<p>Large environmental, health, social and economical problems are connected with the use of</p><p>fossil fuels and, in a dominating part of the world, also the use of firewood. The goal for this</p><p>project was to develop and design an optimal solar oven system intended for food cooking</p><p>and water pasteurisation. Further the advantages and disadvantages, compared with other</p><p>energy resources were evaluated. Tests were carried out in Sweden as well as in Sri Lanka.</p><p>An extensive range of prototypes were tested and sifted out to a small number of designs that</p><p>were tested in Sri Lanka. A large number of evaluations and tests were carried out on many</p><p>different materials, among others tests were conducted according to the international standard</p><p>“Testing and Reporting Solar Cooker Performance ASAE S580 JAN03”.</p><p>The report shows a number of benefits compared to previous reports on the subject, for</p><p>example the development of indoor tests, the extensiveness and objectiveness of the tests, and</p><p>the fact that the report combines extensive practical test results with solid theoretical</p><p>background information.</p><p>The test resulted in two solar ovens with the same parabolic design but made out of different</p><p>materials. One oven is cheaper, simpler to produce and is considered for the target group poor</p><p>people in developing countries. This is made out of a corrugated cardboard that is covered</p><p>with aluminium foil. The second oven is more expensive but also more durable and is</p><p>intended for more wealthy people in the west that wants a good alternative to regular ways of</p><p>cooking food. It is made out of aluminium plate and mirrors.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>This paper applies an impressionistic and reflexive genre of ethnography to understand the ethnographer’s meeting with the humanitarian aid workers in post-tsunami Sri Lanka. It offers an analysis of the political atmosphere in the country prior to the tsunami as a central framework for understanding current tensions and debates over the distribution of tsunami aid resources, and traces the emergence of what has been termed Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism. Based on three months of ethnographic fieldwork from April to July 2005 among aid workers at the central level in Colombo and a careful attention to the rhetorics and arguments that characterized the writings in the Sri Lankan press during this period, the paper argues that while public debates over tsunami aid distribution has been entwined with political rivalries between the Sri Lankan government, and Sinhala and Tamil nationalist groups, the everyday reality of international humanitarians evolved around the forming of a common development language to categorise the demands of the aid intervention and on the performances of individual organisations, personified by a limited number of individuals in the professional fora of the humanitarians in Colombo.</p>

Abstract This paper applies an impressionistic and reflexive genre of ethnography to understand the ethnographer’s meeting with the humanitarian aid workers in post-tsunami Sri Lanka. It offers an analysis of the political atmosphere in the country prior to the tsunami as a central framework for understanding current tensions and debates over the distribution of tsunami aid resources, and traces the emergence of what has been termed Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism. Based on three months of ethnographic fieldwork from April to July 2005 among aid workers at the central level in Colombo and a careful attention to the rhetorics and arguments that characterized the writings in the Sri Lankan press during this period, the paper argues that while public debates over tsunami aid distribution has been entwined with political rivalries between the Sri Lankan government, and Sinhala and Tamil nationalist groups, the everyday reality of international humanitarians evolved around the forming of a common development language to categorise the demands of the aid intervention and on the performances of individual organisations, personified by a limited number of individuals in the professional fora of the humanitarians in Colombo.

Background: In Sri Lanka, motherhood within marriage is highly valued. Sex out of wedlock is socially unacceptable and can create serious public health problems such as illegal abortions, suicide and infanticide, and single motherhood as a result of premarital sex is considered shameful. The way unmarried women facing single motherhood reflect on and make use of their agency in their social environments characterised by limited social and financial support has consequences for the health and well-being of both themselves and their children. The aim of this study was to explore and describe how unmarried women facing single motherhood in Sri Lanka handle their situation. Methods: This qualitative study comprised semi-structured interviews with 28 unmarried pregnant women or single mothers. The data were analysed by qualitative content analysis and the results related to the conceptual framework of social navigation. Results: The women facing single motherhood expressed awareness of having trespassed norms of sexuality through self-blame, victimhood and obedience, and by considering or attempting suicide. They demonstrated willingness to take responsibility for becoming pregnant before marriage by giving the child up for adoption, bringing up the child themselves, claiming a father for their child, refraining from marriage in the future, permanently leave their home environment, and taking up employment. Throughout the interviews, the women expressed fear of shame, and striving for familial and societal acceptance and financial survival. Conclusions: A social environment highly condemning of unmarried motherhood hindered these women from making strategic choices on how to handle their situation. However, to achieve acceptance and survival, the women tactically navigated norms of femininity, strong family dependence, a limited work market, and different sources of support. Limited access to resources restricted the women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, including their ability to make acceptable and healthy choices for themselves and their children.

During the course of history, the world have come to see powerful nations rise and fall, religions spread and diminish – and all too often there have been violent struggles between religious groups and secular forces, a fact that we still see in our world today. In the West, we often hear about the violent and fundamental dimensions of Islam. Buddhism is rarely a part of the equation in a western context, regarding violence. A common perception is the picture of Buddhism as a guardian of non-violent principles and values. The central theme of this essay circuits around views on violence and warfare in the Sri Lankan context, where religion and violence have come to be intertwined, often with political overtones. With different theoretical frameworks and angles I have illustrated and analyzed how the historical development can be linked to classical buddhist sources and how some singalease buddhists make use of a mythical glorious past to justify violence and warfare against the tamil minority population. But like all religious traditions there are also counterforces and exceptions that diverge from the mainstream, which I have found importnant to illuminate. Religious phenomena can be a complex matter to investigate and trying to see the variations within a religious tradition can be difficult but one way to adress theese issues (when it comes to religion and violence in Sri Lanka) is to give diverse and multifaceted pictures of the conflict for when it comes to religion, there are never one-sided answers.

Texte remanié de: Proefschrift--Letteren--Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, 1994. / Résumé en anglais. Bibliogr. p. 234-236. Index.

Proefschrift--Katholieke Universiteit--Nijmegen, 2003. / Bibliogr. p. 287-310.

Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): Anna Simons, David Tucker. Includes bibliographical references (p. 153-157). Also available online.

Proefschrift--Leyden. / No more published. "Bijlagen, onuitgegeven stukken uit het Rijks-Archief te 's Gravenhage": 100 p. (2d group).

Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.