Our Journey of Love and Care
UMTs Journey of Love and Care began shortly before the end of the 32+ year Civil War in healing and in winning hearts and minds before the end of the war in 2008.
When the war ended in May 2009, the Co-Founders of the Trust, Bertal and Shyamala Pinto-Jayawardena, were moved to do something to help the Internally Displaced Persons who had been sheltered by the State at Menik Farm.
As soon as the war ended in May 2009, the founders of the Trust, together with family, relatives, and friends, commenced work of supporting those who were Internally Displaced. This effort continued from May through to the end of 2009, where milk food for children, clothing for teachers, and exercise books for children to re-commence school work, were taken and shared.
Our first visit to the North in April 2010 saw us taking shoes, school supplies and medical items to Kytes, where we then held our first programme. This was followed up with a Medical Camp held in June, for a large number of persons. Medical equipment was also gifted to the Kytes Base Hospital during this visit.
Later that same year, in September, a second Medical Camp was held at the newly reconstructed Base Hospitali in Vidataltivu. During the same visit, medical items were gifted to the Mannar Hospital as well.
The year culminated with our very first Unity Camp, held in Colombo in December 2010, arising from a request made by civil society leaders of Mannar in September 2010, who requested us to do something special and meaningful for youth. From this was born the idea of having a Unity Camp to bring together youth from all corners of the country to facilitate unity, healing, and integration.
This was based on our learning that the suspicions, misunderstandings and hatred the different communities had towards each other was inherited and taught, sometimes from one generation to the next - and this insight helped to develop the novel concept of holding a unity camp, where youth from all over the island could be brought together to be exposed to each other's cultural, ethnic and religious diversity.
