Last night I really enjoyed watching The Light of Hope, a bilingual Choreography Music theatre programme, which used the principles of the Red Cross movement to inspire youth to be involved in various activities including training related to humanitarian action.
It also allows youth to identify vulnerability in their communities and villages and develop innovative and creative ways in which they can offer service to these communities, whilst working under the guiding principle of Humanity.
This programme is a broad cross-cultural, communication-oriented educational module aimed at teaching basic humanitarian principles. At the same time it links theory to action in favour of returnees, IDPs and other vulnerable people in targeted communities.
Youth are encouraged to help others and eventually to be involved in cross-cultural events that help to identify, respect and promote a multi-ethnic society where only peaceful cooperation and mutual acceptance among all can build respect for human dignity and help avoid human suffering.
The episode introduces 30 amateur theatre artists from selected schools in the districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Anuradhapura who have been trained in the basic techniques of theatre under the Principles Humanitarian Values component. The nucleus of the performance is to highlight how the promotion of humanitarian values within the social fabric can bring more understanding, social cohesion and prosperity in a multi ethnic community like Sri Lanka.
The Light of Hope bilingual Choreography Music theatre is produced by the Promotion of Humanitarian Values programme of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society with support made available by German Red Cross and the European Union under its flagship ACAP project. It was phenomenal production attended by the President SLRCS, the whole Governing Board and Director General and staff. (Photographs by Bob McKerrow)
The event was staged on Sunday 24th at 4.00 pm at the Ruhunu Auditorium, Buddhist Cultural Centre, Sambuddha Jayanthi Mawatha Colombo 5.
