Shreen Abdul Saroor

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2005

Model Resettlement Project

Sri Lanka

Civil and Human Rights, Housing

The Bold Idea:

As a result of civil conflict spanning the last twenty years, Sri Lanka’s Tamil and Muslim populations remain deeply divided and vulnerable. This civil conflict resulted in 730,000 internally displaced Sri Lankans. While almost half have returned to their homes since the ceasefire in 2002, they are not adequately protected and assisted. As a result, this population faces threats to their safety, dispossession of their property, landlessness and lack of livelihood opportunities and basic services. MRP will resettle a mixed group of Tamil and Muslim internally displaced families in their native Mannar, giving preference to war widows, rape victims, the disabled, young female heads of households and internally displaced people living in refugee camps. The organization will take a uniquely inclusive approach to build harmony in Sri Lanka by setting an example of ethnic reconciliation and peaceful coexistence between these two polarized communities, while offering families a chance to access sustainable livelihoods.

Biography:

Shreen’s personal experiences of war and displacement from Sri Lanka, coupled with her background in human rights, have compelled her to develop MRP as a model for the healing and transformation process in post-war Sri Lanka. Shreen held a leadership position at the Canadian International Development Agency for more than five years and most recently, developed a women’s group that brought Tamil and Muslim women together through an income generation project.

Moment of Obligation: When and why did you decide to start your organization?
The idea of MRP initially came to my mind when I first returned to my hometown in 1998, eight years after the Muslims were forcibly evicted from the north of Sri Lanka. But due to the then ongoing war, I had to come up with a different strategy to unite the two communities and that is how my associates and I, both Tamil and Muslim, started a nonprofit organization to work on the economic empowerment of internally displaced women across the conflict line in camps and relocation centers. The success of this project in reuniting women from the two communities gave me the confidence to articulate the next step, of establishing the MRP. I became determined to follow through with this idea while I was a Fellow at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, University of San Diego, in September-November 2004. During this fellowship I had the opportunity of meeting many peace activists and intellectuals from all over the world. Their inspiration made me begin actively seeking seed money for MRP.

Who do you look up to and why?
There are many people I admire and these are a few of them: Mother Theresa for her devotion; Aung San Suu Kyi for her determination, courage and deep commitment to democracy; Hanan Ashrawi for combining scholarship and activism; Rajani Thiranagama for her heroic struggle for human rights and last but not least, my father for his unconditional love.

A snapshot in ten years: What is your dream of what's happening? What impact has your organization had?
Ideally, I want to see lasting peace in my country. In such a context I would like to see some of the women behind the success of MRP run for political office. I also see the MRP as a model grassroot reconciliation tool, one being replicated locally and internationally. My big dream though is that the youth who would have taken part in building the MRP become agents of nonviolent conflict transformation. Armed as they would be with the knowledge and experience of bringing communities together across the ethnic divide, they could hopefully contribute to constructive peace building and democracy in Sri Lanka and elsewhere.

What's in your CD player right now?
Well I don’t have a CD player. I am not really that interested in music.

What are a few book recommendations (pleasure, work and anything in between)?
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is one of my favorite books. This tells the story of the Mirabal sisters who opposed Rafael Trujillo's dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. Their story is an inspirational one of bravery and compassion. Also, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Cracking India by Bapsi Sidhwa, Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaajie, The Jam Fruit Tree by Carl Muller, Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World by Kumari Jayawardena, and The Women and War Reader edited by Lois Ann Lorentzen and Jennifer Turpin.

What websites do you go to often (work and personal)?

Quick piece of advice for people starting social change organizations:
Social change happens slowly, so, be patient but persistent, hopeful and continue dreaming big. If possible, have a network of friends and colleagues who will tell you what you should hear, not what you wish to hear.

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Shreen Abdul Saroor