Friends in Need: Grassroots Community Based Development and Peace Program was developed (in 2005) in response to the Tsunami disaster by mobilizing university student groups to volunteer for community building work in four affected villages. The aim is to provide ongoing practical and psycho-social support and to mobilize the affected communities.

• Periyanelavanai - Kalmunai - Tamil village Pop: 6,125
• Thirukkovil - Ampara Tamil Village Popu:28,785
• Nintavur - Kalmunai - Muslim village Popu:27,378
• Madiha - Matara - Sinhala Buddhist village Popu:2,768

We built on the relationships developed during the emergency relief period to promote local empowerment and to establish effective communication. Thus we could promote power-sharing through equal partnerships and promote peace, justice and harmony.

Project: "Friends in Action"
This work has been the testing ground of the micro level implementation of CPBR's approach and of self-sustainability through empowerment. By the end of the project, village groups successfully organized themselves as a community based organizations, opening offices and functioning as independent bodies, under the CPBR umbrella.

Achievements:

• The groups were able to design, implement & manage projects, and establish partnerships with donors and government organizations as their own initiatives.
  
  
• Through participatory approaches, the groups formed village steering committees accommodating community leaders and voiceless groups to identify needs, existing resources and ways forward. Examples are: working with farmers to construct agricultural wells; organizing youth groups to promote self employment; engage with women to promote health care, sanitary habits; exploring the relationship between nutrition and home cultivation; organizing children groups and linking them with educated youth who offered educational support programs in a more systematic and organized way.
  
  
• As confidence grew, the groups were able to see obstacles as opportunities for growth. They were able to directly deal with government authorities and INGOs (UNDP, ZOA, Helvetas, Forut, and Care), integrating ground voices in the decision making processes. The activities which followed were: construction work; environment protection activities, educational activities; livelihood activities; micro finance activities; ICT and language centers in the villages.
  
  
• The groups were able to see livelihood as an opportunity to promote ethnic harmony, creating a safe space and place to work together, sharing resources to fulfill their common needs. As a result vocational centers were set up providing services to equal numbers of Tamils and Muslims.