Please share this message with anyone interested.

45 years ago a high school teacher in Sri Lanka thought his students should see how “the poorest of the poor” lived.  He took them to a village of “untouchables” and they worked side by side with people they had never met.  Now close to 15,000 villages are involved.When the Sri Lankan government threatened his life and the civil war seemed never ending, you know what he did?  He led millions of people in mediations…and he gardened. 

What Does This Have to Do With Gardening, Community-Building or Sustainability?

Sarvodaya has an Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, promotes solar energy and Permaculture Design. It has organized thousands of Youth Environmentalist groups.  Its sustainable agriculture demonstration farm welcomes students and researchers every year. You can join them. Your company or school can be a partner.  You can carry your food in a canvas bag that says "Plant…Grow…SHARE what you Know" sewn by members of the Sarvodaya Women's Movement.

That teacher, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, founder of the Sarvodaya* Shramadana Movement of Sri Lanka, will present a

Free Public Lecture
7pm Monday, May 24
First Congregational United Church of Christ
1609 University Avenue at Breese Terrace
(No registration required)

He is the winner of the Gandhi Peace Prize.
Wisconsin teachers and students can follow his example.

Even though most Wisconsin students barely know where Sri Lanka is...
there are billions of reasons to learn about the world—
one person, one family, one neighborhood or community at a time.
Learn from this wonderful teacher.

Register for one or both half-day seminars Tuesday, May 25 at the Pyle Center
702 Langdon Street, Madison
To register online:
www.dcs.wisc.edu/pda/public_lectures.htm
(Be sure to put an underscore between public and lectures)
Call: 608-262-7942

Program #8308  9-12 noon
In the Spirit of Gandhi and Martin Luther King:
Peace from the Inside Out  

Program #8309   1:15-4:15pm
We Build the Road and the Road Builds Us:
Community Empowerment from the Bottom Up

Madison programs sponsored by the UW-Madison Department of Professional Development and Applied Studies with support from the Anonymous Fund and the Center for South Asia, a Title VI National Resource Center

Teachers take special note:   Dr. Ariyaratne will be interviewed by Jean Feraca on Wisconsin Public Radio's "Here on Earth" at 2pm Saturday May 22. She's hoping for calls from throughout the world. Encourage your students to call in!

*Sarvodaya Shramadana means the sharing of labor, thought and energy for the awakening of all.  (Not a bad idea anywhere!)  To learn more about Sarvodaya.  See: www.sarvodaya.org or www.sarvodaya.lk

Richard S. Brooks, Director, Health Promotion Project
Department of Professional Development and Applied Studies
Division of Continuing Studies, UW-Madison
520 Lowell Center, 610 Langdon Street
Madison, WI 53703
608-265-4077