Re-rooting Peace: A Journey of Connection and Rebirth in Sri Lanka

In early 2025, a quiet yet powerful regeneration unfolded in Sri Lanka. Swati Bhatt and Agyatmitra, master trainers from Play for Peace, initiated a deeply intentional journey, one that transcended travel and training. This was a journey of re-rooting peace. It was about connecting, playing, laughing, listening, witnessing, remembering, and reviving the spirit of Play for Peace across regions once shaped by conflict, separation, and silence.

The visit touched communities from the Eastern coastline of Batticaloa to the war-affected landscapes of Mullaitivu and Maankulam, before gently arriving at the central hills of Kandy and Colombo's urban rhythm. What emerged was more than just a training itinerary; it was a mosaic of reconnections, new beginnings, and lived hope.

Reconnecting with the North and East: Where the Roots Remember

The journey began with Dream Space Academy in Batticaloa, an innovation hub rich with youth energy and creative potential. They contributed as trainers in the dream shoot event.  From there, the journey moved to Mullaitivu, a land still carrying the deep imprint of war. Leadership training held at Dream Space Academy here sparked the emergence of young leaders. These youth are now seeds of hope, taking root in the red soil of the North, eager to grow into peacebuilders.

At IGrow Academy, a different kind of story unfolded, one of return and evolution. Anilavan Puvanesan, once a Play for Peace participant in 2016, has since transformed into an eco-entrepreneur. His journey, shaped by learning, travelling, and innovation, mirrors the resilience that peace education aims to ignite. The moment which Swati and Agyat got connected as mentors and co-community humans was so celebratory.

Further north, the visit to Good Shepherd Girls’ Home in Maankulam sparked a deeper commitment to begin a long-term process of healing through structured play, with familiar faces like Nakeeran and Sutharshini stepping up as facilitators.

Planting Seeds in the Central Province: Where New Growth Emerges

In Kandy, the heart of the island, the work continued with vibrant youth engagement. Sessions at Kalaimagal School invited students to step into leadership roles and discover the powerful link between the mind, body, and self-awareness. Through laughter, movement, and story-sharing, a quiet revolution began, one that reshaped how young people saw themselves and their role in the community.

The P2H3C4 Youth Circle training further deepened this work. Twenty-four youth from diverse

backgrounds were brought into a shared space of exploration, reflection, and play. 

At Divisional Hospital Muruthalawa, the philosophy of "Connecting Before Correcting" came alive among healthcare workers. The session allowed staff to reflect, laugh, and reconnect with themselves and each other, reaffirming that even in clinical spaces, joy and empathy are healing forces.

The journey concluded with dialogues in Colombo, including a podcast reflection and a promising conversation, and visiting the CPBR’s Young Visionary Program. Here, Play for Peace's methods were seen not just as youth engagement tools but as pathways to reimagine community evaluation, leadership, and peacebuilding itself.

The Journey Forward

This wasn’t a typical training tour. It was a pilgrimage of purpose. A process of returning to places and people, of honoring old connections and planting new ones. It was about listening to the land, the youth, the elders, and the silences in between.

Through Swati and Agyat’s visit, Play for Peace in Sri Lanka has been re-rooted—not as a fixed program, but as a living, evolving process, simply as a journey of a community. One that blends memory with vision, connection with innovation, and the individual with the collective.

In a post-conflict country still navigating its complexities, this journey stands as a quiet declaration: peace is possible. And it begins in the simplest of ways, with play, with presence, with people coming together again.

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