2017 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee: Gethsie Shanmugan, a lifetime psychosocial worker of Sri Lanka

Gethsie Shanmugan as she was being presented 

during the awarding ceremonies.

Gethsie Shanmugam has spent most of her life in psychosocial work starting with children and adults displaced by the civil war in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka in 1983 after she retired from teaching.

"My work with children and adults living with war, disaster and other hardships has shown me that even in the context of terrible violence, loss and suffering," she stressed, "there is always the possibility of growth, caring and hope. Life can not only continue despite pain and hardships, but can take on new meaning and purpose."

She spoke about how she encouraged and assisted children on the small tidal island of Nasivantheevu in the mid-1990s who "found the courage to negotiate with the warring parties to allow safe passage for the bus that took them to school, enabling access to an education that would transform their lives."

She told about a soldier who lost both legs in the war, thrice considered suicide, and mistrusted others not of his ethnic tribe. Her personal attention taught the young man "to set aside his anger to care for an older woman from a community he deeply mistrusted."

She worked with widows who were "suddenly thrust into new roles in a society that stigmatized them ... [and their] determination and hard work enabled them to overcome challenges to secure a life for themselves and their children."

Shanmugam, a member of the minority Tamil community, took up psychology while teaching in Colombo and worked as a volunteer counselor when psychosocial work was still new in Sri Lanka. 

When she retired from teaching, she joined the Save the Children Norway (SCN). Here, she braved bombings, searches, threats of arrest in the war zones, crossed the Sinhalese-Tamil divide to do counseling work in collaboration with her colleagues, trained teachers and NGO workers.

In SCN, she was involved in the design of programs, research, training, and counseling in projects aimed at building capacities for psychosocial support in war-affected schools and at helping war widows, orphans, and traumatized children.

After SCN, she remained active as consultant and volunteer in organizations working with women and children suffering from war trauma, domestic violence, alcoholism, and sex trafficking. She led in establishing a pioneering temporary home for young people victimized by abuse and in trouble with the law.

After the tsunami of 2004 tsunami, Gethsie trained eighty school teachers in a government pilot program to provide a supportive environment for traumatized children. Using her experiences in various countries, she experimented with small, simple ways to build psychosocial resilience adapted to local conditions and the lack of trained professionals; and actively disseminated her knowledge through publications and the mass media.

Gethsie received the medallion and certificate from
Vice Pres. Leni Robredo and RMAF Chair Ramon del Rosario, Jr.

Her concluding remarks in her response to the Ramon Magsaysay Award: "Whether working with children or adults, with individuals or groups, my four decades of experience has taught me that healing and transformation always starts with the person. For people who are in deep pain to begin to heal, it is essential for them to gain self-awareness and acceptance, which in turn shapes their capacity for healthy relationships with others or even towards themselves. This kind of personal growth is often something people overwhelmed by suffering find difficult to do for themselves, but with support and loving care from another human being, like the beautiful lotus that emerges from the mud, these people can be helped to bloom despite the pain they have experienced.

"As individuals we often feel that we can't do big things. But we can do small things. All change starts with a person. When one person becomes brighter and relates to others with genuine love, then small groups of individuals can form around them, creating small ripples of change in the world.

"I believe that each of us is a tool for the healing of ourselves, for the healing of others and for the healing of the societies we live in. No matter who or where we are, we can play a role in making the world a kinder and better place. This is the message that I would like to share with you all."

Gethsie Shanmugam was elected to receive the 2017 Ramon Magsaysay Award in recognition of "her compassion and courage in working under extreme conditions to rebuild war-scarred lives, her tireless efforts over four decades in building Sri Lanka's capacity for psychosocial support, and her deep, inspiring humanity in caring for women and children, war's most vulnerable victims."