Sri Lanka
MLI Organizes Donor Recognition Trip to Sri Lanka

The Marshall Legacy Institute led a delegation of private donors to Sri Lanka from 26 August – 5 September 2005 to attend a graduation ceremony for six lifesaving, mine detection dog teams.  The graduation event on August 30th in Palaly celebrated the successful completion of training for the mine detection dogs and their indigenous handlers.  MLI provided the dogs to the Government of Sri Lanka through the generosity of private citizens to support the peace process and help Sri Lanka recover from two decades of civil war.  The U.S. Department of State provided the funding for the training of local handlers to insure the effective integration of the dog teams in the national landmine clearance program.  The in-country training is led by Brigadier Ananda Chandrasiri of the Sri Lankan Army, Fredrik Palsson (Chief of Party) and Prashantha Peiris of RONCO Consulting Corporation and Ruben Pena (Senior Dog Advisor) of Global Training Academy.

Delegation members included: Kendall DeBevoise of the Synchronicity Foundation, sponsor of Fernandez; Coral Gales residents Richard DeWitt and Rolf Frankfurter, representing the Rotary Club of Coral Gables, Florida, which sponsored mine detection dog Kirk; Nihal Goonewardene of the Sri Lanka Association of Washington, DC, sponsor of Winona;and Christine D. Smith, representing the citizens of the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, sponsors of Lehigh. Accompanying the delegation in the graduation activities were Brigadier Milinda Peiris from the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington, DC and Ms. Deborah Netland and Mr. & Mrs. James Lawrence from the US Department of State.  MLI President Perry Baltimore and Program Manager Amy Eichenberg rounded out the delegation.  Dog sponsors unable to attend the ceremony include Chubb Insurance (Connor), the Galleon Group (Galleon II), Qwest Communications (Spirit), and Friends of Donald Y. McCoy (Macho McCoy). 

Brigadier Ananda Chandrasiri, Engineer Brigade Commander, served as the delegation’s gracious host throughout the week-long visit.  Members met with numerous senior officials to discuss Sri Lanka’s national demining program, including: the Minister of Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation; the Secretary of the National Steering Committee for Mine Action; and the Director of the United Nations Development Program. The delegation enjoyed delicious dinners hosted by General Kottegoda in Colombo, Major General Susil Chandrapala in Palaly; Brigadier Milinda Peiris in Anuradhapura, and  Brigadier Rohan Jayasinghe in Minneriya.

On at the graduation ceremony in Palaly, the donors were able to congratulate their sponsored dog and handler at the graduation exercise where the dog team performed obedience drills, negotiated an obstacle course and demonstrated its mine detection skills.  While in Jaffna, the delegation visited a prosthetics facility to meet with officials who assisted landmine victims with rehabilitation, including the fabrication, fitting and maintenance of prostheses.  Many employees were themselves landmine survivors and clearly understood the needs of amputees.  Delegation members also had the opportunity to view live mine detection dog operations and manual demining sites in Puttur with the chance to don protective gear and enter the minefield themselves. 

The delegation visited many of the cultural, religious and historical sights on the island. A stop in the ancient capital of Anuradhapura enabled members to tour the magnificent ruins, to view a 12m Buddha statue in nearby Aukana and to climb the rock fortress of Sigiriya.  A day in the 2,000 year-old city of Kandy allowed visits to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth and the beautiful Peradeniya Botanical Gardens.  A scenic climb in the hill country of Nuwara Eliya offered spectacular views of the tea estates and a relaxing evening in a converted tea factory.