Meet the Youth From the Sri Lankan Centre

	The pantomimegroup from Sri Lanka play with peace.

The original actors could not get visas from Sri Lanka to perform their pantomime for peace in New York. So the creators came instead and taught the performance to a group of young students from Sri Lanka who are living in Toronto, Canada.

"In the Cradle of War" was performed at Creative Expression: Youth Against War, an event held by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children and UNICEF.

"In Sri Lanka, children are being affected by war every day," said one of the youngsters. "We need to say how that affects us. No one knows how we feel."

The group of six students was excited about their performance and presenting their message. During an interview, they would all speak at once, making it impossible to follow who was saying what. But what they had to say was important.

They described the message of the pantomime to Scholastic News.

"We are all young kids, and there is peace," said one of the students. The five girls and one boy were all dressed in black slacks and long-sleeved, brown turtleneck sweaters. The girls wore their thick black hair in long double braids.

"The balloon represents peace," said another, explaining why they were tossing a yellow balloon with white polka dots around on stage.

"The ball fell into the well of war," the story continues. "As a team we tried to get it back. We prayed, we protested, but nothing worked. After that bombs dropped and we got hurt. One of us was crazy, one blind."

"I lost a leg, and had to limp."

"I lost both legs and couldn't walk."

The most important point, they urged, was that they were still working as a team looking for peace. When the ball of peace rises up from the well of war, everything returns to normal.

"Things have settled down in Sri Lanka now," the kids say. "We want the refugees to come back. We want peace in Sri Lanka."

The youngsters participating were Luxshayini Gunasingham, Tharuni Jeyabalendran, Kanista Kathirkamalingam, Tamilya Pathmakanthan, and Pratheep Sundaralingam, the only male.

Back to Youth Against War.