Colombo, September 26: I’m reminded of the newspaper article I read on arrival about the weakness of civil society in this country and the resignation of Sri Lankans to their fate. I have found the exact opposite on this trip. In village after village, people have come together to organize, challenge, protest and demand their rights.

In fact, this disaster has created civil society and thrown up leaders. Not from the government side – with the exception of the grama seveka in Periyaneelavani, there have been few signs of responsible leadership from local officials. But there have been many from the side of those affected.

A succession of leaders have emerged, with confidence, to represent their people: Sivalangam the washerman, who is fighting the caste system and pressing the security forces to return his land; Arula Nandam, the retired government official who is challenging the power of the rural council in the Manalchenai on behalf of the disempowered former estate works; Nagalingam, the fishing crewman who is challenging the power of the fishing magnates, or mudulalis; Paranthaman, who took a delegation of young men from a suspect village to demand aid from senior government officials.

These are not the actions of people resigned to their karma.

I’ve also seen the power of leadership in our partner, the Home for Human Rights. Francis Xavier, the director and founder of HHR, has a wonderful sense of humor and the gentle demeanor of an elderly priest. He is also totally indifferent to his own comfort and appearance. Still, he radiates authority over his younger colleagues. I’ve been watching this quite carefully.

Xavier has a routine with Sanathani, his assistant, and his field officers in Batticaloa, Parasuraman, Jacob and Sasi. He will bark out their names and they will sing out “Sir!” in response. They are happy with the chain of command and they look with concern on anything which disturbs it. For example, they accept my familiarity with Francis as coming from a long-time friend and foreigner with no tact. But their eyebrows go up when I suggest that HHR is too dependent on Xavier. This is a society that respects experience.

Xavier’s charisma comes from his achievements during a long career on behalf of human rights, and a deep humanity. He started the Home for Human Rights in 1977 with two other lawyers. He first appeared on the international scene in 1983, when he went to Geneva to lobby the UN human rights bodies on behalf of Tamils. The Home for Human Rights has been known for its work on behalf of Sri Lanka’s Tamils ever since.

At the same time, this has not protected it from extremism. In 1987 one of Xavier’s co-founders was murdered by Tamil radicals, and he left for Geneva to work with the World Council of Churches and the World Organization against Torture. From Geneva he went to Canada, where he took the Canadian Bar Exam at the age of 61. He still works from Toronto for several months in the year, and has won over 90% of his cases.

Over forty years he has helped, or worked with, a string of promising younger people who have risen to positions of power in Sri Lanka. They include the current Prime Minister and leading candidate for the Sri Lankan Presidency Mahinda Rajapakse. Another influential contact is the Catholic Bishop of Batticaloa.

Xavier is a wonderful asset to HHR. In spite of this, I have no doubt that the organization is too dependent on him, and that its sustainability will require him to groom young colleagues to step forward. He knows that at 72, he cannot keep up this grueling pace and divide his time between Toronto and Sri Lanka.

Most of AP’s partner organizations have strong leaders, and some of these find to hard to delegate. This is not something that preoccupies their donors, but it is one of the biggest challenges faced by community-based groups as they evolve as organizations. Somehow they have to develop rules which allow them to take advantage of inspired leadership, without become dependent on the personalities. That is a hard balance to strike.

It would be presumptuous and foolish for the Advocacy Project to tread into these delicate areas. But there may be a way that we can help. Collecting material for reports, publishing a newsletter and updating a website forces a group to become better organized.

If we can help HHR get its message out, we may just help to take some of the pressure of Xavier – without upsetting the order of things in this inspired little organization.