Eco Friendly Volunteers’ Training Programme for Village Youth in Sri Lanka

Welcome to the blog for the Village Youth Traning Programme - Mihimadale Hithathiyo (Friends of Mother Earth), made possible by the Kate Stokes Memorial Award from the Conservation Leadership Programme. Here you can see follow the development of this exciting project.

Don't forget to explore ECO-V's main website and blog: http://www.eco-v.org/, http://ecofriendlyvolunteers.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

A Triumph in Any Language - Mark Chappell

Having the chance to watch and participate in the training programme for the Kate Stokes Memorial Award training last weekend was a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable experience.

I was able to observe, take pictures, suggest additional fun activities and give a short presentation.

Not to mention my ape impressions...


During my time in Sri Lanka I have become used to discussions being held in Sinhala whilst I watch, unable to understand the words. But I have also developed my observational skills to pick up on many other things that are going on.

And this was the case with this training programme - I was able to study the body language of trainers and trainees and get a real sense of what was being conveyed and how, due to the hard work of the ECO-V team, the participants were 100% engaged with the lectures and activities.

It was great to see some of the activities that I had suggested and helped to develop - particularly the performances of the environmental stories. These were great fun, and also showed that the groups had put real thought into how to communicate a conservation message - a crucial skill.
I was especially happy to participate with the other resource persons in our own performance. We were able to show that we weren't too proud to get involved, and I was able to fulfill a lifetime's ambition and pretend to be an aye-aye in front of an audience!
As I was observing, I was able to take particular notice of the lighter side of proceedings - as these photographs show:





What all the laughter really showed me was the spirit amongst this group of young people, their willingness to learn as much as they can to help protect the environment, and the effectiveness of the ECO training in connecting with them. I was left feeling that the future of Sri Lanka’s rural environment is in safe hands.
Many more photos can be seen on the slideshow on the left toolbar - clicking on it will take you to the full sized pictures.
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1 comment:

  1. Steve FinnellOctober 8, 2016 at 9:01 AM

    WHAT WOULD A CHRISTIAN SAY? BY STEVE FINNELL

    What would a Christian say after reading the Scriptures?

    Job 3:5 "Let the day perish on which I was to be born, And the night which said, 'A boy is conceived.'(NASB)

    What would a Christian say?

    A. Life begins at conception.

    B. At conception there is nothing but a nonhuman blob of tissue.

    Proverbs 23:31-33 Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly, 32 At last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper. 33 Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things, (NASB)

    [NOTE: Jewish households traditionally drank wine with alcohol content of a 2.5% or lower]

    What would a Christian say?

    A. Drinking wine with alcohol content of 12 to 14% is prohibited by God.

    B. Social drinking has been approved by God, because a few drinks cannot hurt you. God wants you to relax and have fun.

    Psalm 135:6-7 Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. 7 He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes the lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries. (NASB)

    What would a Christian say?

    A. Man-made CO2 emissions change the weather and climate. Men cause rain, snow, droughts, tornadoes, freezing weather, global warming, global cooling and earthquakes.

    B. God created climate and weather, and only He can change it.

    Genesis 1:1-31 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth........31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (NASB)

    What would a Christian say?

    A. God created the heavens and the earth in a few billion years, because it was impossible for Him to do it in six 24 hour days.

    B. God created the heavens and the earth in six 24 hour days.

    [Note: God created time, there was no, time, before He created it. God is not bound by time]

    Galatians 4:5 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.(NASB)

    What would a Christian say?

    A. You cannot be severed from Christ, because you were never saved in the first place, that is what God was saying.

    B. Even if a Christian lives a sinful unrepentant life and reject Jesus as the Christ he cannot fall from grace.

    C. Christians can fall from grace and spend eternity in hell.

    Should Christians say the same things that God says or repeat what others have convinced them is true?

    YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY BLOG>> steve-finnell.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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