扶輪和平衝突研究計畫前學員沙瓦納亞加與派內芝，在扶輪世界和平專題討論會開幕式重逢

Thevanayagam and Pathiranage, former participants of the Rotary Peace and Conflict Studies program, reunited at the inaugural Rotary World Peace Symposium.

鹽湖城－當一個包裹運抵沙瓦納斯•沙瓦納亞加 在賈夫納的辦公室時，似乎已是一項奇蹟。該包裹裝了他兩位小孩一整月的奶粉的用量，並且包括有救命藥品以幫助他們免受曲弓熱的感染，該曲弓熱對年青人會導致發高燒並且有生命危險。

Salt Lake City — When the package arrived at Thevananth Thevanayagam's office in Jaffna, it seemed like a miracle. It contained a month's supply of dry milk for his two young children, and a potential lifesaving medicine to help cure them from Chikungunya fever, a disease that causes very high fevers and is especially dangerous for the young.

但是真正的奇蹟則是該包裹是特別空運而來, 而安排空運的人正是同為斯里蘭卡人，而是他花了無數時日強烈爭論的長期衝突的對手。

But the real miracle was that the parcel's special air delivery was arranged by the man he had spent, hours, days, and weeks fiercely arguing with about the longstanding conflict in their native Sri Lanka. 

〝我們相互否定對方，〞拉灣瑞•派內芝說，他興高采烈地回憶其第一次與沙瓦納亞加相遇時，他不斷地微笑及點頭。他們兩位卻在2007年國際扶輪年會前夕在鹽湖城於6月14-16日舉辦的國際扶輪世界和平專題討論會中重聚。

"We kept contradicting each other," said Raveendra Pathiranage, who cheerfully recalled his first encounters with Thevanayagam at his side smiling and nodding. The two were reunited at the first Rotary World Peace Symposium held on 14-16 June in Salt Lake City in the days preceeding the 2007 Rotary International Convention.

就在一年前，於泰國曼谷的朱拉隆功大學的一項扶輪和平及衝突研究計劃開幕典禮中，他們發覺彼此不可能是同學。

Just one year before, they found themselves unlikely classmates during the inaugural session of the Rotary Peace and Conflict Studies Program at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.

派內芝是由3220地區(斯里蘭卡)所贊助，他是一位斯里蘭卡司法部的資深法律顧問，同時也是前環保署法律諮詢顧問。

Pathiranage, who was sponsored by District 3220 (Sri Lanka),  is senior state counsel in the attorney general's office in Sri Lanka and former legal consultant for the Environmental Authority.

而沙瓦納亞加則由斯里蘭卡的賈夫納扶輪社所贊助，是斯里蘭卡難民重建機構的計劃經理，該機構係提供食物、簡易避難所、重建及其他的協助給因衝突而逃難之坦米爾難民。沙瓦納亞加解釋雙方彼此都有〝歧見〞。〝但我們討論我們的問題，慢慢地我們了解對方立場〞他補充說明；添增了非正式的討論特別是提供了一個調停的論壇。

Thevanayagam, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, is program manager for the Refugees Rehabilitation Organization in Sri Lanka, which provides food, shelter, rehabilitation, and other assistance to Tamil refugees displaced by the conflict.

He explained how both sides had "bad opinions" about each other. "But, we talked about our problems and gradually understood each other," said Thevanayagam, adding that the informal discussions especially provided a forum for healing.

〝我們抹掉了我們冷酷無情的感受而討論‘我們將如何解決問題？我們能夠提供什麼貢獻？’〞 派內芝如此表示。派內芝回憶在一次會議中，當沙瓦納亞加，他有”兩個孩子分別是4和1歲，敘述在其島國上的坦米爾孩童遭遇的悲慘事情時不禁被感動的落淚。

"We erased the hard feelings and went on to‘What can we do to solve the problem? What can we contribute?'" said Pathiranage. During one session, Pathiranage recalled being moved to tears when Thevanayagam, who has two children, ages 4 and 1, described the wretched conditions endured by some of the Tamil children on the island nation.

派內芝也是兩個小孩的父親，他說因為長期的衝突而造成無辜的孩童成為孤兒或無法上學，這些事情使他深為感動。

Pathiranage, also a father of two, said he was especially affected by the stories of innocent children who had been orphaned or couldn't go to school because of the longstanding conflict.

因此在11月，正值衝突迫使通往賈夫納半島的主要幹道被封鎖時，派內芝打了一通長途電話給沙瓦那亞加說〝沙瓦那亞加，我能幫你什麼忙嗎？〞

So in November, when the conflict forced the main road into the Jaffna peninsula to close, Pathiranage placed a long-distance call and asked: "Theva, can I do anything?"

沙瓦那亞加說明該地區靠兩個月乾糧幾乎不能存活下去。包括他的家庭及其他無數的家庭都受發高燒的疾病所害，派內芝運用其個人的關係而將該包裹送到他新交的朋友。

Thevanayagam explained how the region was barely surviving on twice-monthly dry rations, and many, including his entire family, were suffering from the high fever disease. Pathiranage used some of his personal connections to get the package to his new friend.

現在這兩位每週用E-mail連絡，甚至一起旅行參加該專題討論會，去參訪他們以前夏季計劃研習會的同學們，派內芝說明短短的夏令計劃營比一年期的研究所更加有用。

The two men now correspond weekly via e-mail and even traveled together to the symposium to see their former classmates from the summer program that Pathiranage described as more useful than a year's worth of graduate study.

〝在學員中，相互的討論所穫得的知識較諸於在教室中由教授的演講學到的知識更多。沙瓦納亞加補充說明那些參加夏令計劃營的學員來自世界各地。他們有不同的專業背景這些都是非常珍貴的資源。〞

"More than what we learned from the professors in the classroom lectures, the knowledge we gathered from the interactions and discussions amongst the participants, who came from various parts of the world with various professional backgrounds, was very important," Thevanayagam said.