Seaside sessions on leadership and
peace in Sri Lanka

The team of Leadership Retreat Peace Fellows

By Lucas Wolf (and the team of Leadership Retreat
Peace Fellows)

On the southern coast of Sri Lanka, there is a
special place just north of Galle where the waves
crash over the rocks after their long journey
across the Indian Ocean.

The rains arrive in the early evening to inun-
date the verdant, tropical lands. This was the
setting for the second Rotary Peace Fellow Lead-
ership Retreat from 7-9 March, attended by 10
former Rotary Peace Fellows and one gifted facil-
itator from Northern Ireland, Susan McEwen. We
arrived from all corners of the globe, including
Juba, Mindanao, Nicaragua, Somaliland, Kurdistan,
London, Ottawa, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka itself.

McEwen is the Head of Programs at the prestigious
Corrymeela Community, Northern Ireland’s oldest
peace and reconciliation organization. Along with
two of the peace fellows, she designed the retreat
to highlight the importance of reflective practice,
echoing the works and teachings of John Paul Leder-
ach. It also incorporated the unique ethos and experi-
ence of Corrymeela and the dedication to serv-
ice and peace inherent in Rotary’s philosophy.

Reflective practice is designed to allow practi-
tioners to dig deeper into their own perspectives,
observations, and experiences, while also taking
time to listen carefully to fellow participants and
enhance listening and communication skills. It
proved invaluable for sharing lessons and strug-
gles from the field and discovering how we can
unite to form networks of resilience. Susan’s mast-
ery of facilitation, dynamic energy, and skill in dis-
cussing sensitive areas surrounding peace and con-
flict resolution helped us grow together tremendou-
sly.

There was a special group chemistry from the
start and it was clear that these hours together
marked critical building blocks for our profes-
sional development and personal well-being.

Sri Lanka is a unique and inspiring destination for
such a Peace Fellows reflection: On the one hand
it possesses all the magic and allure of any top tour-
ist destination in the world, but on the other hand,
it is a post-conflict country seeking to turn the page
and change the dialogue after years of struggles.
On the final day of the retreat, Peace fellows receiv-
ed an overview of the post-conflict realities and chal-
lenges facing Sri Lanka via a prominent field worker,
Ananda Galappatti. This opened up a wider and deep-
er discussion on our collective experiences in conflict
or field settings. Ananda is the founder of the Good
Practices Group and the Mental Health and Psycho-
social Support Services Network. We discussed
psychosocial approaches to trauma, reconciliation,

and recovery at length and emerged with a much
greater understanding of the history and scope of
the Sri Lankan struggles, and lessons we can use
to inform our own work.

Three days is a relatively short time for a retreat,
but this session was unique from the beginning.
There was a special group chemistry from the
start and it was clear that these hours together
marked critical building blocks for our profes-
sional development and personal well-being.

Learn more about the Rotary Peace Centers