Sri Lanka.

[arontius]

.....A friend of mine, Linda Sartor, is about to head off to Sri Lanka for upwards of nine months to a year. She is going to be a part of the 'Non-Violent Peace Force'. This is a group of people who go to troubled areas like Sri Lanka and basically live with the residents of the area so as to gain their trust and work on a peaceful resolution to ongoing political strife.

.....In Sri Lanka, Linda is headed to an area that is primarily a Tamil stronghold. She and her group (made up of people from all over the world) will live and work with the local people and basically just be a member of the community. Their presence alone seems to deter government forces from coming in and wrecking havoc on the community as is their want. They are determined to bring both the Tamil rebels and representatives of the Sri Lankan together so that they can better understand each other. Their idea being that if they can start peace on a grass roots level it will filter upwards to eventually have an effect on the government of the island nation itself. I wish her much luck.

.....She has no fear and is very excited about going there. Makes me want to go with her. :-) She has always been a determined activist though. We've gotten into a few arguments in the past over some of her views. I'm left leaning myself, but she makes me look like Ronald Reagan. :-)

.....She plans on sending reports periodically. I'll pass them on into Live Journal as they arrive.

.....Aaron / Arontius.


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