UPDATE FROM SRI LANKA:
[This was sent out as an email to people on the Commonway list; however, because of a technical problem, few actually received it...]
There is never a dull moment around this place. Ongoing war, student riots, the SAARC summit meeting… I don’t know where to begin.
Perhaps I should begin where every Sri Lankan who knows me starts: “Obama!” The world’s most popular man weaves his magic on this island… and he hasn’t even been here. People I don’t even know hear that I’m an American and come up to me with the one question: “Can he win?”
Not, “Is he a good man?” or “What are his views on foreign affairs?”. From the world’s point of view, the US election is already over – they have their President. (We call the US President the “Leader of the Free World”. Ironic that the world can’t vote for him or her.)
My answer? The election has nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans. That illusory division does not define what is going on with the “Obama Effect”. The November election pits two amazingly well-matched candidates against each other: The Past and The Future.
John McCain is a most worthy representative of The Past. He has all of the “tested under fire” credentials (and white hair) that you want in a candidate who represents America’s Past. In a time of fear and uncertainty, many people want a steady hand on the rudder and clear eye toward a safe harbor.
Barack Obama is the epitome of The Future. Someone who transcends all of the old alliances and political configurations (to the chagrin of those in his own party). Someone of the Internet Age. Someone who believes that America’s strength does not lie in her past, but her future. Someone who not only understands, but literally transcends race (to the chagrin of those in the old “Civil Rights” establishment). In a time of hope and rapid change, Obama has his eye – and his enthusiasm – set firmly in the future.
So, we get to witness John Kennedy duke it out with Ronald Reagan. Which one will win? It depends whether, on election day, American voters are more hopeful than fearful. (Perhaps I should characterize it as “Voting by Fear” and “Voting by Hope”.)
People are motivated by BOTH fear and hope. (Remember: inclusivity means seeing things from both/all sides.) After the people of Czechoslovakia defeated the Soviet Union in their nonviolent “Velvet Revolution”, at election time, they almost returned the Communists to power! Why? In times of uncertainty, people look for the familiar – even if it means familiarly oppressive and authoritarian. Then, rather than rely on themselves, they can complain about “the government” again. People go back to abusive governments like women go back to abusive husbands.
[Which one SHOULD win? In keeping with current IRS regulations and in light of Commonway’s nonprofit status, I have no stated official position.]
SAARC CONFERENCE
If you were President of a country ravaged by war, high inflation, political and social instability, what would you do? HAVE A PARTY!! Invite seven of your buddies (and their huge entourages) over for the weekend. Block off the capital city, throw in 30,000 soldiers for security, and you’ve got the “South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation” Summit held the first weekend of my arrival in Sri Lanka. The government spent tens of millions of dollars on a meeting that could have been accomplished with a conference call.
The economy here is REALLY bad. Even I have noticed the 30% inflationary pinch at the grocery store. Thousands of university students have rioted, because, after their years of study, there are simply NO JOBS. Right above my head as I write this, there are hundreds of young men sitting in Sarvodaya’s meeting halls… learning Korean. Sri Lanka’s biggest export isn’t tea… it’s the young men and women of the country, sent overseas for menial and degrading jobs digging ditches and scrubbing toilets, in places like Saudi Arabia and South Korea. (The hundreds of young men chanting in Korean above me do NOT have jobs waiting for them in Korea: they are learning Korean in these classes (government-run, not Sarvodaya) for the right to APPLY for the limited Korean jobs, after taking and passing language tests.) For those who don’t get jobs, they sit and wait… or go to Colombo and riot.
If I had been President, I would have told my fellow heads of state: “As much as I would like to host you, my people just cannot afford this unnecessary expense right now. Give us ten years – we’ll plow the money we would waste hosting SAARC into peace and prosperity for the entire island. Then, ten years from now, we would like to throw you a HECK of a party!”
But, that’s not what heads of state do. Big airports, dams, Olympics and summits – this is the stuff that feeds an ego as big as a country. (I left out the biggest ego-feeders: wars and shiny new weapons.) What do the “people” get out of all this? Nationalistic bragging rights… until the check falls due.
A WAR UPDATE
The war in the North is going full blazes. A staggering 125,000 refugees in the North alone. I’ve heard heart-breaking stories of people selling all of their possessions just to stay moving ahead of the latest battle zone, of tens of thousands of men, women and children sleeping under trees and finding food wherever they can. It is a humanitarian disaster of epic proportions. The aid organizations (including Sarvodaya) cannot adequately respond to the challenge, in light of the current government disfavor of charitable organizations (they claim that the helping organizations gave too much help to the Tigers).
Even reading between the propaganda-filled lines, the Government is currently playing the winning hand. President Rajapakse and the military head, General Fonseka, are both confidently predicting the demise of the Tamil Tigers “as a conventional military force” by the end of the year. From a strictly military point of view, the campaign is impressive. At the rate they are going, it might be even sooner before the Government flag flies over Killinnochchi, the Tigers de facto capital for over two decades.
But, I’ve learned over the years not to count the Tigers out too prematurely. They have managed to pull some amazing rabbits out of their hats… I’m not taking any bets on this outcome.
The key to the Government’s boasting is the phrase “as a conventional military force”. With the Government’s huge advantage in numbers and equipment, it’s a wonder that the Tigers were EVER a conventional military force, able to mount – and win – set military engagements involving artillery and other heavy weaponry, along with sophisticated logistics and their own “air force” of ultra-light aircraft, a first in the insurgency business.
Yes, the Government can “win” against the Tigers conventional forces, just as the US government knew that it could defeat Saddam Hussein’s army. But, as we are learning in Iraq, defeating the conventional forces is a LONG way from “winning” the war.
When Killinnochchi falls, the Tigers turn into a true “insurgent” force: everywhere, nowhere and invisible. While the Sri Lankan flag may once again fly over Killinnochchi, the levels of violence will escalate. While the Sri Lankan army gets bogged down trying to provide services to administer a hostile population where they don’t speak the language (does any of this sound familiar?), the Tigers will be free to mount an insurgency – a true guerilla war. The Government may find itself missing the days when it actually knew where the Tigers were…
I keep saying this: it is impossible to “win” an insurgent war. No one has been able to do it. NO ONE. (Right now, in Iraq, the US forces are literally paying the insurgents not to attack us. This unbelievably short-term strategy will end just as soon as the checks stop.) The only way to end such a war is through a nonviolent, negotiated settlement. (To which the Sri Lanka Government replies, “We will negotiate with them – as soon as we defeat them.” Stay tuned to see how that logic train plays out…)
SARVODAYA – THE NEXT 50 YEARS
This year is the 50th anniversary of the birth of the Sarvodaya movement here in Sri Lanka. The organization has been involved in a year-long process of celebrating, introspection and envisioning the next 50 years.
As difficult was conditions were 50 years ago, the world has changed in some amazing and frightening ways. We are being called to “think anew and act anew”. I have been involved in several major strategy sessions with Sarvodaya’s leadership, examining the path for Sarvodaya over the next 50 years of its operation. Stay tuned…
A Tour of the East:
I spent the last 3 days touring the war-scarred East of the island. (The war is too hot in the North for me to visit.)
The East is one big military encampment. There are soldiers EVERYWHERE. I simply lost count of the number of checkpoints we went through (30? 50?). Now that the Tigers have been routed from the East, the government forces are in the process of occupation. (The government prefers to call it “liberation”. And, they seem surprised that their heavy-handed presence hasn’t generated throngs of flower-waving, grateful citizens.)
From Child Soldiers to Sarvodaya Trainees:
I met with about 100 young people at Sarvodaya’s sprawling Batticaloa Farm complex. They were receiving training for woodworking, aluminum working, masonry, computer skills and motorcycle repair.
Many of them were former “child soldiers” of either the Tigers or the TMVP (previously known as the “Karuna Faction”). Sarvodaya provides a safe haven, practical skills… and a time to be CHILDREN. While at the farm, after their classes were over, I watched a spirited game that looked like a hybrid of cricket and baseball. There appeared to be 50 or so kids to a side, and it looked like they were making up the rules as they went along. At one point, when the batter wasn’t able to hit the ball, the pitcher walked 10 feet closer, to give him a better shot. They seemed much less interested in winning than in having fun.
A Sarvodaya Village:
My life and experiences over here are SO DIFFERENT from what I experience in the US. Yesterday, I was talking to 50 women, sitting on the dirt floor in a village of mud huts, women who had never experienced electricity; the only 4 wheeled vehicles they had seen belong to aid workers.
It’s difficult relating to lives so utterly different from my own. At one point, I asked them about their village’s needs. They were very specific: electricity. When pressed further, they were still very specific: lighting on the public roads at night. (At night, the open areas are crawling with two kinds of danger: cobras and men with guns. Both are deadly if you aren’t in the light.)
I pressed further, inquiring about electricity for households. An emphatic “yes” – they wanted lights in the home, so that their children can do their homework after dark – and to watch out for indoor cobras, that move in during the rainy season. What else do they need household electricity for? They looked at each other, and said, “Nothing.” How about refrigeration or cooking? They looked at me as if I said, “How would you like your own private spaceship so you can visit the Moon?”
(A sidenote: Years ago, with their hard-earned rupees, they purchased small solar collectors through SEEDS, Sarvodaya’s economic development arm. These collectors had enough juice to power 4 or 5 LED lamps wired throughout the house. During the fighting with the Tigers, while they were displaced from their village, the security forces came in and stole the solar collectors, along with everything else moveable, like bicycles. (They were very clear that it was the government forces.) I am proposing a village-sized electrical generator, one that a few rogue soldiers won’t be able to walk off with.)
And Yet Another Refugee Camp:
I stated very emphatically before I left on my Eastern tour: “No refugee camps!” I just can’t bear to look at another. I wanted to see economic activities in this visit, and to make presentations to Sarvodaya district staff on global challenges, inclusivity and peace.
So, toward my last day there, the District Coordinator said that we were going to make a presentation for “IGP’s” (income generating projects). Right. So, I hop in the truck and we drive straight into a refugee camp! I said, “I thought we were going to see IGP’s.” He said, “No, IDP’s (internally displaced persons)” And, worst of all, it’s a “photo op” moment where I’m to make a speech and hand-deliver food aid to a handful of refugees, before climbing back into my air-conditioned vehicle.
At that moment, I thought about Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: “…we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground.” The warlords (on both sides) want to erect monuments to themselves and to the glory of killing. The real monuments must go to those who involuntarily suffer the effects of those wars.
What is there to say? What do you say to a group of people you hadn’t planned to talk to, in a place none of us wanted to be? I said:
“I have visited dozens of refugee camps, from Jaffna to Ampara and everywhere in between. I don’t want to be here. But, more than that, I don’t want YOU to be here. I know that you would rather be in your homes, not listening to me and waiting for a handout of food.
“I hope and I pray and I work for the day when there are no refugee camps, anywhere in the world. Until that day comes, until you can return to your homes, please accept this gift of food as a sign that you are not forgotten.”
Peace,
Sharif
