The Grassrooted Trust was set up to provide a safe space for marginalised communities, online and in the real world. Their core values and beliefs are defined by the people they’ve worked with, laughed with, and comforted. Their journey mirrors life, because for them, Grassrooted is not about philanthropy or changing the world; it’s about dealing with their reality and ensuring that human dignity remains at the core of everything they do.
Grassrooted helps people living with HIV, people who use drugs, sell sex, those of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity, those who have survived intimate partner and gender-based violence, and those who face stigma and discrimination.
Believing in the transformative power of learning and education, they believe in accurate and comprehensive information coupled with understanding their core values of respect, empathy, consent, and trust, with a focus on building self-esteem and being sensible, that will help prepare children and young people for life and help them respond positively to the human condition.
Since 2012, Grassrooted has developed original scripts based on our interaction with survivors of violence and abuse. Their theatre productions have since included the following: In 2013: Daddy – an exploration of incest in Sri Lanka; V Day 2014: Elephant in the Room – an exploration of sex work in Sri Lanka; V Day 2017: Resolutions – a look at the real and ridiculous solutions to rape and violence; V Day 2018: Patria(AN)rchy – an examination of how patriarchy in Sri Lanka perpetuates violence; and V Day 2019: Colombo 7 – stories that underpin how violence is real for everyone, no matter from where they come.
This year, V Day 2020 will go by the theme “Lankawane”, translating to “in Sri Lanka”. The concept was supposed to be a look back at 10 years of Grassrooted’s V Day in Sri Lanka, but unfortunately, due to the continuing Covid-19 situation in the country, this production will not be possible.
Instead, this year, they intend to use the V Day platform to support the work of Child Protection Force, an organisation on the frontlines of responding to violence and exploitation faced by children in Sri Lanka. This project is not just about raising awareness about what they do, but also asking the V Day community of performers and audience to participate in the response.
Speaking to Grassrooted Founder Hans Billimoria, he commented that it is wonderful that V Day performers came to support child protection, adding that it was difficult for some of the performers to read and respond to the stories because of its harsh nature. “V Day has always been about telling real stories, so this is the next chapter of what V Day is going to be, where we will help fund organisations working in real time and will be able to do the work to prevent violence.”
The performers for this year include: Michelle Herft, Pasan Ranaweera, Dominic Keller, Dino Corera, Shala Amarasuriya, Gehan Blok, Bhoomi Harendran, Danu Innasithamby, Shanuki De Alwis, and W. Jayasiri, acting as characters from the movie Star Wars. The performance will entail them reading five active cases of child sexual abuse and reacting to these cases on camera.
They began posting these stories they reacted to on their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter platforms yesterday (1 April).
Find them on
Facebook: @Grassrooted
Instagram:@thegrassrootedtrust
