A
NARRATIVE VALUE
Certainty
●●● high
ABCDEFG
There is no confirmed −; independently verified + decide the position (A). No unreachable strike-through.= non-additive meter
As of: 2026-Q4Status: ActiveCeiling reason: No confirmed −
History2026-Q4AHistory grows each quarter
Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement: The awakening of all, through shared labor. The letter is A; certainty is high. Unconfirmed concerns are placed under “Watching.” (As of 2026-Q4; estimate based on public information.)
Main narrative
In 1958 A. T. Ariyaratne, a high-school teacher in Colombo, took 40 students and 12 teachers to Kathaluwa, a village treated as outcaste. Over two weeks they dug a well and repaired the road. 'Shramadana' means the sharing of labor: there is no line between the giver and the receiver, because villagers and students do the same work. That shape became the movement.
Sarvodaya has since grown not as a body that distributes goods but as a framework through which a village decides and acts for itself. It now works with 15,000 villages through 26 district centers, 325 divisional centers and more than 3,000 legally independent village societies. Its quarter of a million community projects include 10,000 village roads, 4,500 preschools and 10,700 water schemes. When the Indian Ocean tsunami struck in December 2004, it was among the organizations that reached affected communities within six hours, while government relief took two days or more. Ariyaratne's words hold the core of it: 'We build the road, and the road builds us.'
One person’s story (N1)
+ A single story
When the Indian Ocean tsunami struck in December 2004, Sarvodaya teams reached affected communities within six hours; government relief took two days or more. The nationwide web of village societies became the emergency response network, and the movement took on one of the largest roles among national organizations in housing and caring for displaced people. Founder A. T. Ariyaratne summarised the movement: 'We build the road, and the road builds us.' Source type: independent (Berkley Center, Georgetown University)
Source nature: Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University / T1 academic institution. Positive effects are not used to offset negatives.
Positive / negative effects
+ effects
- The positive side of this assessment rests on the single story (N1) above and its source. A per-item ledger of positive effects has not yet been compiled for this organization.T1 academic institution
Watching (unconfirmed; not counted in the assessment)- Grant-dependent funding
- governance and generational change in a long-established organization
Looking ahead (not included in the assessment)- Continuing disaster response and community resilience work.
A second look
Longevity has brought size, and with it dependence on grants and questions of internal governance. How does a movement built on village self-rule keep decision-making at the national level open?
Sources
+N1Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University｜Portrait of a Peacebuilder: Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne｜2011｜🔗
How to read this assessment
A Independently verified +, with no confirmed −
B Leans +, with independent backing
C Mixed. A confirmed − sets the ceiling, or much is unverified
D A serious confirmed − sets the ceiling
E A serious − reaches the core of the organization
F Serious and systemic, with little redeeming +
G Only extreme cases
Out of scope An entity whose core purpose is illegal
On hold Independent evidence is scarce on both + and −
- Reachable upper bound (ceiling): a confirmed − sets the ceiling, and independently verified + decide the position within it. + do not cancel out −.
- The weight of evidence is not symmetric: only confirmed − are counted; the volume of disputes or allegations goes under “Watching.” + are counted from independent evidence, while an organization’s own PR is treated as “reference.”
- Size is not value: scale is not used in the assessment. Matters that stay within money or competition—investors, shareholders, sanctions, trade secrets—are also excluded.
- The letter (assessment) and certainty (how reliable the information is) are separate axes.
This is a translation; the Japanese version is authoritative. The assessments here are generated automatically by AI based on published criteria. The operator does not alter individual results. Because they are AI-generated they may contain errors, and they are opinion and commentary, not statements of fact. Where evidence is insufficient, the entry is marked “On hold.” Requests for correction are accepted via the form.
Terms: Narrative Value = an assessment (A–G) of the distance between the narrative an organization tells and its reality / Ceiling meter = a visualization of the reachable upper bound / Watching = unconfirmed matters not counted / Protected stakeholders = people, animals, nature, and future generations. | Generated by: AI | As of: 2026-Q4 | Back to top