Cologne/Colombo - Malteser International
and FC Bayern Munich temporarily stop their program "Reconciliation thanks
to football" in the district of Trincomalee due to the escalating violence
in the north-east of Sri Lanka. "The program was meant to start this week",
Dr Juergen Clemens, Malteser International's Desk Officer Sri Lanka, explains.
"As the security situation continuously worsens, we decided to reschedule
it. The circumstances are too dangerous at the moment."
Constituents of this reconciliation
program are the foundation of football clubs for youths, the allocation
of football grounds, equipment and coaches as well as the construction
of a football stadium. The integration of football activities into the
school curricula is planned as well. "We want the program to contribute
to the mutual understanding and tolerance of youths of different ethnic
groups", Clemens points out. "As a result of the ethnic conflicts, young
people were not allowed to do sports. We want to change this."
Another conciliation project close to Galle in the south-west of Sri Lanka is not at risk. In this project children and teenagers in youth clubs learn how to deal with each other peace-fully. They come from three different communities of which one had to be resettled due to the tsunami.
Malteser International has been working in Sri Lanka since the tsunami of 2004. In more than 15 projects in all affected coastal regions the aid organization helps to rebuild the communities in the following sectors: rehabilitation of houses and water supply, psycho-social care for tsunami victims, income generating measures for particularly vulnerable groups and health education for children and youths.
Attention editorial offices: Dr Juergen Clemens, Desk Officer Sri Lanka, is available for interviews. Please contact +49 (0) 221-9822-155.