Through games and activities the children were able to communicate their ideas to Sewalanka staff.

It is impossible to overstate the important role children and youth play in development. The Sewalanka Youth and Children team works directly with young people to encourage them to take an active part in the development of their villages, communities and the country as a whole.

In order to reach out to the youth and spread awareness of development challenges, Sewalanka is working to establish active children’s societies throughout the country. The societies will bring together young people who are interested in playing an active part in the development of their communities and neighborhoods and will serve as forums for them to discuss development and personal health issues with Sewalanka staff.

In December, Sewalanka launched a pilot program and staff held workshops with established children’s groups in the Gampaha area. These workshops allowed children to ask question they felt were pertinent to development and also to express their own ideas regarding development and the challenges they face in their day-to-day lives.

“We wanted children to talk about their problems and express their ideas, it wasn’t simply a matter of us teaching them but about listening to them and motivating them to engage with us and overcome problems,” said Achala Samaradiwakara, of the Youth and Children Development Team.

The workshops included leadership training, educational activities and discussions on the local environment and nutrition. Ultimately it was hoped that children would be inspired to participate more actively in the development of their communities and be able to independently spread awareness of important topics among their peers.

“The program was great, the games were fun and we were so happy to be able to speak to our Akkis and Aiyas (big brothers and sisters) from Sewalanka. We’ve never had the chance to express our ideas to adults before,” wrote one participant in a survey on the effectiveness of the workshops.