Musthaq & Charuka: Friends Across Cultures
In Sri Lanka, USAID bridges cultural gaps in a village once racked by violence
On a typical after-school afternoon on the playfield in the village of Ellepola, just east of Kandy in Sri Lanka’s Central Province, you can find 16-year-old Musthaq Ahamed, 17-year-old Charuka Jeevantha, and their friends playing football (soccer).
A year ago, you likely would have found Musthaq, a Muslim, playing football with his friends and Charuka, a Sinhala Buddhist, playing cricket with his pals. Although they would see each other in the village, the boys didn’t know each other’s names.
Like Sri Lanka, which is 75% Sinhalese, Ellepola is majority Sinhalaese, but residents say it has always been a multi-ethnic community living in harmony. That harmony was shattered in 2018 when a Muslim and a Sinhala youth fought at a nearby petrol station. The Sinhala boy died, which unleashed a wave of violence targeting Muslims, who make up about 10% of the island nation’s residents.
Sri Lanka is a post-conflict country, having been torn apart by a civil war that for more than a quarter century pitted separatist Tamils seeking a different homeland in the north against the majority Sinhala rest of the country. Fighting ended in 2009 but tensions of many kinds remained — and new ones emerged.
“The context has changed continuously in Sri Lanka,” said Jeyathevan Kaarththigeyan, chief of party for USAID’s Social Cohesion and Reconciliation Activity (SCORE) and a longtime peacebuilding advocate. “Because of that the country dynamics have changed. Even after the war, there was conflict between Tamils and Sinhalese. After the Easter attack (terrorist bombings of hotels and churches in 2019), it turned into a different level between Muslim and other communities. Then after the (2022 nationwide Aragalaya, or “struggle”) protests, context turned again between the old government and the people. We have to continue peacebuilding on the changing dynamics.”
As part of its peacebuilding efforts, SCORE began working with youth in and around Kandy and the district including Ellepola, in 2019. This intervention, operated by a local grantee, served about 100 youth and is one of many such efforts the SCORE Activity supported in its 14 working districts and at the national level since it launched in 2018.
Musthaq and Charuka met through the SCORE project, which taught youth from different ethnic and religious backgrounds leadership, critical thinking and problem solving, and street theater as a means to educate their communities.
“The program taught (participants) to identify the dividers in their community, then to engage with street theater, and to then practice what they learned in everyday life in their communities,” explained project coordinator F.F. Izzadeen.
Since the SCORE training, the boys have become close friends. Their two separate groups of friends are now one.
Their families have also grown closer and even the community has become more united. On a recent visit, the boys and families talked about the events of 2018 and how the SCORE program has changed their ways of thinking.
In celebration of Hajj, Musthaq, his mother, Mufliya, and family walked the short distance to Charuka’s home to bring food and talk with his father, Ranjith Tennakoon.
”Even before the boys’ contact, we knew Muslim families, but now we are like one big family supporting each other,” he said. “Now we have a bond because the children are friends. It doesn’t matter if we are born with a Sinhala name or a Muslim name, we are all the same.”
Mufliya, Charuka’s mom Nilanthi Kotuwegoda, and Musthaq’s grandmother, Ummnisa, talked about lessons learned since 2018. They recalled how both local Muslim and Buddhist religious leaders blocked the road into the village to prevent attacks during the 2018 violence.
The mothers have a clear perspective on the boys’ relationship.
”We are all human. We should not divide ourselves on ethnicity, caste, or religion. Our boys are the best example,” Mufliya said.
“We don’t feel like Musthaq is their son or Charuka is our son. All the boys are our sons,” added Nilanthi.
Both boys have learned from the SCORE program and from each other. Musthaq’s Sinhala has improved, his mom said, while Charuka now speaks some Tamil he learned from Musthaq.
The boys now have a better understanding of the true meaning of community, Charuka explained.
“Now we realize that all these religious divides are misperceptions society uses to divide people,” he said. “What matters are perceptions. Through SCORE, we looked at how to look at perceptions in a critical way and how to make awareness in society. All was a political agenda in 2018. Now the younger generation understands that is not true.”
Musthaq’s experience with the SCORE program started on a fearful note because he saw only Sinhala youth at the initial meeting. “I came home and asked my parents if I should stay and they said yes.” he said. “And I did and made friends. Now I’m famous because I am a Muslim and I speak Sinahala.”
The SCORE activity is ending after six years but Avanthi Kottegoda, head of programming and learning, noted that USAID is following up with efforts that continue to focus on increasing inclusion, resilience, and social cohesion — and with good reason.
“Peacebuilding is important and we have to work based on the conflict dynamics of the time,” she said. “It is a long process. It is generational work.”
About the Author
James Reindl is the Senior Development Outreach Communications Advisor for USAID’s Mission in Sri Lanka & Maldives.
