Idea
After the appointment of new committee members for the UNI SLAC Youth Committee, some of them have got opportunity to take part in UNI APRO Youth Conference and workshop which was held in Malaysia, November 2018. Having international exposure and gathering new knowledge and experiences they came back to Sri Lanka with a basic idea of conducting a training program for the newly appointed committee members. To attain that intention, they came up with the idea of organizing a leadership development program which enable them to share what they have experienced and to empower others to seek future responsibilities and prepare them for the future positions.

Discussions
Few days after the arrival of the committee members who have participated the workshop and conference held in Malaysia, the President Bro. Chanaka Mahishan Dassanayake called upon a meeting to discuss the basic idea they have brought about a training program when they arrived to Sri Lanka after the completion of tour of Malaysia. In there we have come up with new different ideas and various fruitful arguments regarding this program and we did some pre- preparations for the intended Leadership development program.

Bro. Jayasri Priyalal’s involvement
While we are preparing for our big task, we were lucky enough to hear from Bro.Jayasri Priyalal, Regional Director, UNI Asia & Pacific as he is visiting Sri Lanka for the interviews of UNI APRO/ JPGU(Kanto) scholarship program and he is able to attend our program as a resource person for the first day of our training program. Actually we believe, that was a great privilege we have got as UNI SLAC Youth Committee.

Issues of expenditures
Lack of a sufficient funds was the main challenge that we have faced when we are organizing this event. While we are bothering about that President, Bro. Mahishan Dassanayake has discussed about this matter with his union members, Bro. H.K Kariyawasam, the General Secretary of UPTO and the entire UPTO group. At that time, they have highly appreciated our effort and they were agreed to provide main sponsorship for our program.

Colombo to Kandy
At the beginning we have decided to held this program near the city of Colombo but it seems difficult find a placethat match to our budget, since the places near the Colombo area are too expensive and unaffordable for us. At that moment, Bro. Anuruddha Dasanayake have come up with the idea of moving away from the city of Colombo and held this program in the hill capital, where the Temple of Tooth Relic is located and the surrounding is very pleasant and fresh. Really, that was a great idea as most of the programs have held around the city of Colombo.

Venue and Resource person
Since most of the members are from Colombo area and all of us are busy with our schedules, the next challenge we have faced is finding a place from Kandy that is affordable for us and finding a resource person for the second day of our training program. In that situation, the great job done by Sis. Harshani Herath (Ex Youth Committee member) is highly appreciated since her effort made us a way to find the King of Kandy hotel, as well as Mrs. Rakitha Munasinghe, the Lecturer, University of Peradeniya as the final day resource person for our training program.

Fund Raising activities
Since the basic challenge we have faced during this event is insufficient fund, we have decided to collect Rs.1000 from each person who have participated this program to raise a basic fund. From that we were able to raise a fund of Rs.17000 for the first time ever in the history UNI SLAC Youth.

Preparations
After having long time discussions, planning and organizing for several days, finally we have arrived to the King of Kandy hotel on 20th of February 2019 and we have made pre arrangements for the intended two days Youth Leadership development program. In that moment is necessary to mention the name of Sis. Thushanthika Bandara who had done a great job on behalf of us.

 

Participants
By representing several unions, around 30 persons have participated this youth leadership development program very actively and effectively. They are -:

Union	Participants
Union of Post and Telecommunication Officers	President, UNI SLAC Youth Committee
	Treasurer, UNI SLAC Youth Committee
Sri Lanka Post and Telecommunication Services Union	Secretary, UNI SLAC Youth Committee
National Post and Telecommunication Workers union
Health Services Trade Union Alliance	Vice President, UNI SLAC Youth Committee
Insurance Employee Union	Assistant Secretary, UNI SLAC Youth Committee
Media Pro Tech
Ceylon Bank Employees Union
Retail Sector Organizer

First Day of the program

On the very first day of the program, the Regional Director, UNI Asia and Pacific, all the key persons from different trade unions and the President of UNI Sri Lanka Affiliated council has visited and blessed the program by lightening traditional oil lamp. Also Bro. Gayan Munaweera, the President of UNI Sri Lanka Affiliated council has shared his greetings to the UNI Youth team and shared his own experiences about UNI Global. Then each young representative from different fields has introduced them to others.

The Regional Director, UNI Asia and Pacific, Bro. Jayasri Priyalal has delivered the keynote address on The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Challenges for Youth and Trade Unions. On his valuable speech he emphasized the way of conducting a trade union activities and how the attitudes of young workers must be changed to face the new challenges in the world of work.

After that there were some panel discussions by Bro. Shamal Chathuranga, and Bro. Chanaka Mahishan about the Effort to Organize the Young Employees in Super Markets in Sri Lanka and Bro. Jayasri Priyalal act as the moderator of that time. Also Bro. Nivantha and Sis. Prabashi Wickramanayake and Bro. Gayan Munaweera had a panel discussion on sharing experiences of UNI and UNI Apro events and activities and at that time Bro. Anuruddha Dasanayake act as the moderator.

Finally, Sis. Thushanthika Bandara has conducted a session on how to work as a team by explaining the techniques of Flying Gees in order to develop team spirit of young workers.

Night at Kandy
We had a chance to feel the scenic beauty of Kandy town by walking around the Kandy Lake under the moonlight. It was a blessed evening to hear drumming sounds of Temple of Tooth Relic, while wondering in the town. It was a well spent evening for all of us with full of chats, jokes and fun.

Also, there was a get together of participants and a welcome dinner at the hotel. It was a time filled with beautiful music, songs and dances.

Second Day of the Training Program

The last day of the program was started with a summary of the first day by Bro. Jayasri Priyalal. Then Mrs. Rakitha Munasinghe, the Lecturer, University of Peradeniya has delivered a valuable lecture on Personal Development. The lecture was consisted with several practical activities to improve our personality. It was an interesting lecture and it helped to find who we are.
Before ending the program each participant shared their own ideas about the program and we think all the participants have got new experience through the program and pre- set goals were achieved successfully.

What we gain

• Through this leadership program we acquired and sharpened essential life skills such as goal-setting, sound decision making, problem solving skills and planning skills.
•  It helped us to expand our leadership abilities and empowered us to solve community problems better.
• Also negotiation skills, critical thinking and communication skills were gained that makes it easy for us to engage people in community.
• We developed higher aspiration, motivation, encouragement and self-esteem through the program.
• This provided us an opportunity to perfect our skills, set goals and put us on a path to higher achievement.
• The program gave us a great chance to connect with like-minded people and build a network with other leaders from different backgrounds.
• We understood that, unity and team spirit is the power of young workers to achieve our goals.
• Through this leadership training program, we developed a significant understanding of the problems that other young workers go through and a fresh perspective of how to solve their problems.

Gratitude should go to

• Bro. Jayasri Priyalal for attending our program as a resource person and spending two days with us by sharing his knowledge and experiences while sacrificing his valuable time.
• Bro. H.K Kariyawasam, the General Secretary of UPTO and the entire UPTO group for providing sponsorship for this program. Otherwise we would not be able to conduct this one.
• Sis. Harshani Herath for the effort she has made to find the King of Kandy hotel and as well as the final day resource person Mrs. Rakitha Munasinghe, the Lecturer, University of Peradeniya.
• All UNI SLAC Affiliated top officials for giving opportunity to all their participants to attend this training program.
• Mr. Nuwan for the Photography.
• Finally, for all the participants for their active involvement and fruitful days we have spent.

Conclusion

• This program was a very effective for the newly joined members to UNI Youth as it helps to get a clear idea about UNI global and activities conducted by it. Not only that but also we have improved our knowledge of trade unionism and new trends in trade unionism.
  Our opinion is these types of activities should be conducted frequently to awaken the young comrades and on behalf of all the participants we would like to convey our gratitude to UNI global, UNI SLAC and UNI SLAC Youth Committee for organizing this kind of a training program for the youth.

Collobarative article by Sis. Thakshila Ransinghe & Sis. Manorika Indeevarie (SLPTSU)

UNI SLAC Youth Committee Members.