Foundation for Co-Existence

As part of our exhange, we are scheduled to meet with various NGO's (non-governmental organizations/a type of non-profit) throught the country. All of them had participants on the group of Sri Lankans that came to the US in March.

Today, we met Croos and the Foundation for Co-Existence. FCE, as it's known, is working to create understanding between communities, working on a local level between community leadership and by educating students as to the various conflicts that occur in Sri Lanka. They have a wonderful photo exhibit that shows the Tamils and their evolution in Sri Lanka. In addition, later on in the week, we will be watching a documentary that they produced with individual stories of people that have been involved in the Tamil movement.

In the afternoon, we met with Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe. He is the CEO of FCE and a fascinating man who has been involved in the message of peace through non-violence for quite sometime. What's most interesting, outside of their message, is their challenge in creating a fundraising infrastructure and an ability to effectively communicate what they are doing outside of Sri Lanka (I sense that this might be an ongoing theme). I hope they will be able to connect with similar NGO's throughout the world, to help strengthen both their programming and institutional knowledge.

Later on today, we are going to a Hindu Temple and will also be meeting with some Hindu priests, to be able to learn about their role in society. Should be interesting.

And, while I'm not writing a food blog, i thought it would be interesting to share a little about the food. So far, breakfast has been filled with curries and rice (a little harsh on the stomach in the morning), Indian for dinner (not too bad, but it took FOREVER to be served) and a Pakistani pumpkin soup for lunch (very tasty). I'll be sure to let you know when i eat something really out of the ordinary.