Having been around for as long as the Sri Lanka Girl Guide Association has, it’s hard to deny that the association has had an impact and a strong influence on the country by steering it out of potentially lasting detriments.
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| Venetia Gamage |
One such programme, the ‘Family Life Education and Community Development Programme,’ has been in effect since the 70’s, and has fostered a myriad of other projects. “The entire project had a sort of snowball effect. Once it got rolling there was no stopping it. There were several other projects that came one after the other,” recalls Venetia Gamage, the President of the Sri Lanka Guide Association (SLGGA).
Ms. Gamage has been deeply involved with the Girl Guide Association and says she gradually ascended to her current position after having gone through all the stages of Guiding.
Determined to help people, she has been personally involved in the Family Life Education and Community Development projects, and has several interesting stories to share about her experiences. The project was carried out in villages in different parts in the country from Galle to Jaffna - each different in certain aspects so the team of Girl Guides could cater to the areas within family life education and community development that needed to be addressed in particular areas. Essentially though, the project consisted of educating the community in all aspects of health and nutrition, sanitation, immunization, skills, population awareness and recreation.
Describing one of her encounters with a villager who didn’t believe in family planning, she recalled him saying “the puhul isn’t heavy for the creeper,” but once the team explained how it can be harmful to the health of the woman, they changed their views.
The SLGGA include men and children in their projects as this veteran explained that “community includes women, men and children. While workshops were held for women we noticed that the men were just sitting around so we included them by asking them to help out.
We also had a preschool for the children.” A soup kitchen was hosted at the end of every workshop on Saturday for all.
The project areas were visited by the chairman and committee members to provide guidance and encouragement. Workshops were also continued every few months before the team was convinced the villages were able to be self-sufficient and no longer required their assistance.
Having helped families by the hundreds over the past four decades, the ‘Family Life Education and Community Development Programme,’ of the SLGGA has undoubtedly impacted the lives of many and help better the future for the generations to come after the programme was first carried out in the 70’s. |
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