History

FIRST MITHURU MITHURO BUILDING

1987 Ven. Bodhananda had come a long way from whence he came. He named his little organization the “Mithuru Mithuro Movement” (meaning Compassionate Friends) and sought out new premises. He purchased a 7 1/2 acre plot of land from the government with the greatest of difficulty due to heavy financial constraints.

But that was not all, Ven. Bodhananda was becoming popular in the area. For some this was too much to bear. Undesirable elements spread ugly rumors and created antagonism among the community. The disruptive force was led by a politician of the area, who believed that his popularity was at stake. He made two attempts on the Thero’s life. However, due to evasive moves upon  receiving early information, he managed to escape unhurt. A third attempt was made by the JVP (Peoples Liberation Front), who were hardcore terrorists, whose area leader kept a gun on the Thero’s head. This instance too he survived by meeting the leaders face to face to clarify details. On realizing their error they apologized and left.

The monk was ready to proceed from his new headquarters, a 10 by 12 ft. mud hut with a thatched roof.  This  was  not  as bad as the first, few days and nights, which were spent under a couple of slanted galvanized sheets. He had with him 05 residents and 01 staff member. Life was hard. There weren’t even the basic facilities for him and his team. The villagers did not have electricity, drinking water nor sanitary facilities. There weren’t any proper roads. Rev. Bodhi’s first mission was to gather the people of area together, educate them on the importance of hygiene and together with the youth  started building toilets and wells for drinking water. He coordinated with Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne of Sarvodaya fame and received assistance from the Embassy of the Netherlands for this project.

1988 More hazels were in store for Rev. Bodhi. There were still these henchmen of local politicians who were opposing his social work as the youth of the area were gathering around him. He was labeled as an government activist and harassed to extremes. But Rev. Bodhi is a “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” type of person. He kept going. He visited the illicit liquor dens and gambling spots  in the villages to educate the people on the ill effects of liquor and gambling the repercussions and effects of it on family harmony and childrens mentality. The villagers started to accept him as their mentor. They brought their problems to him and sought his advice.

Meanwhile, Rev. Bodhi was progressing in the construction of the office and dormitory buildings and the Education center, the finances however, was hard to come by. His Village Re-awakening and  Children and Youth programmes were not fund generating but were always with available resources. Finally he sought aid from diplomatic missions and other donor agencies and received support from;

In the meantime, Juvenile Crime and Child Abuse Prevention Units were organized in 350 schools in the Ratnapura District as a project to protect children. In the terrorist uprising of 1988/89, only very few youth from the district were involved. Of these, a majority surrendered to the government. As a result of  the Ven.Thero’s involvement in  social reforming activities he was appointed to the Independent Committee of Inquiry by  His Excellency Ranasinghe Premadasa – President of Sri Lanka, and was responsible for organizing rehabilitation camps for these disillusioned youth, one of which was located at the premises of the Mithuru-Mithuro Movement.