SCI Sri Lanka Anniversary Publication

by Heinz Gabathuler (Oct 27, 2015)

As the ICM in Sri Lanka is approaching, it should be reminded that SCI activities in that country had started well over 55 years ago. The nice booklet the branch had issued for its 50th Anniversary in 2010 reminds, at the same time, of the then 90th Anniversary of International SCI activities.

I have a personal issue in my bookshelf which had been handed over to me by a Srilankan activist who had visited me a few years ago. And of course the booklet, even though still pretty young and fresh, also found its way into SCI International Archives, as many other Anniversary and other souvenir brochures mainly from Asian branches have done in earlier times.

The front cover is in light green, white and black, showing in its centre a Peace dove holding in its beak a small branch with three leaves named S, C, and I. The picture of the dove is accompanied by the words NO MORE WAR, reminding the reader of one of the main slogans of our movement – and this in a country that had suffered from bitter internal political and military conflicts for many decades. The booklet is full of texts illustrating the rich history of the Sri Lankan branch, spiced up with some statistics and with photos from workcamps in Sri Lanka as well as abroad, brought by Sri Lankan volunteers who had seved in other parts of the SCI world. I cannot deny that my personal favourite is the testimonial of my Swiss fellow branch- and countryman Thedy von Fellenberg on page 27.

Thedy who later served as SCI’s International Secretary had been part of the first SCI team visiting the island in spring 1960, during his Long Term service in India. He writes that in a tea estate he started a small revolution by insisting that the servants should eat at the same table with the boss and ourselves; the outcome of this intercultural experiment being that the boss agreed but the servants themselves felt so uneasy that they soon did not turn up any more! Thedy also contributed to the deconstruction of prejudice by showing his Singhalese host that the Tamils living in the north of the country were as friendly and hospitable people as the Singhalese were.

The booklet contains many more testimonials from Sri Lankan, other Asian, and European SCI activists and veterans, covering five decades of commitment to peace volunteering work. Among the contributors are internationally well known activists as Sooriya Bandara, who had served in the International and Asian secretariats, and Sameera Jayasinghe, who had built up the SCI group in Hong Kong, spreading the message of the branch well across the borders of the small country. Most texts are in English, some are in Singhalese, and one is in Tamil, but unfortunately I cannot tell you what it is about…

The booklet, by the way, is free of commercial ads, and this makes it pretty special among similar Asian souvenir publications, such as the Pierre Ceresole centenary booklet issued by the Karnataka group of SCI India in 1979 where the quotes of the SCI founding father are accompanied by an advertisement for Sri Devi Dyes & Chemicals – a combination some of us may find funny, or even in contradiction to SCI’s aims. But after all it just reflects the reality of a not-for-profit association being part of society just as a commercial business is. (And the latter giving its financial contribution to the functioning of the first.)

 

Heinz Gabathuler, International Archives Coordinator

 

 

Reference

In the SCI International Archives, the SCI Sri Lanka Anniversary Publication has the number 32404.5, whereas the Karnataka Branch’s 1979 Souvenir still awaits proper filing.