It's a Long Way to Tipperary
I’ve been descending towards Rambukewela, a village situated
in the brae of the central province highlands. As usual I encountered hairpin
curves and steep way but nothing I couldn’t handle. In the middle of the way I
decided to make a pit stop to let my legs stretch and let my eye to catch the
allure of the vicinity. I wasn’t alone in the road as I met some fine people
who greeted me with warm smiles and gave a chance to have a chat. Those two are
from the village and they are just coming from a village ‘Shramadana’ project.
“The house of one of the people was in a feeble condition
with one side of the roof about to collapse. So we thought of giving him a hand
to repair it. It was a huge work and we spent 35 cement bangs to concrete it.
Now it will last longer than the house itself.” Uththara, one of the ladies
satiated my curiosity with a wide smile. I was amazed to see people contribute
their labor to repair a house of another person of the village. We know that we
used to have such a culture in Sri Lanka but as far as we understood that
culture faded away. Guess we were wrong!
“We have around 1400 people in our village and we have around
20 communal societies including women’s societies, sports clubs, funeral aid societies,
youth societies, children’s societies and farmers’ unions. But the Praja
Mandala is the most prominent one. Today Shramadana project was organized
through the Praja Mandala society. Public work is not just repairing roads and
any other public properties and infrastructure but helping the individuals as
well. We believe in that philosophy” she claimed.
“We have done many works through the Praja Mandala. This is
not just like any other village society because this connects us with the
government bodies and gives us access to the funds we can utilize for the
village. And people who are behind the concept like the Chrysalis keeps tabs
with us, constantly checking the progress. That gives us motivation to march
forward. We have many more work planned for the future and we will gradually
get those done.”
Those two ladies, Preethika and Uththara and their people
were fine examples for the people who would whole heartedly contribute to their
community. This should be the attitude we all Sri Lankans carry in our hearts,
I thought while riding through the mountains.
Tipperary is an Irish landlocked rural county with mountains,
rivers, lakes and farmlands. The song itself was written over a bet, so the
history says and like any other song sung by soldiers fighting in World War One,
this one also become a well-remembered one. The Sri Lankan Tipperary or the Tipperary
estate goes back to the colonization era through the history of Sri Lankan tea.
The Tipperary I’m going to see today is a remote village off the weligalla and
described as a rural village with an arduous climb. And I realized that that
description was given for rookie travelers who expect nothing but easy,
luxurious travel plans.
“Thipareriya is an underdeveloped village. But after the
Praja Mandala concept came to the village, we could witness a gradual change of
everything. I believe that the foundation stone for that change is the
knowledge bestowed upon us through programs and workshops. I mean that
knowledge helped us to understand the process of development, the contribution
we can make and how to connect with the local government authorities.”
That was Jayanthi, a diligent woman from the village. She is also the chairman of
the Praja Mandala society of her village. She’s a self-employed woman and her
business is weaving mosquito nets.
“Usually men hold the ranks in village societies but here we
have both men and women contributing to the Praja Mandala shoulder to shoulder.
That’s a positive thing” She said.
The climb to the village is pretty intimidating but the road
is fine. And villagers sometimes just walk all the way up to the village from
the main road so who am I to complain?
It is a long way to Tipperary; it’s a long way to go…
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