Chinmaya Value Program
The long drawn war had shaken and uprooted the social, economic, cultural and spiritual values of the society.
The children that CORD Srilanka supports come from impoverished families who have been displaced from their homes, have been housed in Government refugee camps or host families or relatives. Continuous education, personal space, personal safety, and personal possessions have been absent from their formative years. In the aftermath of the war, families are trying to rebuild their lives but having lost all of their possessions, their attention is focused on finding work and providing shelter, water and food for their family – wellbeing, positive mental health and feeling connected to where they live are not high on their barometer of need.
War affects children in all the ways it affects adults, but also in different ways. For many there is a disconnect with their ‘roots’, their culture, their history. They have problems with social relationships, either being excessively dependent or isolated; a loss of trust, hope and a sense of personal agency is obvious in many; and a lack of participation in preparing for the future.
In addition, the massive migration of the educated and capable population has resulted in lack of leaders and youth with leadership traits. Lack of motivation and focus, disregard for the cultural values and bad habits is common trait seen among the young of the population of the North. Using violence and threat as mediation is being seen among many youth. A culture that was once known for its tolerance and kindness is seeing a threat in the form of adverse influences on its future generation. Only the long war and suffering can be blamed for this situation.
The older generation need emphasis on the need for self reliance, and more importantly on the need to be a role model for their children. There is cycle of dependence, if the children emulate their parents, blame the system and choose not to rise out of their semi impoverished state.
Social and Electronic Media has become the favorite pass time for the youth in the North.
Society is seeing increasing incidences of crimes and lives led astray due to the misuse of social media.
However, it’s never not too late to help them realize their roots and values.
Chinmaya Value Program (CVP) is a holistic program that will teach them to be tolerant, contributing citizens.
CORD started CVP programs back in 2010 which included visits to their homes by Swami Ramakrishnandji and CORD staff. This was found effective for the women in helping them start the healing process and worked as a counseling process. We continue to do CVP programs for women and children at schools across Jaffna and Killinochi, Mullaitivu every year. The benefits of the program has been acknowledged by the school principals and they request for them. Residential camps have also been very popular.
What is Chinmaya Value Program?
CORD started Chinmaya value Programs to inculcate positive moral and ethical values through various stories, activities and games to teach and re-emphasize the basic human values to enable children and youth who had been adversely affected by the war and had lost some of their dear ones including parents to grow up to be motivated, kind and tolerant generation. These programs have been well acknowledged by the school principals and request for more and more sessions in their schools. The full day programs are conducted in schools with the participation of over 50 children and include the following segments.
- Talk and discussion on relevant topics by the resource person(s).
- Psychological & Motivational session
- Video presentation-motivational
- Creativity development activity
- Value based Games
- Meditation class
All the participants were provided with lunch and refreshments and workshop materials. The participants had found the programs to be very useful in helping them to build confidence to overcome social handicaps and brighten their future. More and more programs could be organized based on the availability of donor funds received for the purpose.
Chinmaya Value Program is usually conducted by the resident swamijis in Chinmaya Mission, Jaffna at various schools. They inculcate positive moral and ethical values through various stories, activities and games in order to teach and reemphasize the basic human values to enable the children and youth to grow up to be motivated, kind and tolerant generation.