She embodies a belief in her own abilities without fear of limitations. Together with her team at the Girl Scouts and Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association (SLGGA) she works to provide a mental health boost for life by helping individuals develop their full potential as leaders and active citizens of the world.
Working as the coordinator (volunteer service) for SLGGA’s ‘Stop The Violence Campaign’ which started off in 2013, Chamathya Fernando made her mark globally when she won the Global Emerging Young Leader Award last year. The United States Department of State selects 10 youth each year to felicitate them for the courage they have shown by resolving conflict, promoting security, and creating economic opportunities in challenging environments.
A past pupil of Vishakha Vidyalaya, Colombo, Chamathya, has been engaging in social service activities through Little Friends and Girl Guiding. She soon developed a passion for addressing social issues and wished to take her work forward to a much bigger scale through the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association.
“I have gone through certain experiences and know how uncomfortable I have felt in such instances. A girl or a boy going through such or greater harassment makes me feel that I need to do something from my end. I strive to educate at least one person to make a difference and the satisfaction I receive in the feedback motivates me,” says the 24 year old who became a President’s Guide in 2010.
Chamathya had represented Sri Lanka and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) as a youth delegate at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, at the UN Headquaters, New York, for three consecutive years. She was also a youth speaker for the UN Women’s Stakeholder’s Forum held at the UN Headquarters in 2013 and for the Community of Democracies Ministerial held at the US Department of State, Washington DC in 2017.
Speaking about her experience as a youth delegate at the UN Commission on the Status of Women Chamathya said that she met many men and women who played leading roles in engaging in campaigns related to gender equality.
“They trained the youth delegates on the ‘Stop The Violence Campaign’ - a global advocacy campaign linked to the World Association. Research has revealed that the biggest issue that women face is violence and harassment,” she said adding that she is the first Girl Guide from Sri Lanka to take part in the event.
She notes that she always stresses upon the topic of violence against women and girls.
“Girls are often neglected because of their gender and age. There are certain issues that are mostly faced by girls such as harassment linked to the digital media. Girls and young women are mostly in contact with such devices and face such complications. I started the campaign locally and on a small scale by visiting schools. We lacked funds and we basically used our own money as well as spared our free time for the projects. The World Association took note of the work we put in with the limited resources we had. They gave a funding in 2014 to expand the campaign. Therefore I was able to take the ‘Stop The Violence Campaign’ to district and provincial level,” Chamathya said.
The Activate Training organised by UN Women and WAGGGS on the ‘Voices Against Violence’ curriculum held at Sangam, WAGGGS World Centre, India, in 2014 marked another milestone in her journey.
“Due to this we were able to have national trainers in Sri Lanka and move the campaign to the 25 districts covering the nine provinces and conduct the workshop in Sinhala, Tamil and English. Now we have 65 trainers delivering the curriculum age appropriately to areas such as Jaffna and Batticaloa too. We have activity based work for each age group on the themes of gender, violence, harassment and the steps they need to take to protect themselves. We also involve boys and men in the campaign,” she explained adding that the need for equal rights has to be a collective effort.
She says that the campaign also stresses upon sustainability and values.
“At times you start a project but find out that the work does not progress after a span. The participants of our workshops were very interactive and identified the problems in their areas themselves. We understood that the campaign has a life changing impact on their lives and on the community as a whole,” she said adding that ‘Stop The Violence Campaign’ is headed by six youth: Dasuni Athauda, Dumidu Thabrew, Kenneth Amunugama, Venuri Kalinga, Anuradha Uswattage.
“Child abuse, harassment and teenage pregnancies prevail on a large scale in the society. Sometimes we find that teachers are a bit shy to start off this kind of conversation due to our culture. We need to understand our situation and give the solution. As youth we need to do something from our end for the betterment of our country and society,” Chamathya opined.
Their efforts were recognized globally and they were invited to take their campaign to Bangladesh. They trained around 66 participants at the Bangladesh STV National Training of Trainers in Dhaka, Bangladesh in January 2018.
Recalling her experience at the Global Emerging Young Leaders Awards Chamathya said that she had to take part in an exchange program at the event as well.
“We had to use the social media to take our work to a bigger audience. I spent a day with an American family to experience how their family system works. The mother of the family I stayed with runs a home school. She is a public speaker and educates her children at home. We visited different organizations in the US to see how they find solutions to their issues. They too have their own set of problems like teenage pregnancies, internal refugees, and conflicts between the Black Americans and White Americans,” Chamathya mused.
She says that she has always felt that the lack of education and awareness in both men and women is one of the main causes for these kind of gender based issues.
“Women are unaware that they are entitled to the same rights. I feel that educating and creating awareness on such matters is very important. Start this conversation with anyone, anywhere.
“You need to respect each individual despite their gender and give them their space. If you violate their rights, then it is a crime. Celebrities speaking out about the harassments they faced in their field is good to create awareness. People initiate conversations and start campaigns but at the same time you need to realise that the knowledge needs to be given to a child at an early age.
“We stereotype aspects in life like colours, toys, occupations and activities according to a person’s gender. This is the root of the problem. You need to make them realize that this is a shared role,” she stressed.
Chamathya’s father, Christie Fernando, is an engineer while her mother, Lalitha Fernando, was into banking. Her sister, Chathu, lives with her family in Australia.
Plan International has chosen Chamathya as one of the 10 members of their Young Influencers group for an upcoming global project. The STV team are also planning workshops in areas like Meemure and Jaffna. They hope to have another national training workshop for both male and female youth.
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