Dambana

The group of young people…

By ci ⋅ April 1, 2008 ⋅ ⋅ Post a comment

member of the adivasi community at the community center

Since these preliminary events and after an initial survey trip to Dambana in February 2008, Colombo Institute received permission from the Adi Vasi community leaders, particularly from its Chief Vanniyeletto to carry out the program in the community. The Colombo Institute organized its first full session on basics of photography and an introduction to scriptwriting and creative writing on 21st and 22nd of March.

At the ground level, coordination is handled by Mr. Vasantha Senevirathne, originally from Dambana and now living in Mahiyangana while maintaining kinship and other social linkages with the village. The participants included 12 youths from Dambana including young teachers from the Dambana Junior School where the sessions were held, and ten students from the nearby Mahiyangana area on the request of Mr. Pethum Jayasundara, an education officer in the region.

The usual educational prerequisite for the course (GCE - AL) as implemented in Dehiattakandiya and later in Aludeniya had to be made more flexible as a result of requests made by community leaders and the ground situation as very few would have been able to attend from the Dambana area if the AL requirement were strictly enforced. However, the relaxing of educational requirements did not hamper the progress of the work. It simply opened more opportunities to young people who were genuinely interested in photography and filming.