Two boys stand on a rock in front of a lake with a mountain in the background.

Musthaq & Charuka: Friends Across Cultures

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Musthaq Ahamed and Charuka Jeevantha are best of friends from the same small Sri Lankan village of Ellepola. Musthaq is Muslim and Charuka is a Buddhist. A year ago, they only knew of each other and had separate groups of friends. Since they met in the same USAID Social Cohesion and Reconciliation program, they've become fast friends. Their families also have become friends. In Sri Lanka, a post-conflict country, ethnic and religious tensions still remain despite the end of a 30-year civil war more than a decade ago. In 2018, the village was rocked by violence when a Muslim youth and Buddhist youth fought and the Buddhist youth died.  USAID's SCORE funded a grant in the area soon after and Musthaq and Charuka exemplify the one-to-one work needed to build peace and bring reconciliation to a community.
 

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Two boys stand on a rock in front of a lake with a mountain in the background.
Musthaq Ahamed, 16 (left) and Charuka Jeevantha, 17, are best friends from the same village who met through USAID/Sri Lanka’s Social Cohesion and Reconciliation Activity and have worked to bridge ethno-cultural gaps in their community.
James Reindl / USAID
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A classroom scene featuring a group of individuals seated in chairs, actively involved in a learning experience together.
Musthaq and Charuka (second row seated) listen as SCORE grant project coordinator F.F. Izzadeen talks with visiting USAID/Sri Lanka staff to explain the youth that brought the two boys together.
James Reindl / USAID
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Two boys sit at a table with a spread of food, talking.
While Musthaq listens, Charuka makes a point in a discussion of the impact of USAID/Sri Lanka’s SCORE program on how he and Musthaq see their community. “Through SCORE, we looked at how to look at perceptions in a critical way and how to make awareness in society. All was a political agenda in 2018. Now the younger generation understands that is not true.”
James Reindl / USAID
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A man and a woman sit in chairs having a discussion.
Charuka’s father, Ranjith Tennakoon, talks with Musthaq’s mother, Mufliya, after she delivered food to the family in honor of Hajj earlier this year. ”Even before the boys’ contact, we knew Muslim families, but now we are like one big family supporting each other,” he said.
James Reindl / USAID
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A diverse group of individuals smiling and posing together in front of a building.
Members of the SCORE youth group project that brought Musthaq and Charuka together pose in a parking lot that the group had just cleaned of trash and debris.
James Reindl / USAID
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Three women seated on chairs in a bright room, sharing smiles and laughter as they chat together.
From left, Musthaq’s grandmother, Ummnisa, Mufliya and Charuka’s mom, Nilanthi Kotuwegoda, talk in Mufliya’s house about the events of 2018 that sparked violence in the area around the village of Ellepola and how their two boys’ participation in the SCORE program has helped knit the families and even the village closer together.
James Reindl / USAID
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Two boys stroll uphill along a narrow path beside a tall wall.
Musthaq and Charuka hike up a hill toward a lake in the quiet village of Ellepola in Sri Lanka’s Central Province. Quiet today, the area around Ellepola was wracked by violence in 2018 when two youths – a Muslim and a Buddhist – fought and the Buddhist youth died. USAID’s Social Cohesion and Reconciliation Activity has been working in the area since 2019.
James Reindl / USAID
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Two boys talk standing on a rock while a group of three other people look across a small lake at a mountain on the other side.
Musthaq and Charuka stand on a rock formation overlooking a lake in the village of Ellepola in Sri Lanka’s Central Province. The boys often come here together to talk and enjoy the peaceful view. The multi-ethnic community is in an area once wracked by violence but now mostly peaceful.
James Reindl / USAID