Story number 2 for 23 Jan 2002

(Sri Lanka)–Next, Sri Lanka’s government this week lifted seven-year-old economic sanctions on areas held by Tamil Tiger rebels. The new government has been trying to bring the rebels to the negotiating table, and the lifting of sanctions was part of that effort. The situation has encouraged FARMS International’s Joseph Richter. “FARMS had an active program throughout Sri Lanka until the civil war got to a point where we could no longer operate in the northern area that was controlled by the Tamil rebels. Those programs actually shut down several years ago. So, there’s hope now. ” Richter adds that after FARMS was forced to leave, something interesting happened to the program. “The FARMS Lanka program, as we call it, is totally indigenous now. The churches of Sri Lanka are supporting the loan program as well as the outreach of the agricultural extension program.”