The festival lasts for less than a week however one of our key aims is to use the profile of the festival to act as a springboard for and to publicise a variety of community initiatives with our Sponsors and Friends of the Festival.
The following are just some of the initiatives taking place:
• Raising awareness about environment issues
with a Beach Clean Up initiative and Recycled Art. Project
supported by Intrepid Travel.
• Working with the Municipal Council on initiating
garbage separation in Galle.
• Providing a platform at the festival for
environment related NGOs such as Earth Restoration, Ruk Rakaganno
and Web of Hope to raise awareness of the issues surround
Climate Change.
• Engaging with Universities & their
English Literature departments to encourage students to volunteer
and participate in the festival.
• Celebrating the heritage of the Galle Fort community
through an exhibition “The world through 80 fort lives”.
• Supporting tsunami development projects such
as Hopes and Dreams with orders for festival supplies.
• Exploring university and schools outreach to
allow a wider audience to gain access to authors.
• Working with both print and electronic media
sponsors to ensure valuable literary material can be captured,
translated and distributed to a wide & varied audience
across Sri Lanka.
• Perera-Hussein publishing house grows indigenous
trees in Puttalam.
• Workshops in Galle & The Southern
Province Schools with AdoptSriLanka and the British Council.
• Inspiring youth to read & write through
Teachers workshops with AdoptSriLanka.
• Debating competition and creative writing
competition with AdoptSriLanka.
Community Initiatives by Sponsors & Friends of the
Festival:
CLIMATE CHANGE
The award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore
Jr., in recognition of their efforts to produce and disseminate
knowledge about man-made climate change, was for many timely
recognition. Nevertheless scepticism about the IPCC’s
science, and in particular it’s economics, has led several
people to challenge its findings. Some challenge the scientific
evidence that climate change is happening; others accept its’
occurrence, but argue that it isn't worth trying to address
it. Still others argue that global poverty, AIDS and violent
conflict are far greater threats than Climate Change. The
widespread debate has drawn in scientists, economists, politicians,
civil society and just about anybody interested in the future
of the planet. At one end of the spectrum is the belief that
life as we know it is under threat, and at the other end,
the conviction that scientists and socialists are conspiring
to spend taxpayer’s money on a bogus issue.
Climate Change has also become a moral issue, one about values
and cultures rather than simply a question of scientific debate.
The moral angle—a sense, deep at the heart of the global
environmental movement, that the consequence of individual
selfishness will lead to collective doom have further charged
the debate. While there is still a lot of ignorance and the
science remains complex, there is a trend towards scientific
convergence that something serious is happening.
Climate Change is real. The signs are difficult to ignore.
Arctic sea ice is melting alarmingly fast. Glaciers are melting
unexpectedly swiftly. And a range of weather phenomena, such
as hurricanes, that were previously thought to be unconnected
to climate change are now increasingly linked to it. The risks
of serious consequences are high enough to make it imperative
to adapt and mitigate climate change. Through talks, workshops,
panel discussions and a debate, The 2008 Galle Literary Festival
2008 provides an opportunity for a broader discussion on humanitarian
futures in the context of Climate Change.
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INTREPID BEACH CLEAN
UP
One of the subjects being
discussed at the literary festival is Climate Change and as
part of the run up to the five days of festival events the
local schools and the Fort community have been cleaning up
the beaches in and around the Fort. The aim is to clear up
years of rubbish and post-tsunami debris to preserve and protect
the wonderful natural wildlife.
Instead of throwing what
is collected, rubbish will be recycled and turned into art
or useful household items. During the festival, a resident
artist will teach children how to make a stage set out of
bottles, and to turn plastic into weird and wonderful sculptures.
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| Beach clean
up in Galle Fort area sponsored by Intrepid Travel
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PUBLISHING WITH AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIENCE
The printed word quenches our thirst for knowledge, but its dissemination pollutes the planet by being a cause of global warming. Contributing toward a responsible carbon-impact policy, the Perera-Hussein Books publishing company grows a variety of indigenous trees in Puttalam – Sri Lanka’s semi-arid zone, to offset the negative environmental impact caused by printing books.
RAINFOREST RESCUE INTERNATIONAL
Looking to contribute to this year’s green theme? Rainforest
Rescue International’s Carbon Calculator Booth allows
you to offset your personal festival carbon emissions. By
supporting RRI’s work in conserving and restoring Sri
Lanka’s rainforest, you can directly contribute to mitigating
the worldwide effects of Climate Change. .
Want to find out more?
Find the RRI booth in the Arts Council building or visit www.earthrestoration.org
for more information.
RUK RAKAGANNO
Affectionately known as 'Ruk Raks' , the Tree Society of Sri
Lanka, was early in the field of environment, recognising
the importance of the conservation of the island's bio-diversity,
particularly it's variety of tropical forests. It has campaigned
to save key forest areas, wetlands, refuges for threatened
fauna, supported other similar groups in fending off commercial
activities potentially damaging to the countryside or future
welfare of the populace.
For decades, it has conducted awareness programmes especially
for women and children affected by civil strife and natural
disasters, empowering them to build up their lives and livelihood,
in environmentally friendly and sustainable ways. Handbooks
and manuals have been published in all three of the island's
languages. Ruk Rakaganno advised the Colombo Municipal Council
on the care of the century old avenues of the centre. Inter-action
with members and public include newsletters, a popular 'tree
watch' column in a national weekly, excursions and field trips
for members
Immediately following the tsunami of December 2004, Ruk Rakaganno
initiated a Schools' Awareness Programme for the children
of the affected areas, which continues today. It is supported
by the Nursery atop the Buona Vista headland overlooking the
harbour, Galle.
Ruk Rakaganno manages the beautiful IFS Popham Arboretum in
Dambulla, three nurseries (in Galle, Colombo and Dambulla)
focussing on indigenous and useful plants, especially the
slow growing endemics, for timber, shade, medicinal uses,
as well as ornamental natives. Staff members are on call to
advise on plants appropriate to the terrain.
Funding sources include NORAD, CIDA, UNDP's GEF- SGP and many
corporate and individual donors, both local and foreign ,
and is proud to have been the pioneer in anticipating the
need for planting for the environment. E: rukraks@sltnet.lk
WEB OF HOPE
The Web of Hope is an on-line database, educational resource and consultancy service, highlighting role models for sustainability from around the globe – www.thewebofhope.org represented in Sri Lanka at Samakanda. Previously a 60-acre abandoned tea estate, Samakanda is a privately owned ecological learning centre and eco-tourism destination, approximately 40 minutes from Galle. www.samakanda.org
SAY NO TO PLASTIC - HOPES & DREAMS BAGS
Five months after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami the land was cleared in Godagama in May 2005 and The Hopes and Dreams Village was born … today the village consists of three main buildings housing a variety of courses and services, training schemes and sustainability ventures such as an arts and crafts centre that believe in making products that make a difference to both the environment and society. The 2008 Galle Literary Festival bags are produced by Hopes & Dreams.
Further information can be obtained in English from Joy on 0777 736112, or in Sinhala from the Village Director, Rukman, Ph: 0776 168713.
AROUND THE FORT IN 80 LIVES
Ever wondered what lingers behind the crumbling walls, overgrown
gardens entwined with climbing roses and walled colonnaded
courtyards? This exhibition will open the door into the lives
the people who have come from all over the world and made
this ancient citadel their home. The exhibition explores eighty
very different houses, some of which have belonged to families
for around four hundred years. You will discover a range of
fascinating images that will reveal the hidden world of fort
life in which a man can be stoned to death for cheating on
his wife and has to endure 100 lashes if he has sex before
marriage. A world of strong beliefs and quaint customs.
Location: Heritage Mansion Warehouse, Leyn Baan St,
Galle Fort
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The
Careem Family - 300 years in Galle Fort |
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Weltevreden - Galle Fort Resident. |
GALLE HERITAGE FOUNDATION
The central objective
of the society is to preserve and protect the Fort while making
the residents aware of the value and significance of their
historic homes. The organization motto is ‘Galle Heritage
is your heritage.’ They are responsible for the
extensive restoration programme of the Dutch colonial houses
and the administration of funding aimed at preserving the
400 year old citadel.
THE ENGLISH WRITERS COOPERATIVE OF SRI LANKA
In 1989 a few writers decided to set up the above Cooperative,
providing a ‘CHANNEL’ for publication of good
creative writing (short stories, poetry, translations, plays.)
To date 30 journals, workshops, and island-wide competitions,
as well as a yearly ‘Evening of Poetry and Music’
have been organised.
Financed mainly by Members’ subscription.
Membership by invitation.
ADOPTSRILANKA
AdoptSriLanka (ASL)
began in the immediate aftermath of the Tsunami.
Their work included Disaster Relief, Housing, Boat Building,
School Renovation and Rebuilding, Trauma Relief, Coastal Conservation
and Livelihood Regeneration. Using their local knowledge and
experience, they are now working to redress the imbalance
between coastal communities and those inland who have been
largely "forgotten" . Their main projects
are now a street children's project in Bentota, a global school
twinning project and coastal and marine conservation.
www.adoptsrilanka.com
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