, but they can be good too."

The newly formed friendships were perhaps the best gain of the exchange programme - youths intermingled, exchanged glances and handshakes, while munching on lemon puffs and sipping ginger beer. The exhausted excitement of transformation, accomplished conclusions and new beginnings crackled in the air. Some were home and others about to journey back - each changed and touched by a different way of living.

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