!["We have a lot to learn from these people. In their so-called poverty, they have manifested human and social cultural values which the presumably more progressive societies have been losing steadily. Before we go to change their patterns, we must ask what we have to offer in return – is it proven and viable or will it destroy the roots of what they enjoy? We must first come to appreciate their culture and their idiom, try to understand their values and not command the handouts of our society as a panacea for their ills. They don't need that." -- D.A. Abeysekera, a government development worker assigned to the Rodiya. [Photo Caption: at right, a Rodiya woman grinding millet by hand.] ... from the Minneapolis Tribune Picture Magazine, November 6, 1977, page 13.](p13.gif)
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With many thanks to the people of Sri Lanka who welcomed me as their guest,
to Picture Magazine editor Katherine Watson, and to Janis Sarles for keeping this copy of Picture magazine!
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