We began our own initiative in 1991. We were already aware that the problem existed in Negombo, but we were fully occupied with the technical school and could not take on anything else. The request to concern ourselves with the young victims of paedophilia came from the director of a USDI project an American organisation for cooperation) when Fr Pinto went to ask him for help for the technical school. He told us of the problem of the beach boys who were abused by paedophiles, and asked whether we had ever thought of doing something about it.

The first thing we did, in fact, was to enlist the help of the boys of our own Youth Club.  They were the ones least ‘infected’ by the problem. They were prepared to tackle the problem by appealing to companions of the same age group. The boys were aware of the problem, they knew it much better than we did. At a meeting we held at the technical school no fewer than 200 were present. The exploiters were ruining the youngsters of Sri Lanka and we and the boys in our youth club could not stand by and ignore it.

We decided on two publicity stunts to advertise our campaign. The first was to put up posters all over the neighbourhood. The second was a protest march through the streets of Negombo to sensitise the people to what was going on. Something of the sort had been done earlier in 1984 to solve the problem of the ‘baby-farms’ run by a Swiss woman who exploited even the handicapped and others in the trade of organ transplants. At first the police tried to block our initiative, but after a meeting of many of those involved with a police superintendent from Colombo, the necessity was acknowledged of creating a ‘task force’ at community level to root out the evil. Meetings were held and committees got to work to put a plan into action. The police played their part by closing down numerous houses of evil repute.  That first effort alone brought to light 72 young victims.

They wanted us to start up at once some rehabilitation activity; but for us it was something entirely new. What could we do with these boys brought to us by the police? We talked to them to try to convince them to come to a rehabilitation course. Without their willing co-operation we could not hope to succeed. To tell you the truth, the first course was not a great success. They were all young fellows of 16 years of age and upwards, and too hardened for real recovery. With two exceptions they returned to their former ways - not at Negombo where they no longer felt safe, but further south in the country. But in the following course the percentage of those persevering was very high, with failure in only two or three cases. In this second course all the boys were much younger. We have a difficulty however in working with these younger boys because we Salesians have no primary schools and we need the support of others to continue the work we begin. At the end of the courses we help the boys to find employment.

We have organised 200 courses so far, with about 20 boys at a time. We seem to have a high success rate. 90% of the boys who have taken part in the courses now have no great problems. But it is always a bit of a gamble to speak of recovery. First of all we try to get them to go back to school again, because when they get involved with paedophiles they always drop out of school; they lose all interest in studying. They can’t even concentrate on games. They do play, but not in the happy and carefree manner typical of the young. They appear tense and preoccupied about something, never entirely at peace. And so we try to get them into a very flexible timetable until they can get back fully into the scholastic system and we can raise in them the desire to learn a trade.

To continue this work we seek help from others in the area, the Franciscans for instance and even from non-Catholic organisations. We do not have the specialised structures for carrying out the work really well. We are planning a hostel so that these lads can live with us and then go to an outside school if necessary. We begin by making personal contact with the boys. One of us is always working outside the house for this purpose. We try to persuade the boys to come to us, we strike up a relationship with their families and keep them informed. When the boys agree, we fix the dates of the course. At the beginning and at the end we invite the parents to come along as well. We do not want the commitment to be only ours. We invite also the higher officers of the police.

There are some emergency cases which have to be tackled at once. What the boys have learned from paedophiles they sometimes try to practise with their companions, or to organise sex groups themselves. It is something that spreads like an oil-stain. We have tried to involve helpers who work specifically and professionally from a psychological standpoint, but we are not fully organised nor satisfied in this sector. A more systematic work is needed.  But a valuable service of this kind is rendered by being with the boys 24 hours a day. We have recently transferred the courses to a suitable house which the Archbishop of Colombo has placed at our disposal.

The main difficulty at the beginning is to convince them to accept our invitation and take part in the rehabilitation course. Because they have never been in a boarding situation, they are afraid they will be unhappy and lose their freedom. They are lads who do not go to school, who find occasional employment with the fishermen, who are ‘available’ on the beach...  and thus become easy prey for the paedophiles.  When we invite them to our rehabilitation course, they recoil from the responsibility involved.

What we really need is a pause for reflection an opportunity to study the situation in depth in our Salesian community in the first place, but also in the wider Salesian pastoral community, with all those involved, educative and pastoral, but we find it difficult to do because of the daily workload with the course and all the rest. We are not the only Salesians involved in this kind of work. I have heard of similar things in Brazil and the Philippines. It would be useful if there were some stimulus at the level of the Congregation, preparing personnel to help us to tackle the problem systematically. And also because, since this is a very Salesian work, other institutions and organisations make of us a point of reference and follow the work we are doing. Others have their own style. Some non-governmental organisations organise study seminars in 5-star hotels, and the first preventive measure they suggest is the use of contraceptives and the like.

Our own work is based on Catholic principles. It is not just a case of preservation, but rather of education, of principles, of human and spiritual mental health, of respect for oneself and others. The big problem for many of these boys is not the use of contraceptive devices in their future sexual relationships, but rather that the paedophiles have ruined them for ever, transformed as they are into a minefield for themselves and others. This is not a Sri Lankan problem, it is a global problem. In whatever part of the world we live we must insist on values in education. Not every desire for pleasure is to be satisfied at all costs. That unfortunately, is the mentality behind a whole series of financial machinations, which leads to the ruination and destruction of so many young people.