Permaculture Retreat –Dhanushka’s Dream

Dhanushka is one of the  Kelani Nadee Yathrees (Traveler). As a post journey project Dhanushka was having a dream of turning an abandon land into an eco-friendly eco system. ECO-V encouraged him to create a permaculture garden where he can use it as an educational centre too. It was a dream for Dhanushka since then as he didn’t have a plan or money to do that. Thanks to volunteerism, Jackie , a volunteer from Journeys for Climate Justice (JCJ our partner in Australia) made a beautiful blue print using her experience in woofing and permaculture activities at CERES (http://www.ceres.org.au/) in Australia. Thanks to some funds we had for supporting KNY post projects, we could hire a van to go to Udawalawa to Dhanushka’s area which is a 4 hour drive from Colombo. There were 6 volunteers from Colombo.  Dhanushka’s grand parents made us delicious breakfast and lunch using the harvest from their home garden. Dhanushka was able to invite very energetic 16 youngsters who were anxiously waiting for us to arrive.

What a day! We all shared the labour and did shramadana  work and cleaned the ground, got rid of invasive plants, trimmed some branches, made a seating area for youngsters, started composting, etc. Within 4 hours it was ready for next step to have some vegetable beds, need to have a toilet and a small kitchenette to start living there.  We even planned for a tree house, and a deck to the small lake which is situated inside his land. Then our volunteers can go and start developing it as permaculture retreat and can enjoy Nature watching too. We saw lot of butterflies, birds, lizards and even snakes! What a beauty…..we all have a dream now, a dream to live with Nature in harmony and train youngster as Eco friendly volunteers! 

Earth Walk 2012

Sunday morning on the 1st of April, the yathrees and some ECO-V members met in Colombo to participate in the youth Earth Walk 2012. The event was a collaborative effort of "Youth for Greener Sri Lanka (YGSL)" the newly formed network of youth The group joined hundreds of youth in a march through Colombo’s streets in an effort to spread messages about climate change. The ECO-V banner was carried with pride, as well as a number of posters with slogans about climate change and the environment. The group did themselves proud and it was heartening to see the yathrees continuing their campaign in raising climate change awareness.

After lunch in the park, the weary yathrees bid farewell to one another and began on their journey to their home towns across the island. Personally it was so great to meet the yathrees (having heard so much about them!). They are a passionate group of budding young environmentalists who are doing themselves, and their country, proud! Keep up the great work!!  - Jakie Scally

My Future My Country exhibition of ECO-V

What a busy week this one has been for ECO-V and many of the KNY yathrees?!

‘My Future, My Country’ exhibition was held from Thursday 29^th – Saturday 31^st March at the Public Library, Colombo. The exhibition, targeted at youth, included displays about climate change, sustainability and biodiversity. A key theme of the exhibition was introducing the concepts of ‘carbon footprint’ and ‘eco-handprint’. The various displays gave simple and handy tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint and increase your eco-handprint in order to live a more sustainable life. Tips were given on waste management, energy efficiency, transport and food.

Kanchana talks to exhibition attendees about the harmful environmental impacts of plastic

Sales counter was very popular too

Some visitors and our members

A significant part of the exhibition included a display on the Kelani Nadee Yatra. This included photos and poems from the journey, as well as art work and the screening of the KNY documentary. Many of the yathrees travelled to Colombo to participate in the exhibition. It was great to have the yathrees on hand to share their stories of the journey and help spread the message about climate change and sustainability (I think they also enjoyed catching up with each other too!).

Overall the exhibition was a success! Across the three days, many members of the public wandered through the exhibition and I’m sure the majority left with new ideas about how to make their life more eco-friendly. Hopefully the ‘butterfly effect’ will take place, and those that attended will share the messages about sustainability with their family and friends. ECO-V also recruited some new members and sold quite a bit of ‘eco-friendly’ merchandise – the coconut badges were a particular favourite! 

New member

Leading Singer and a politian Mr. Madhumadhawa visited Exhibition

The ‘carbon footprint’ and ‘eco-handprint’ displays

Newton, Dr. Safras and Selva at exhibition

Earth Hour on 31st March 2012

Oil lamps with the shape of 60+

I was able to witness a very succssful exhibition of ECO-V which finished on the 31st March and all Kelani Nadee Yathrees and some other ECO-V members gathered at Saravodya, Moratuwa to celebrate Earth Hour 2012. Rest of the team of Earth Hour Sri Lanka joined with the president at Presidents' house in Kandy as we could not join with them due to exhibition we had in Colombo. At 8:30pm, the lights were turned off and oil burners lit. The coconut oil smelt quite delicious! The oil burners were laid out in the shape of 60+. The ‘60’ symbolises the one hour beyond the one hour.  that is observed during Earth Hour, and the ‘+’ symbolises the continuation of sustainable practices.

 

Earth Hour Sri Lanka team including Minister Gammanpila at 2nd press conference

During the hour, Kanchana took the opportunity to reflect on the lessons learnt during the exhibition, asking the yathrees to identify one action they were going to take to improve their eco-handprint. This was an excellent way to conclude the three day exhibition.

Dr.and Mrs Ariyaratne of Sarvodaya joined with ECO-V for Earth Hour

ECO-V members lighting oil lamps

Mrs. Ariyaratne and Kanchana lighting oil lamps

Team at a dicussion on Climate chnage during Earth Hour 2012

Earth Hour Sri Lanka 2012

The countdown for Earth Hour in Sri Lanka continues with great excitement. On 19^th March morning (very early this morning, infact) we rubbed bleary eyes and held back yawns, as we headed out to see the launching of a hot air balloon promoting Earth Hour. Arriving before dawn, the oval was already a hive of activity. Many familiar faces from the press conference last week were here again – Hon. Udaya Gammanpila (the Western Province Environment Minister) and pop singer Bhathiya Jayakody were amongst the crowd. Organisers handed out Earth Hour t-shirts and it was an impressive scene to see so many wearing the shirts in support of the pending event.   
 A traditional Buddhist blessing preceded the launching of the balloon. This was a beautiful ceremony to experience and I was fortunate enough to receive a “blessing cord” from one of the monks.

Blessings of Maha Sanga

Jakie getting blessings

 With the ceremony complete, attention quickly turned to the balloon. As the Earth Hour banner was stuck in place, the balloon was inflated. Crowds gathered to take photos – the Minister, Bhathiya and others posed for photographers.

All was looking good until the Earth Hour banner became too heavy for the balloon to launch! This banner was removed and another strapped to the basket, as Bhathiya, and Abdul Uvais from Earth Hour Sri Lanka, joined the pilot for take-off.  

It was a beautiful sceptical indeed to watch the balloon glide across Colombo’s morning sky.

It seems Earth Hour is gaining increasing attention and support in Sri Lanka, and if this morning was any indication the event itself promises to be an exciting one. Stay tuned! Jakie Scally – Volunteer for journeys for Climate Justice (JCJ)

You all can visit our website www.eco-v.org and show your support towards Earth Hour 2012 

We all support Earth Hour Sri Lanka 2012

Bathiya says...are you sure I can come down again

taking off...

ECO-V 11th Anniversary

Last year was our 10th year and we had a real journey to mark our 10th anniversary and that was kelani Nadee yathra. Again this year we are busy with some more exiting work so we could not do anything to celebrate our 11th Anniversary. Instead we are working hard to save environment.  Our most senior member and always wanted encouraging us to get to gether to do something as members is Mr Sugathadasa...evrybody's Sugathadasa uncle. He suggested we should meet for a lunch and have a friendly chat. So as always it was a very quick action. We decided to meet in Colombo. Whoever could make it was invited to have a lunch and our volunteer Jakie was also with us. She reports about our meeting...

Today, many of the ECO-V volunteers met to share lunch and have a general catch-up, which I’m told was many months overdue. Personally, it was great to meet the diverse and very friendly crowd of volunteers! I could sense that everyone enjoyed catching up and many stories were exchanged. After lunch, the group headed to a nearby park where we sat in a shady location and Kanchana shared updates including relaying the tips from the Power & Energy Minister’s talk the previous day.

The rest of the month is looking like it will be a busy time as we prepare for the Kelani Nadee Yatra exhibition to be held at the Public Library, Colombo from the 29^th – 31^st March. 

Some members at lunch

having an informal meeting at park while waiting for other members

ECO-V joins with Earth Hour Sri Lanka 2012

We had two more international Visitors who admired ECO-V activities living with us for nearly 5 weeks in January and February. After they went back we have our 5th visitor for this year. Jackie Scally who got inspired to volunteer for ECO-V after listening my presentation about Kelani nadee Yathra is with us now. Thanks Jakie for writing our blog. It made my work easy! - Kanchana

Thursday was the official press conference for Earth Hour 2012. The Minister of Environment for the Western Province, Udaya Gammanpila, was in attendance to launch the event. He spoke about the significance of Earth Hour and the importance of taking action to address climate change. Minister Gammanpila was accompanied by other event ambassadors, which even included a Sri Lankan pop singer! Kanchana represented ECO-V on the panel of ambassadors.

Earth Hour 2012 will take place on March 31^st from 8:30 – 9:30pm. The event will be held at the residence of the Sri Lankan President, H.E. Mahinda Rajapakshe. Several of the Kelani Nadee Yatra youth will be attending the event – all of whom are excited to be visiting the President’s house!!

Kanchana, Mandy, Abdul, Bathiya and Minister Gammanpila at press conference

Friday the 17^th, Kanchana and myself attend a presentation by Hon. Patali Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Power & Energy. While the presentation was made in Sinhalese, I managed to grasp a few key points and was thankful that a power point slide accompanied the talk with many diagrams!! Kanchana helped relay some of the main items the Minister discussed. Among them were the importance of moving to renewable energy in the face of rising oil prices as a result of diminishing supply. The Minister said the Sri Lanka is well placed to move more and more to renewables such as wave energy, geothermal and wind. He concluded his presentation with a number of practical tips people can employ at the grassroots level. This presentation will provide a useful resource for ECO-V and in particular will help inform some displays at the Kelani Nadee Yatra exhibition at the end of the month - Jackie Scally from Melbourne, Australia