Christmas Gathering of Children

Children live in the vicinity of the YMCA gathered at the YMCA to celebrate Christmas on 21 December, 2011. Children enjoyed the evening by singing and playing while a group of children lighten the meeting with few carols.
YMCA of Pamunugama organized stationery gifts for those who were presented and there were 40 kids attended the Christmas celebration. All those who were presented were invited to join the Children's Club from the new year. 

Back to Great Culture - "Smiling Faces" YMCA Children's Gathering

YMCA of Pamunugama has been dreaming about restrengthening the Children's Club which has been a great success in the past. As the first step of promoting Children's Clubs YMCA of Pamunugama took the initiative to organize the National YMCA Children's Gathering together with the National Council of YMCAs of Sri Lanka.


Programme was held from 16th to 19th December at the Boys' Town at Diyagala. camp was full various colorful activities including Art, Cultural Activities, Sport Meet, Group Games, Campfire and Hike. 79 children from age 12 - 16 from 11 YMCAs represented the camp covering the entire Island. 


Camp started with get to know each other and grouping. Activities were started from the second day. Cricket tournament between groups was very competitive even though it was a friendly battle between friends. Final of the tournament was won by Pigeon beating Cat group. During the skill training session each groups painted their own painting with the participation of all members in the group. Groups came-up with great paintings at the end under the theme of environment.

After lunch on the second day children joined a hike around the campsite. They were tracking the road-marks fixed by leaders in advance. Groups had to go through few challengers during the hike. After the dinner cultural show was organized colorfully by leaders and each YMCA got the opportunity to perform their item. Some danced, while some sang and acted. Matara YMCA came first with their drama at the Cultural show.

Next day children joined the Inter Group Sports Meet. Campers were very enthusiastic to join the events and great commitment to sports were shown by them. Event was consisted of 100m, 200m 100m x 4 relay and 200m x 4 relay under two age categories. Finals of 100m and 200m was very competitive and same two players shared the first and second places in both events but with a change in positions. Campfire was held outside after the dinner and groups got another chance to perform their talents.
All the winners of the Sports Meet, Cultural Show was awarded with a certificate and all the participants were given gifts and a certificate for participants. Leaders from YMCA of Pamunugama did a great job together with the leaders of the NCYSL while the leaders those who accompanied children from local YMCAs have contributed immensely to the programme. Most importantly at the end the campers felt that they miss the camp and the fellow campers which is a great sign of success of a camp!!!
Ridma Fonseka

Guides and Scouts equipped with First Aid

Scouts and Guides are the once who never turns back when they see someone in need. To help others and to act they need skills and knowledge. YMCA of Pamunugama organized a first Aid Training for Girl guides at Pamunugama YMCA and for the Scouts at Wattala Programme Centre on 11 Sunday, December, 2011 at the YMCA of Pamunugama. 16 Guides, 5 scouts and 3 leaders (to assist) attended the event and the training was facilitated by Mr. Lalith De Silva a well experienced trainer from the St. John First Aid.

Basic knowledge was given to participants on how to treat patients with various injuries and illnesses including, bleeding, unconsciousness, bruise and etc.

Participants were very enthusiastic to learn and enjoyed a lot the way of teaching of Mr. Lalith De Silva who was very friendly with participants. Mr. Lalith agreed to help Pamunugama YMCA with further trainings on First Aid in the future.

Pre-School kids celebrates Christmas Early

Kids of the Pre-School at Pamunugama YMCA had their Christmas Concert on Sunday 04 December, 2011 at the YMCA Hall. This is an annual event where Pre-School kids gets the opportunity to show their talents in-front of the parents and relatives.

16 Kids at Pamunugama YMCA Pre-school has been practicing for this event for last 3 months together with two of their teachers and delivered their talents colorfully on the stage. around 150 people gathered to witness this colorful event.

Event was full of dances to various music and there were two invited events from all students. End was marked with a drama which commemorated the Birth of Christ at Bethlehem. Following the concert kids started their Christmas vacation.

Girl Guides doing well at Pamunugama

Pamunugama YMCA has the privilege to say that we are the first Girl Guide troop in the YMCA Sri Lanka. Number of guides in the troop have been increased into 17 by today. Lately they involved with number of activities in and outside the YMCA premises. 
on 1 September, 2011 guides joined a beach expedition tour. Idea of the event was to bring guides closer to the environmental and study the nature which eventually make them nature lovers. They marched on the beach looking for life in the seashore.
On 23 November, 2011 guides were led by the Girl Guides Leader Taniya with a cooking session. They made pasta and curry at the YMCA premises. 
Meanwhile Guides are planning for a busy month in December with number of activities including a First Aid Training, visit to a temple, day camp and Christmas gathering.

Arms-giving to commemorate members

According to the Catholic tradition people arrange arms-givings to commemorate the loved-once who has passed away. Following the same tradition Pamunugama YMCA organized an arms-giving to commemorate the members who has passed away after serving the YMCA movement during their lifetime. 
Current members collect dry-rations and offered to two deserving families in the village and prayed for the members who has passed away. Ms. Jasintha Peiris one of the long standing members delivered a speach appreciating the great contributions  made by the past members.

Food Security and Economic Justice

Youth of the YMCA together the ICY group organized a two day awareness building programme on food security and economic justice. Programmes was held at Pamunugama YMCA on 12 - 13 November 2011 with the participation of 15 youth from Pamunugama, Wattala, Moratuwa and Negombo YMCAs. During the programme it was discussed the important of maintaining our own home gardens at homes and preserving the traditional agree-cultural systems in order to save the farmers from multinational chemical and fertilizer companies.Group was inform the harmfulness of using chemicals and non-organic farming for the long run and the sustainability of farming sector. Mr. Sion de Silva participated the programme as the resource person.

In the evening youth joined the World Week of Prayer Reflection Meeting held at Pamunugama YMCA. Theme of the reflection was "Voice to speak out". Mr. Derek goCy intern from Kenya led a session on youth issues in Africa during the reflection.

Discussion on fisheries port at Kepungoda

One of the main agreements at the end of previous ICY seminar was to follow up the issue regarding a fisheries harbor built in the Kepungoda (village in the Pamunugama peninsula) area. The project was started in 2009 with the involvement of several politicians in the area and the parish priest at that time. Now the work has been completed at the expense of millions of money with no result. Entire project is a vain effort as there are a lot of technical mishaps in building the harbor. Now the harbor has become a gem mine for thieves as the have started stealing the sand for construction work.
ICY group invited a selected group of people in the area for a initial discussion to raise the awareness among the ICYs on the issue. After a long discussion  it was understood that there has been no any proper feasibility test has been done and the project has been carried out with no proper guidance from specialists. Now the challenge is to find a way forward and prevent further environmental issues and making sure that the sand is protected from thieves.
It was decided that we need to keep the fishermen alert on the issue and making the community aware on the issue through a wider process of awareness.

ICY Seminar 2011 on Economic Justice

Opening Ceremony

“Thirst for Peace” Internationally Committed Youth Seminar 2011 was held from 8 to 11 October, 2011 at God’s Little Acre – Moratuwa. Focus of this year’s seminar was Economic Justice which is an important aspect when we talk about world peace in today’s context. 30 youth gathered for this important event representing Pamunugama, Hendala, Moratuwa, Negombo, Rambukkana, Kenya and Norway. Unfortunately we could not have our partners from ICY Oslo at this year’s seminar due to practical travel problems. But having 4 international participants from the goCY programme still made the seminar and international experience. Mr. Lakshan Dias the NGS of the NCYSL and his wife as well as Mr. Santha Fernando an executive Committee member of the NCYSL and his wife joined the opening ceremony and shared their thoughts on the programme. Mr. Dias addressing the group challenged to bring up the idea of economic justice to the National level through Executive Committee of the NCYSL for future interventions at a National Level.

Rev Fr. Sarath during his session

Programme commenced with a biblical reflection on understanding poverty and individual responsibility. Session was led by Rev. Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda a Justice and Peace activist. Rev Sarath emphasized that poverty is not something that God has given and it should not be the destiny of anyone. He further mentioned that it is not the will of god.  

Mr. Santha Fernando another human rights activist facilitated a session on Poverty and Development in the Sri Lankan context. During the session group had case studies on 4 major issues related economic justice in Sri Lanka. They were “up-coming tourism, Hedging Agreement, plight of state workers and decreasing the value of US Dollar by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka”. Youth got the chance to discuss in depth on the cases and came up with a good analysis at the end.

"Trade Game"

On the next day group played game called “Trade game” which is specially designed to understand the dynamics of international economics. Groups went into groups according to the countries given to them and they had to deal with World Bank, UN and Global Visa office during the play (game). During the game they were able to realize the differences between countries when it comes to international economy.

Following the Trade Game Mr. Chamira Perera a lecture at Jayawardenapura University led an academic session on World Economy and Justice. There Mr. Chamira emphasized that it is not an easy thing to synchronize economic and justice according to the teaching in Economic Science. Further he mentioned that the aspect of justice comes with a political look. Further he mentioned that a collective involvement of civil society is needed to shape up the economy in to a just and fair one.

Two of the evenings at the seminar were spent to watch a movie and a debate. Movie was “Machang” which elaborate on youth economic issues in Sri Lanka and how they try to seek solutions. Debate brought a new spirit to the seminar where the group went into two groups and argued on the development in Sri Lanka.

Group spent final hours of the seminar sharing their thoughts and ideas for further involvements. ICY group of Pamunugama has already planned a discussion together with village men to find out the truth and issues behind a harbor project in a nearby village of Kepungoda. ICY further plans to stay behind the suggestions made by other participants represented other YMCAs for further actions for economic justice. 

Helping hand from Pamunugama to courageous people in the East and North Central

Training on organic farming

Group from PamunugamaYMCA  (Ridma, Shelton, Ranjith, Asela) visited it's service centers in Alagollewa, Horopathana (North Central Province), Gomarankadawela and Ottichchakulama (Eastern Province) from 1st to 4th October, 2011. Lakpriya and Tiron also joint the group as resource persons from MONLAR. First stop of the long journey was Alagollewa where YMCA is working to promote Organic Farming through a sustainable agricultural project. There are around 50 families involved with the project through small groups. Groups have started savings among the smaller groups and they will be provided with loans, knowledge and seeds to start farming using organic methods in the future. At the same time they will be supported with common equipment and needs such as water pumps and farming wells. 

Farmer's Well

Then the YMCA group resumed their journey to Horopathana where YMCA has provided flood relief recently. Group met  Hon Piayarathana Thero of the Horopathana temple to discuss on further assistance to repair damaged houses and provide livelihood assistance with the support of the National Council of YMCAs of Sri Lanka. Group also did visited few houses which were repaired and due to be repaired.

Green chilly Farm at Ottichchakulama

Then the group proceeded to Gomarankadawela area where YMCA has been involved with educational programmes, Scouting and agricultural programmes. Group visited 3 schools (Kivulakada, Sinhapura, Medavachchiya) in the area and met children and teachers who are involved with our educational programmes through extra classes for Mathematics, Science and English as well as scouting. At the same-time group had a fruitful discussion with Sumanasara Thero of the Medavachchiya Temple on the activities carried-out in the area.

Educational Programme at Sinhapura

Group also had the opportunity of visiting Ottichchakulama which locates 15 Kms North of Gomarankadawela. Group met farmers there and came to know about the outcome of YMCA assistance for farming. Group witnessed the success of some farmers as well as failures they faced due to bad weather. Two huge farming wells are about to be finished building and the farmers are very much hopeful that these two wells will help them to get through dry seasons in the future. Before they returned to Pamunugama group visited few houses repaired after the floods in the Gomarankadawela.


As usual the group returned home with mix feelings. From one hand it was satisfaction after seeing the amount of work done. At the other hand  the amount of work is huge to make those people liberate from their hardships. 

Pamunugama organized the Regional Camp

YMCA of Pamunugama was given the opportunity by the National Council of YMCAs to organize the Regional Camp which was successfully completed from recently from 29^th August to 1 September. Camp was organized for the YMCA scouts in the Western, Southern and North Central province. Five groups joint the camp held atAlagollewa (biggest Christian village in the North Central Province). Alagollewa was chosen for the camp as a result of connections YMCA of Pamunugama had with the Alagollewa community. 

Scouts were given the opportunity to sleep outside in the tents and scouts enjoyed meeting new friends from different groups and living outside doing outdoor scouts activities. Scouts got the chance to play, sing and learn scout techniques including knots, rally rules, whistle commands and so many other camp rules.

Theme of the camp was “Disciplined Scouts for YMCA Future Leadership”. Scouts learnt how to practice as good scouts under the guidance of leaders. Most interesting event of the camp was the hike to the Ritigala Mountain. Scouts had a tough time climbing with a bag of sand as a support for the newly coming up Stupa on the top of the mountain. But scouts felt good once they reached the top through narrow tracks and the jungle on either sides of the tracks.

Leadership Training for Hendala Youth

Pamunugama YMCA believes that the youth are the once who has to take the YMCA movement forward from today not  from tomorrow as many people say that the youth are the future. There were 14 young people gathered at the Mirigama Scout Campsite from 12 – 14 August to learn about the YMCA and ICY activities and the qualities that require to become YMCA leaders.

Programme started on 12^th Friday evening with an introduction and a discussion on the objectives of the event. Saturday the 13^th August morning, youth were given an introduction to the YMCA including the history, structure and the today’s dynamics of the movement.  Afterwards group went through a chain of activities which led to a discussion on leadership and qualities that a leader has to improve. It was emphasized that the motto of the World Alliance of YMCAs is “That they all may be one” and it is the duty of the YMCA youth leaders take the movement towards unity through their involvement in the movement.

After the lunch on Saturday there was a quiz competition and a debate which broke the shackles of some of the participants who did not want to talk much at the beginning. After dinner the group spent some quality time listening to few songs that communicate great messages about social justice and love.

Sunday the 14^th was the last day of the programme. Group discussed about their future plans for the year and tried to synchronize with the ICY plans for the year and agreed for a common programme. Apart of the ICY events group agreed to conduct a book fare to mark the Literature month in September and a “Sramadana” in November to clean the cemetery and a Christmas programme in December.

Programme was led by Pramudu, Ridma and Shelton the president of Pamunugama YMCA and Sangeetha the Hendala Programme Branch Coordinator extended her fullest support by arranging the practical matters.

Youth discuss on Media

30 youth from YMCA of Pamunugama, Hendala Programme Branch and nearby schools attended a one day workshop on youth and media. This was organized by the ICY group of the YMCA of Pamunugama on 30 July, 2011 and Mr. Siyon De Alvis a senior consultant facilitated the day. Objective of this event was to educate young people on how the media challenges young people with their economic and political agendas. Further it was mentioned that a media has to be responsible and able to create a change in the situation they deal in order to become a social media. Mr. Siyon took few examples from how the media mislead the youth in Sri Lanka today.

Mr. Siyon challenged the participants to be analytical when we receive information through media and to use media in every possible way to create a change in the situation specially within organizations like YMCA.

This event gave the opportunity to promote the work of the YMCA among the students who joint this programme as their first YMCA event. We believe this was just an opening to continue the discuss n the same in a wider and bigger scale.

YMCA team visits service centres in the dry zone

YMCA team visits  service centres in the dry zone.

5 YMCA leaders including the President, General Secretary and 4 youth visited Gomarankadawela and Alagollewa areas in connection with the following programmes from 9 - 11 July, 2011.

Demonstrating the Pedal Pump

1. Introducing Pedal Pump to farmers

YMCA of Pamunugama is in the process of supporting farmers in Ottachchakulama and Alagollewa areas who are restarting their livelihoods after the war which lasted for 3 decades. With the support of Don Bosco Institute Pedal Pump was introduced to farmers in the villages of Alagollewa and Ottachchakulama which will enable them to irrigate their agricultural activities. 

2. Organising a YMCA group at Alagollewa

Meeting with villagers at Alagollewa

At the request of Fr. Mahendran an introduction to the YMCA was made for the village Community of Alagollewa. The villagers were enthusiastic and expressed their willingness to start a YMCA in the village and a committee headed by Mr. Robert was appointed to organise the would be members.

3. Starting scouting at Alagollewa.

Fr. Damian Fernando, the Principal of Alagollewa school requested for assistance in introducing scouting for the students. Accordingly a training session for the students was conducted for the students to understand the preliminaries in scouting. 30 students participated.

4. Monitor programmes at Ottachchakulama

Agricultural activities.

The farmers whose efforts were washed out due to floods at the beginning of the year have restarted their activities with renewed hopes and requested the YMCA to help them in completing the work on two agricultural wells.

Agricultural wells

Two wells were dug  and need to be completed with the brick work. The YMCA will have to raise funds for the purpose.

Construction of Community hall

Community Hall

The construction of the community hall has reached the roof level. Once the roof is in place  the farmers will have their own place for their meetings and other common programmes.

5. Educational Programmes at Gomarankadawela

The classes for Maths, Science and English are been continued for the O/L students of the schools at Sinhapura, Kiwulekada and Madawachchiya. A new programme for teaching English for the students of Grade 3 and 4 has been introduced recently at the same schools.

6. Scouting in Kiwulekada school

The scouting started at Kiwulekada school is progressing and in this matter the Scout Master at the Madawachchiya school is extending his support.

7. House repair at Horowpothana and Madawachchiya

House to be repaired

18 houses damaged by the floods in Horowpothana and Madawachchiya have been selected to be repaired. The repair work has been started and soon the affected families will have a roof over their heads.

Rev. Sumanasara Theto and Rev. Piyarathana Thero are extending their fullest corporation and support in this programme.

8. Assist Alagollewa school

At the request of the Principal of Alagollewa school, Fr. Damian Fernando, the YMCA assisted the school to have its electricity connection enabling the students to acquire computer knowledge. All this time they were denied of this facility as the computer lab has been kept closed for want of electricity.

YMCA Introduces Organic Farming

National Council of YMCAs of Sri Lanka (NCYSL) is in the process of introducing a project on Sustainable Agriculture. YMCA of Pamunugama together with YMCA of Rambukkana, Pandithirippu and Mandur will implement the project on behalf of the NCYSL.

An introduction programme to the project was held on 25 - 26 June, 2011 at the YMCA with the participation of 13 representatives from above YMCAs and Mr. Sarath Fernando a specialist on sustainable agriculture from (MONLAR) joint the programme as a resource person to share his knowledge on organic agricultural methods and negative effects from non organic farming. Project activities to be started from 1st of July and Mr. Asela Madulanka will coordinate the project on behalf of the YMCA of Pamunugama.

Mr. Prasanna the Exsecutive Secretary of the National Council of YMCAs coordinated the programme and Mr. Lakshan Dias the General Secretary attended the programme as a guest at the opening ceremony.

ICYs to share knowledge with each other

3 participants who has been selected for the Global Week and TT (Exchange in Norway) were given the challenge to lead a session on current social issues that has irrupted in Sri Lanka and in the global level at the moment. 3 participants shared their views on 3 topics together with youth club members.

Following is a summery of what was shared by them.

Nisala –  Global Warming; Gave an in introduction to global warming and emphasized on the negative consequences to the developing world due to Global Warming. He spoke about carbon emition and deforestration as main reasons for global warming. Further he spoke about the posible negative consequences due to glazier melting. He mention a little about the economic aspect of global warming and how the developed warld contributes to the global warming. Nisala mentioned that it is important to start finding solutions from very local level and as individuals. He took some examples from local climate changes in our area and he took the changes in the rain seasons in our area as an example.

Pramudu – Sitiation in the Free Trade Zone; Pramudu started his reflection with a song sang by Sunil Edirisinghe on the hardships of workers in the Free Trade Zones in Sri Lanka. He spoke about the reason uprise of the workers against the Pentione Bill that was taken up at the Parlianment. He spoke about the disadvantages for the warkers if this bill is going to be approved by the parlianment. He shared some of the insights of the reason incident (conflit between the polica and the workers) that occurred in the Free Trade Zone.

Shivankara – Situation in Palestine; Shivankara shared the history on the conflict in Palestine in brief. Further he mentioned how the Juice people expanded Israel landwise and spoke a little bit on settlements. Further Shivankara spoke on the hardships that people in Palestine go through in their daily lives. He mentioned on the check points, uprooting of olive trees which effect the economy in Palestine. Shivankara further mentioned the international aspects of this conflict including the role of America relation to the issue in Palestine. 

Other youth members raised questions at the gathering and the latter part of the programme was held as an open discussion. Objectives of this event was to develop the presentation skills of the 3 Exchange participants while creating an interest among the participated youth for further involvement with ICY activities relate to discussed issues. 

Being a goCY!

It was not a strange feeling to be in Norway last summer as a goCY since I have been to Norway 4 times prior to the goCY exchange programme. But as the time went on I felt it is totally different from previous occasions since I had to adjust my life into the Norwegian way of living since I had to live and work within the Norwegian society for a longer period of nine months.

During the exchange I lived with a family in a small town called Brønnøysund in the Northern part of Norway. I had no friends and people who can share life at the beginning at this small place. So I felt home sick and it was challenging. As the time went on I managed to get to know many people specially with in my working groups which were the Church and the Scouts. It is a well-known fact that Norwegians are hard to get to know. It was true. I found that it is important to make Norwegians feel comfortable to be friends with me. To do that sometimes I had to act like a Norwegian and follow the Norwegian codes in the same way as they follow. In each societies there are different codes relate to how they talk, how they dress and how the eat and etc. Once you know those codes it is easier to interact with that particular society. I tried to learn those codes as faster as possible and tried to follow those codes. But I always tried to keep my identity as a Sri Lankan and I tried to explain Norwegians about the codes that we follow in Sri Lanka. Language became crucial fact when it comes to building relationships. So I gave priority to learn Norwegian at the beginning.

Hiking with Rover Scouts

I spent most of my time with scouts who were 11 to 19 years old. Even though I had some experiences of working with children and youth in my YMCA, I had to learn many new things to deal with those children and youth who came from a totally different society.Their needs and issues were totally different from Sri Lankan youth and children. I spent time talking to them and I always contacted experienced adult when I was not sure on how to deal with those kids and youth. I got the opportunity to learn a lot about different social issues which those kids and youth experienced in such so called developed country.

During my stay I had the opportunity of meeting new people and groups who work within the YMCA and YWCA. I used those opportunities to spread the word about the work of the YMCA Sri Lanka and the work of my local YMCA, Pamunugama. I believe that those kinds of first hand information and experience sharing about YMCA activities are crucial to strengthen the relationships within the YMCA network. I spoke with different student groups and YMCA - YWCA scout groups and tried to connect with our YMCA in Pammunugama while tried to be a bridge between the National level movements. It is hard and still little too early to measure the success of those efforts. It is important to follow-up those kinds of relationships and convert into partnerships in the future and I am up to the task.

Camp for Confirments

As an individual I got the opportunity to develop myself and learn a lot which will help me in the future both in personal and career.. This stay made me think more independently and expanded my capacity as a YMCA layman as well as in a professional way by learning new ways of organizing and implementing programmes and projects. Further I got the opportunity to learn a new language to some extend which will help in building relations with the YMCA YWCA groups in Norway and Sri Lanka in the future. Meanwhile I wrote number of articles for different magazines in the Church of Brønnøysund and Y Global which helped me to develop my writing skills. As a sum-up, I would like to tell my fellow YMCA friends that goCY is an excellent exchange programme where we can learn and develop ourselves while contributing a lot to the great movement of YMCA and I encourage you all to be a part of this programme in the future.

                     

Ridma Fonseka                                                                                     23. 006. 2011

goCY intern 2010-2011

Hendala Youth Honor Elders in the area

Youth of the Wattala Programme Branch of the YMCA of Pamunugama organized an elders day on 15 June, 2011 together with the Church of Palliyawatte to commemorate the YMCA day.  Programme was organized with a participation of 46 elders in the area at the Church Hall of the Palliyawatte Church.

One of the Catholic priests in the area attended as the chief guest while Mr. Shelton Peiris and a Justice of Peace attended the event as guests. Mr. Shelton addressing the event explained the objective of organizing the event and the Justice of Peace held a speech honoring the adults and the great things that they have done to take this world forward as parents and grandparents.

Two dances by a youth member and a children’s club member made the event colorful and elders were given the opportunity to enjoy by playing, dancing and acting. It was visible that all the elders enjoyed the day very much and their reactions showed it clearly and they were thankful to the organizers. All the elders were given with a gift packet and respected with the Sri Lankan traditional way by all the children and youth who organized this event. Following the event all the youth and children’s club members went to the community to sell YMCA flags to raise funds for YMCA activities. 

YMCA of Pamunugama to facilitate the Scout Leaders Training 2011

YMCA of Negombo organized the Scout Leaders Training for Southern and Central region Scout Leaders together with the National Council of YMCAs of Sri Lanka.
Programme was held at the YMCA of Pamunugama on 4th and 5th June with the participation of 14 scout leaders from Negombo, Pamunugama, Matara and Hendala. Training was conducted by the Scout Leaders in the Negombo District Scouts Association. YMCA scout leaders were equipped with the basic skills that required to lead a YMCA scout group. Colorful camp fire also was held on Saturday evening and the YMCA scout leaders performed with their dramas and singings at the campfire.

YMCA of Pamunugama commemorates the founder!

As customary, we organized the Founder's day celebrations to commemorate the Founder, Sir George Williams the founder of the great movement of YMCA. This year the youth of the YMCA of Pamunugama organized a Car wash campaign to raise funds for Youth activities while the other child and adult members joint for flag day campaign to make this special annual event.
First two flags were received by 2 Manciple Council Members (Mr. Kalisan Jayakodi and Mr. Shelton Babarenda) at the members gathering in the YMCA of Pamunugama hall. At this gathering Mr. Shelton the president of the YMCA reflected some of his thoughts on the day. He shared that "George Williams the founder of the YMCA movement was a young factory worker. We celebrate his answer to the Call of Saviour, When in the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) the young factory workers are agitating for their voice to be heard. These young girls and boys are among the major foreign exchange earners in Sri Lanka which keeps the country going and also keeps the luxurious life of the politicians going. The efforts of these young people have already been rewarded with one death. We in the YMCA must worry our hearts and heads where we are going to stand in this situation.". After the gathering at the YMCA all the child members with few youth leaders went house to house selling flags and distributing leaflets on the YMCA.
Car wash was held by the Mother Merry Statue at Seththappaduwa. Around 20 vehicles were washed and youth of the YMCA worked together hand in hand to make the event a success.

Pamunugama YMCA family celebrates Easter in a special way

16 youth and adult attended the YMCA of Pamunugama Easter service held on 10. April 2011 in the evening at the YMCA of Pamunugama. Service included a song meditation which elaborated the meaning of Easter. There were prayer sessions as well. Dilanka led the song meditation and adult women leaders led the prayers in between. The participants appreciated the service as it compelled them to think differently on the life and death of Jesus. They admitted it was a different kind of experience which the traditional services are unable to present.

NCYSL hand in hand with YMCA of Pamunugama to assist flood victims

YMCA of Pamunugama is in the process of signing an MOU (Memorandom Of Understanding) with the National Council of YMCAs of Sri Lanka (NCYSL) to support the flood victims of Ottachchakulama (East) and Horopathana (North Central). Under this MOU the NCYSL will assist YMCA of Pamunugama with providing funds under 4 phases. Initially the dry rations will be provided to to families having hardships and 100 students will be given with educational assistance providing them with stationary and uniforms to continue their schooling. 20 houses are planned to be repaired under the 3rd phase and finally 100 families will be supported with livelihood assistance.

Educational programmes 

Paddy fields destroyed by floods

Thousands of people in Gomarankadawela area lost there livelihood and number of houses were damaged during the flood recently. Specially number of new farms which were assisted by YMCA of Pamunugama went under water during the flood and completely destroyed.