The visionary as a young man |
While all this took place with pomp, pageantry and
salutation, something else was happening in a small village called Walgama,
close to Rambukkana. A thrift and credit
cooperative society was undergoing change.
There were changes made in the by-laws, in the orientation and thinking
of this unknown and in every sense of the word marginal village-level
organization. Most importantly, a young
man, then just 36, decided that the ‘revitalized’ model was replicable through
the length and breadth of the country.
Those who were busy making constitutions and making things
easy for robber barons would not have known about these thrift and credit
cooperative societies or about their potentials. They had been around since the year 1906.
Isolated bodies, used by the British to dish out rations during times of war,
these societies went from year to year, decade to decade, changing leaders now
and then but never really doing anything extraordinary apart from existing of
course.
You will find this logo in all parts of the island |
At that time there had been some 800 Sanasa societies
in Sri Lanka. He went around the country, speaking to the
leaders of such societies, discussing options for improvement. In August that year, there was a landmark
event that the media missed (in retrospect, fortuitously, one can say). A convention.
A coming together of leaders, most over 60 or 70 years old to discuss
the model, learn from one another and blaze a path that could lead to a
different kind of future. Kiriwandeniya
had a simple message: ‘We modernized the Walgama Sanasa Samithiya. Take a look
and tell us what you think.’
Kiriwandeniya with his family and 5 daughters |
There was nothing magical about it. This was microfinance long before that term
entered the development dictionary. It
was a model waiting for its cobwebs to be cleared. It was a model that was home-grown and based
on ancient principles of thrift. These
were microfinance institutions that already had a 60 year old history. Informally, for centuries before that, our
people had developed various methodologies pertaining to thrift and
credit. There was ‘seettu’ long
before we heard of ‘revolving funds’.
There was ‘miti-haal’, a system of putting aside one fistful of
rice each time a meal was cooked; it was collected separately and after some
time you would have a bagful of ‘extra’ rice.
Most importantly, SANASA, the pioneering microfinance outfit in Sri Lanka had
its roots in and was inspired by cooperatives.
Equally important, this meant that it neither objected to nor was
overawed by either the open economy or the ‘socialist’ and more ‘closed’ model
it had replaced in 1977-78.
After a little over a decade Bank has now over 75 branches |
SANASA was like the soot-laden golden urn of the Serivanija
Jathaka. It was waiting to be discovered.
That’s what Kiriwandeniya did. He
found a society in Walgama, explored it, discovered potential and went all over
the country either revitalizing existing SANASA societies or setting up new
ones. It was not about money alone. These societies, courtesy the cooperative
principles they were founded on, the ethics associated with thrift and the
motivation to keep wealth within the community, served to protect things
material and cultural that the robber barons would have otherwise destroyed as
a natural consequent of plundering.
Today there are some 8000 plus SANASA Primary Societies,
over 1000 of which are financially stronger than most branches of established
commercial banks. There are several
hundred thousand members linked to the SANASA Movement. The Movement itself has
spawned a bank, an insurance company and is currently pioneering the
development of ‘micro justice’.
Today there are many NGOs and CBOs ‘doing microfinance’ are
actually doing SANASA-like things.
That’s model-replication. That is
what revolutions do.
In 1978 there was a ‘revolution’. That’s JRJ’s ‘revolution’,
some would say. There was a lot of noise. The country was turned around, some
said. Turned upside down, others
counter. Through it all, there grew from
strength to strength a movement that defied tendencies to extract from our
villages and villagers assets, money and labour, a social force that resisted
processes that sought to turn people into consumers, an organization that
protected assets and made it possible for the most humble people to become
owners of their destiny.
And it all began in 1978.
There was a young man, P.A. Kiriwandeniya. He had vision. He had an idea. He shared it.
There was a coming together of disparate entities. They made a revolution. Not one drop of blood was shed.
Today, the SANASA Movement celebrates the 32nd
anniversary of the Walgama Convention. I doubt many will make a song and dance
about it. Maybe this is a good
thing. Real revolutions are not made
with slogan and banner. They are alive. On the ground. In people’s lives. Their work.
Their communities.
Postscript: The modest training center set up in a 50 acre plot of land off Kegalle has now developed into a fully fledged degree awarding institution recognized by the University Grants Commission. Under Kiriwandeniya's direction a clapped out rubber estate has been transformed into one of the most beautiful campuses in the island.
[Originally published in the Daily News in July 2010]
msenevira@gmail.com
1 comments:
Thanks interesting. Mr.Kiriwandeniya did indeed make a major contribution to financial and social empowerment of villagers by reviving the TCCS movement . Hats off
Dulan
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