My last month in Sri Lanka...

Trinco Uppevelli Beach 

Ella Rock view!

Me and Mr P doing some maths!

Mr Niel presenting me with a Certificate on my last day.

A traditional Kandayan Wall hanger- a gift from the office

Listening to music at the Men's Special Needs

Using the new donations at the Men's Special Needs

March-April 2012

March 2012

5^th March. Today, Aaron and I coached 60 kids at football pretty much in a quarry!

6^th March Taught bakery boys and I met a university lecturer and she spoke to me all about the education system here in SL for about 1 hour. She told me all about how competitive it is in SL to go to University and how education is so highly pressured by parents. 

7^th March Poya Day, the day of the full moon in SL and a festival for Buddhists. We all went along to the local cricket game and I met the Minister of Education Bandulla Gunawardena, and asked him about a job in SL, and he said no problem! 

8^th March. Today I have been to the Men’s Special Needs. I really got to know Amal and discovered that he is only 22 and has no parents and has lived there for 12 years.

9^th -11^th March- My computer application class was cancelled and I was Mr Niel’s personal assistant for the morning at a volunteers award ceremony. Here I met people from all over, including Jaffna. There was a presentation on and awards for young people, I handed out stickers to those that were ‘young volunteers’ I then watched the ceremony and it was delivered in Tamil, Sinhala, and English. I watched traditional Tamil dancing, which had a faster pace and lots of piercings in comparison to Singhalese, which was more about flowers and sensual dancing, no piercings! That afternoon I then got on a coastal bus and headed to the beach in Hikkadua!

Night in Hikkaduwa

10^th Spent the day walking lazily around Hikkaduwa, looking in shops etc. Met a man on the beach and held his monkey and I poured water into my hands and he drank from it. Unawatuna and Natalie’s 30^th in Unawatuna- we partied in Riddan’s after having a lovely meal at the Ceylon Veggie restaurant.

11^th Day in Unawatuna, falling over in the sea and then back to Hikkaduwa for the night, defined by ginger tea and avocado roti at the rotti restaurant. I sat talking to Mike who told me about Indonesian village life in Sula Wesi known as ‘death tourism’- a village where they prepare all their lives for the celebration of death, a freaky conversation whilst drinking red Sri Lankan wine on the beach at the hostel Hansa which means ‘swan’ in Sinhala.

12^th Day back from Hikkaduwa, I headed in the afternoon the Marhabodi girls orphanage (I got lost!) The girls had another ‘tea party’ and the teacher in charge gave us some egg sandwiches, cake, bananas, and fish cutlets. We taught the girls about weather and had them draw and play games. That evening we all sat together again and had another lovely tea cooked by Amma.

13^th I tried string hoppers, at the Youth Centre, for the first time this morning for my breakfast; they are sweet packed with caramelised coconut. We taught a lesson in Haynat’s (Hayley and Natalie ;-) ) restaurant today with our bakery class. We taught them about English dinner etiquette and had a table set for 4 people and did a role-play as they came into the classroom and sat at the table. After the lesson, I sat with Damith for 20 minutes and went over a bit of English with him. He told me every day to get to school he gets a 5 hour bus to the Youth Centre and has to leave at 4.30am every morning and sometimes does not get home until 8-9pm. In the afternoon, I worked in the office with Mr Neil. Then went to buy some fruit and I tried Bali fruit for the first time, which was not the nicest fruit I have ever tried, and so I gave it to Amma as she loves it.

14^th We did some SL Volunteers group training at a Workshop on challenging behaviour  and understanding that– 'all behaviour is communication' in Colombo by the Psychologists from UCL. They are here to educate in Sri Lanka about psychology, as it is not yet recognised as a way of treating mental problems, for example, you cannot do a degree in Psychology here, and all treatment is medical, they are introducing CBT.

15^th Today I went to the Men’s Special Needs in the morning and to the Sanhinda mixed Orphanage in the afternoon. We got caught in a slight Sri Lankan down pour!

16^th,  17^th-18^th Trinco for the weekend. ... We planned to get the ‘night mail’ train, which leaves Colombo at 9pm and gets to Trinco at 5. After my morning project, Nat and I grabbed a bite and got the bus to Colombo. When we got there, we decided to head to The Old Dutch Hospital area, in the Fort. It was an amazing area, with a heavy military presence as the area is home to the president’s house, the Ceylon bank and the twin towers of the world trade centre. The area had previously been targeted by the LTTE with catastrophic effects. We had a lovely lunch then went to wander around where the presidents house is and stood at the guards gate for a few moments and we asked if ‘Mahinda was home’ but he was at his office in Kollupitiya. We then carried on strolling around the fort and decided we fancied a swim. So we went into a 5 star, to the roof top, and persuaded they gave us half price entry to use the pool and facilities, which by this point had got a bit windy! Nonetheless, we enjoyed it and then we enjoyed a steam room, shower, and headed for food in one of the pepsi hotels!

We met the boys then got on the train. It was possibly the most uncomfortable train seat ever known to man! I tried 20 different positions at least every 15 minutes for the whole duration of the trip! When we arrived in Trinco the sun had risen and it was like a dream world. Walking down the streets, half dazed, it was like a ghost town. Everybody’s shop/home had shutters down and we spotted the ‘evacuation route’ signs from the Tsunami in 2004. We didn’t have a room booked, and headed on the bus to Uppeveli, but a man on his bicycle took us to a guesthouse which was lovely. We napped and headed to the beach. It was a wide stretch of sand and very quiet, which made it so peaceful and the sea was very calm compared to Hikkaduwa and Unawatuna. We spent all day there, then we went and explored a stretch of beach that was covered in barbed wire and there was a mini island at the other side and we swam and chatted to the locals. We headed back for a Lion bear, then I met a beautiful dog on the beach that fell asleep in my arms, then I went back to the room. One thing that struck me about Trinco was the amazing sky... the stars were absolutely beautiful. The next day we got up early and headed into Trinco town. Whilst there we visited the Kovil Hindu Temple where I spoke with some locals who said they pray to Ammal. Then we headed to Fort Frederick and its beautiful Hindu Temple, also heavily militarised then we went in the sea and had a snorkel!! After that, we headed back for the bus to Colombo.

19^th-       I went to the Men’s Special Needs alone this morning, at first it was very daunting as there are at least 35-40 service users, but it ended up being a great experience. I made Mr P’s his own Maths Book and he was out of his bedroom, which was nice. I made Amal another note that he stuck under his glass desk in his room and half way through was hijacked by the girls from the all girls home and I ended up singing titanic to them all. Later on in the evening, I organised on the white board that everyone should create 2 lesson plans for the orphanage syllabus.

20^th-   This morning I went in to The Youth Centre on the back of Mr Niel’s motorbike, I watched part of the opening ceremony of the disabled sports contest that was going on over 2 days and consisted of 12 cities and regions from SL, a man told me that was the first one to be held in Sri Lanka. After we had the bakery boys lesson, and taught them more on laying a dinner table, ordering food, and then going to the supermarket. Later I spent 20 minutes sat with Damith explaining what Positive, Comparatives and Superlatives were. I later went and printed out and laminated 10 animal pictures, which cost 700 rupees (roughly £4) and was my first contribution from the Laurel Bank fund. I also checked the CVs and emailed all the pupils feedback, a lot of it was similar feedback as they had made similar errors. I then spoke with some of the youths participating in the event, I could not sign with them but I tried!

My afternoon lesson was cancelled so I did the CV work then wandered back to Homagama on the bus.

That evening Mr Neil was telling me how Sri Lanka has been targeted by false images and press in the Civil War, especially in the west. The truth being that the Sri Lankan army helped thousands of Tamil Civilians... it was the LTTE, that is now in massive Diaspora in Canada, Switzerland, and England. The main war zone was Pudukuruiruppu and the war officially ended in the 19^th May 2009.  The leader- Prabakaan. I enjoyed listening to his facts and passion about those facts.

21^{st -}  Today- I got a lift in with Rajitha on the back of his bike at about 70mph!!! Joy and I taught the computer hardware lesson on Countries which was really fun and worked really well and I learnt from the monks that Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma are Buddhist Countries. That afternoon I spent fixing my USB stick and planning my animals’ lesson. They in the afternoon we went to the Hiripitiya Boys home. We started by splitting the lesson... the younger boys and the older boys and we taught the little ones the alphabet and the others learnt about the weather. We started to lose them a bit so we went outside and tried to start a game.. Then I managed to think on the spot and put all the flashcards down and then we played run to the right on. It worked really well we all had to stand on the wall and Emily shouted the weather and we ran. It lasted about 15-20 minutes. I realised that the orphanages should just be fun and learning, not just play on its own or written work on its own, it is very important to combine the two. I find the orphanages really difficult but for that 20 minutes I felt like no matter what that day I had succeeded in making some of the children laugh and smile so that felt really good.

22^nd    Special Needs/Sanhinda- My animal Handouts. Today was a great success! It started with a 7.30 am wake up, then we headed to the Men’s Special Needs. I handed out the animal flashcards I had made the day before. And the men loved them. It was a great success, we did noises with them, drawing pictures, Mr P did his maths book, and singing and dancing, he told me his mum and dad were coming to visit him. After this we wandered around Maharagama and me and Ellie found some fabric and went to the tailors and I ordered a skirt. We then headed to Sanhinda orphanage.

I led today’s lesson and it was a brilliant feeling. I had good feedback from Aaron, but my biggest feedback was that the kids were listening and they loved it. I got them to sit down, I wrote all the animals on the whiteboard, and they spelt the letters at the same time. They then all sat down in a circle, I put the animal pictures on the floor they then had to draw all the animals on a piece of paper, and they did this really well for about 20-25 minutes. Then we played a great game, where I got them into little teams and I showed them 4 flashcards, covered them up and shuffled them then asked the children, one at a time and demonstrate this by using actions that others must be quiet and pick one that has to watch who will answer. This makes them all concentrate on trying to find the card. It worked really well. After this, the group spilt again and we played, ‘duck, duck, goose’ and then Aaron’s side played ‘In the water, up the mountain, on the beach’ Prepositions game, in line on chairs. We stayed for 2 hours, one of the longest times we have been there without losing them totally! That evening, Alyia and I planned that we would go to Ella for the weekend.

I also created and ordered some more resources with the fund:

Donations Today:

·         Another Laurel bank contribution, flash cards of countries for the Youth Centre 240 rupees

·         Another Laurel Bank Contribution on order for 6 more animal flash cards, 550 rupees.

23^rd- 25^th Deaf School with Alyia, Ella for the weekend. I went to the deaf school and had a wonderful experience. I watched Aliya and learnt all about her style of communication and how the classes run. A student also drew a portrait of me. After that, we got the bus to Colombo then headed to Ella for the night. We got to Ella at midnight and stayed at the dream café. It was soo cold at night! We woke up the next day and climbed Ella Rock! We nearly died as we didn’t take enough water and we also had fun walking across the railway line, eating tomatoes we found on the farm. Aliya and I also shared a sneaky orange without the boys whilst en route to the top, it was the nicest orange I have ever had! We reached the top it was beautiful. Later we went around a Tea Factory, I was hit by a van on the walk back to Ella which was a crazy experience and more of a shock really as the driver was a bit drunk and the van was really full of people! I was fine though, more of a shock, it managed to break before it hit me that hard. That night we went for a lovely veg curry and rice and had 2 cups of tea with a chocolate bar! We went to sleep, worst sleep ever, we had caught a cold, and we coughed and sneezed all night! On the Sunday, we woke up and the men in the hostel looked after us gave us plenty of hot water and blankets! Later we went to a waterfall and climbed to the top where there were beautiful monkeys and butterflies. We later got the most amazing bus ride from Ella to Hambantota, across the south to the west to Matara. We looked around a temple built in the sea, I had a go at making a hopper (failed miserably), then we got the bus to Unawatuna.

26^th Galle: England Test Match with the Barmy Army! Me and Emily, went to the hospital first as I had cellulites and she had to get a rabies injection for her monkey bite. The hospital was manic, we missed the first part of the cricket but made it there for 11 and spend the day chilling, dancing, and watching the cricket! That night we headed back to Homagama and I finally caught up on my sleep.

27^th Last Bakery and Netball Lesson both went really well! We asked the bakery boys to tell us what they had learnt and enjoyed a little party at the end where we ate cake and listened to music and showed off family pictures as we themed the lesson as ‘family’. After that, I spent some time with Damith and I taught him about using articles in the English Language. After that I spent my afternoon in Mr Niel’s office and then went to my netball lesson where me and Emily taught the girls the history of netball, they sang the national anthem and I also, attempted to sing the English one. I had a lovely lift home on Mr Niel’s motorbike, then went for my haircut, and picked up my new skirts that I dropped in at the tailors to be made. I walked home and admired the view of the stars and the dark dim roads. That evening Joy and I planned the Monks last lesson and we planned to do story telling with them.

28^th- This morning I taught my final lesson for the computer hardware lesson. It was good, except the monks could not join in with any dancing, singing or acting! Later that afternoon we went to Hiripitiya boys home and I took the animal flashcards. The lesson was again similar to Sanhinda and it worked really well. We taught in class then we went outside and played run to the card. Using Laurel Banks donations towards flashcards has contributed to some of the most successful lessons taught at the orphanages whilst I’ve been there!

9^th- Today has been a very odd day. First, it started with a trip to Special needs, my final trip. I bought oranges and chocolate too the price of 550 rupees, another donation from Laurel Bank! Then, I bought a bubble gun, plastic guitar, and badminton set again with the fund, that came to a total of 600 rupees. When I arrived at the special needs, I was overwhelmed with how the men were so excited for the oranges and chocolates and I stupidly forgot to buy enough. That meant I had to run to the shop and buy more bananas and chocolate biscuits, which came to 400 rupees! However, it was worth it and I’m sure Laurel bank will be happy with the donation. Although the food was only short term, it was still a nice treat for the men. It was quiet emotional and I felt sad when Mr Bali was annoyed that I did not bring enough, nor bring him an individual gift! But we enjoyed the day, I gave a banana and some biscuits to Mr P and he was very happy!! I played Frisbee with Addi and other activities throughout the day. After, I went shopping to buy some family gifts then back to Homagama. Here I printed out the last 5 animal slides and a world map, all in colour and A4, which cost me 650 rupees- another donation from laurel bank. We then went to Sanhinda and I did my lesson plan on continents, countries that tied in with the previous lesson plan on animals. We drew a world map on the board and spoke through different country locations, and then showed them the animal slides, then we drew them on the map then handed paper out, and all the children drew. We then played duck, duck goose and the ladders game, where all the children sit with their feet to a partner, each set have an animal, when their animal is called out they must run around the outside then down the middle of the ladders. I felt happy and sad; again, the flashcards had been a success but emotional leaving the project too. Emily and I went to the doctors that night. After the pain of the doctors cleaning our infected bites, we went home in a tuk tuk with Rajitha and I had a big shock to find Polly (one of the guesthouse puppies) was very un-well, in a coma like state in the corner of the room.

We had a lovely last dinner of pumpkin curry, dahl, spicy mushroom, peppered tomato and cucumbers. Then we feasted on pineapple, cake, crisps, and all kinds of yummy things. The problem was I couldn’t really enjoy it knowing Polly was so ill and she was in the corner

. Later on, we put Polly in my room and I told Amma I would look after her all night and then Becky called me to look at Polly and she looked as if she had woken up and was stretching but she was actually dying, it was horrific! It was so sad we tried to stimulate her heart and I was blowing into her mouth, but nothing happened, she died and my head was under her head it was so unbelievably sad. I cried so much and it was sad to see Amma cry and other people upset. The others went off to dig the grave and me and Aliya cleaned her. I then wrapped her in my cardigan and we buried her outside of the house. It was very very sad. When we walked away, I looked up at the stars and I thought of Polly. I could not get to sleep that night, Polly’s death was so sad for Amma, it was clear she had not received the right treatment from the vet or the correct kind of injections. She died from Parvo-virus.                                                                      

30^th- Last Youth Centre, lesson with the Computer Application Assistants. I did a good interactive lesson with them, we did role plays and Bollywood and I taught this lesson on my own. After that, I went to the office to say goodbye to everybody who works in there. They presented me with so many gifts! After that, I got my last bus ride into Colombo. I spent the afternoon roaming the Pettah and visited the Dutch Museum. I then took a tut-tuk- (which a guy randomly in the street gave me 100 rupees towards) to the deaf and blind show in Cinnamon gardens. I waited around for the other girls in the common tea cafe, sat, and indulged in a cup of tea and chocolate mousse-what a treat! That night we watched an amazing performance then Aliya and I headed back to Homagama. We arrived to find Hugo (the other pup) was really sick, so I cuddled him for a bit and then I went to sleep. That morning we woke up and had breakfast and me and the new girl set off for Hikkaduwa. We found a spot on the beach and chilled for hour. We then met the others and I went shopping and had a yummy pineapple drink! That night we got ready, I went to the rotti shop with Rajitha and Emily, and we had rottis then went to get ready. We had drinks at Aaron and Joe’s place and then headed to Funky de bar where we danced and Mambos. I was not happy with how Rajitha was being treated (a local Sri Lankan) and I wanted to just stay with him. So when he was told to pay 1000 rupees and also when he wasn’t allowed to stay in the club, I left with him. The next day I got up early and headed to the beach. We spent the day there, and then headed back to find Hugo had died. It was such a sad day that nothing felt right at all.

2^nd So today is my last day in Sri Lanka. I woke up at 7.45, had breakfast, and packed my bags. I went into the town and printed out my 2 lesson plans for the orphanage file and some more laminating of flashcards which cost 100 rupees. I also bought Amma some new drinking glasses as a leaving gift and  a contribution to the guesthouse for the volunteers! I came back and said ‘see you later’ to everyone and then set off to Colombo on Rajitha’s bike. It was an amazing experience; he drove so fast, we stopped off in Wellewatta for a king coconut and stood on the beach to drink it. My massive bag was also on the motorbike wedged in-between us! We met Natalie and Stu in Galle face for a drink and then Raj drove me to Cinnamon gardens after a tour of Colombo as we struggled to find it, I remember him going fast along Galle Face Green and it felt amazing! So much fun that, I don’t think I could drive a boring car again! After I got to the flat, I sorted my bag, had a quick wash, said goodbye, and set off in a tuk tuk to the bus stop. Now I’m just sat here in the airport attempting to even think about the last 8 weeks and how much I have experienced and learnt. It is crazy and I cannot put it into words. It was one of the most mind blowing, eye opening experiences of my life and I have learnt so much about the world, other cultures, people, myself and Sri Lanka. Next stop... Cambodia via Singapore.

Favourite Sri Lankan snacks:

Masala Wadi (chickpeas, fried food)

Rulan (coconut, powder, cereal)

Cokis

King Coconut drink

Egg Rotti

Coconot rotti

Fish roll

Mangustine fruit

Kottu Rotti

Avacado Rotti

Hoppers

Pancakes

Dosa (Thosai) and potato curry

Oranges

Portello Fanta

Ginger Tea

Hot chick peas

Casava Crisps (manioc, chillies, salt, friend in veg oil)

Most useful expression in Sinhala: ‘Prasheak-ner Machang' which translates to ‘No problem my very good friend!’ Other words, 'Mama powel'- Im sad...., 'Maga pattia' my darling..

Weeks 2-4 in Sri Lanka

On the way down from Adam's Peak in front of a Dagoba

Me and Natalie in Kandy at The Sacred Tooth Temple

Me and Andrea at the Millennium elephant sanctuary

Netball practice

Netball class

On Mr Niel's motorbike from the Youth Centre

At the top of Adam's Peak entrance to temple

Me at the top of Adam's Peak

Lovely pancake and fruit breakfast

Me teaching at the Youth Center to the Bakery boys!

Me and Katy in our Computer Hardware lesson, teaching English to the monks

Reading the newspaper with Richard at the Men's Special Needs

20^th -4^th March

Monday morning in Unawatuna: We got ready, and headed to a meditation lesson at the top of the Ceylon vegetarian cafe. Here we mediated and it was focused on coping with everyday life without being angry or resentful. A good quote from one regular lady was that meditation would help you gain a balance of compassion and wisdom in life. Afterwards, we headed back to Homagama. I was sad, as I had just had the most amazing weekend, that had gone extremely fast and I knew I was going to be saying goodbye to Annabelle. That day we got back and went to the all girls orphanage in Marhabodi. We taught them the names of fruits and vegetables and I held a baby kitten as I walked around the class. I was sad how the girls treated each other. They often hit and upset one another, many running off and the lesson was so disrupted due to this. But we are always talking to them in English so I thought the lesson must have been successful, even though we only had their attention for a short time, at least we were conversing with them in English.

21^st: Natalie and I taught the bakery boys lesson this morning, we taught them formal and informal using flashcards and later we started directions. Ashen (one of the pupils) gave us tea and a fish bun he had made for our dinner. Later that afternoon, I taught the netball girls with Andrea, we taught them directions and did the map and blindfolding game. After 2 hours of English lessons, we played netball with them, which went really well! Mr Neil said he would give us a life home that afternoon, and told us to meet him near the train station, at a ‘secret location’ to avoid the police. Mr Neil gave Andrea and I a lift home on his bicycle; the two of us squeezed on to the back, and it was so much fun! I savoured every moment on the back of that bike, and gripped for my life!

That night we went home and I moved into Alyia’s room! She is the teacher at the deaf school so she is going to start teaching my sign language BSL and Sinhala. That night for tea, we had jackfruit and beetroot with salad and rice... yummyyy and we filled in the activity sheets of what we had taught and the outcomes of the day.

22^nd: Today I taught the monks and other boys in the computer class. We did a lesson on CV writing. The monks are from Bangladesh and have studied a BA in Buddhism at the University of Pali in Sri Lanka. They told us they attend the class in Marhargama Youth Centre to learn knowledge to offer teaching to those less fortunate. I asked Ritto, the monk with a ‘loving glowing face’, to sum Buddhism and meditation in one sentence, he said you have to focus on now; the present moment is the only thing that matters. When I asked if they forgive people who have done wrong he said, ‘We always forgive them, but they will still endure their karma at some stage’. He gave Katy and I a book each on the practices and thoughts of Buddhism and I am determined to learn more. Another amazing quote one of the monks said was from Buddha that ‘he who conquers the mind conquers the world.’ The world is only external stimuli; it is you that makes your life what it is. Later that afternoon, after having an amazing vegetable samosa in the Kalbo bakers, we went to the all boys orphanage. It is funded by a monk. There are 12 boys that live there and I was drawn to 6 year old Rashika. We wanted to teach the children ‘My name is... I am.. years old. I come from.....’.  So, I started working with Rashika, but soon realised he couldn’t write at all. Therefore, I spent half an hour drawing the dots and he copied. I was amazed at how much children just learn from copying what they hear and see. He soaked in all the language I used and just repeated it- comprehending would come later on. 

Later, we went outside and played a number game, when you get to number 10 you was out and we sang to them ‘elimination, elimination, bye bye’. It was good fun, then nearing the end of our visit, Rashika took me by the hand and led me around the garden, he was twittering away to me in Sinhala. He walked me around the garden and there was a huge cow with a stalk perched on it. We calmly approached it then started to walk back. I only wonder what he was saying to me, and I was annoyed I couldn’t understand what he was saying... but it didn’t matter, it was just a lovely moment.

 After the project, we jumped on the bus back to Homagama, and I stopped to get a bag of hot chickpeas that were in a recycled bag that appeared to be the paper of a child’s maths homework!

23^rd:  We got ready and went to the Men’s special needs. I sat with Mr Bali for 1 hour, and brought him the newspaper, although I’m sure he wasn’t too happy as he was expecting a purse! Nevertheless, we chatted, and I wrote about his life. And he asked me, frustratingly, how I can afford things, what my parents do, how much money I earn and if I could sponsor him. I told him I am a student and I have no wage. I told him I am going to type up all about his life in English, which I am working on now.

Later on, I wasn’t feeling too good, so that afternoon I missed the Sanhinda project and went to bed for 4 hours. I woke up feeling great and ate a very juicy orange after watching Amma chop beetroot with a sharp knife between her toes and slicing it in a very skilful manner, and then I went for a walk. After a visit to the internet cafe, I decided to take a detour home and I wandered around the back of the village, away from the chaotic streets. Whilst doing so, I came across lots of many smiley people, and I lost myself in the beautiful surroundings. I met a man who was excited to show me his home and where he prays to Buddah. I then continued to wander around, and I realised I had taken a wrong turn. Some men on a tractor saw me and I used my “universal sign language skills” to ask if it was ok for me to hop on the back. I did so, and it was brilliant, they took me to their home where they were loading the truck with bags of sand, and then they spoke to Mr Neil on my phone and drove me all the way home, this time I rode on the front! It was so much fun and I laughed all the way back. I was greeted by Amma, who thought I was crazy, but she was also laughing. That evening, we had rice, pumpkin, and salad for tea and we filled in what we had taught in the lessons in previous weeks.

24^th Today I worked at the Computer Application class, it was brilliant lesson. We taught them a lesson on directions and then we got ready to go away for the weekend. We were going to climb Adam’s Peak, in the hill country of Sri Lanka, which is 5500 steps at an elevation of 2243m. It has been a focus for pilgrimage for thousands of years. Interestingly, it is known as representing something in the 4 main religions, which makes it a beautiful place to visit as it unifies all religions. Christians and Jewish People believe it is the place where Adam first set foot on the earth (after being cast out from heaven), or it is known by Hindus and Buddhists as Sri Pada, a footprint left by Buddah as he headed towards paradise. We took the 138 from Marhargama, to Colombo. From Colombo, we took the bus to Hatton then from Hatton we took the bus do Delhouse for Adam’s Peak, (at the side of the railway station). The bus was packed and had many people, the man next to me played the guitar, and I met Harith there. He told me that he was going to start the climb immediately and not sleep. At that moment, I decided that I was just going to climb straight away. I got off the bus and we started the climb, without having a nap beforehand. First, we had shower, as it was to purify us. Next, we went up, blessed by the monk and then we went on. Whilst on the climb I experienced washing in a pure river and putting the white string along the side of the walls. At a few points, we stopped and looked at the stars as people chanted ‘Lord Buddah’. It was very busy and felt amazing to be part of a real pilgrimage. I was also one of the only western people on the climb as many others do not start (like my colleagues) until after having a nap. We set off at 11pm and reached the top at 3.30am. Whilst at the top, I slept in the hold with butterflies and my sleeping bag. 

After 5.30am, I wandered around and the sun was beginning to rise, I stood on the side of the temple and it began to rise. I went into the temple and knelt down to the scared footprint, which was masked in gold and difficult to make out, then I wandered and around and enjoyed the amazing view. The sun came, and I met the others and we began the epic journey back down. On the walk down I came across some puppies and an amazing woman called Brenda who decided to grab my hand and talk to me. She was Sri Lankan and was roughly 70ish and she was just about to climb, she was so friendly. I loved the walk down amongst the tea field, and there was a funeral being held for a Japanese monk. We got to the bottom, had a quick shower, and then headed off on the bus to Kandy. On the way down I also tried a Sri Lankan sweet called rulan, which is sugar and cocnut in a jelly consistency.

We arrived in Kandy (the former capital) late in the afternoon at ‘Pink House’. We dropped off our bags and headed for the Sacred Tooth Temple. It was beautiful, I read the story of the tooth and a group of children ran over to me shouting ‘teacher, teacher’. After walking around the temple, I lit a candle for my granddad and listened to the chants of the monks. We then headed for food in the Empire hotel and then ‘the pub’ for a few hours. 

The following day we went for a walk around Kandy. We came across many temples and went in one where which was both Hindu and Buddhist. The monk blessed us but then asked for a donation of 2000 rupees to fix the damage in his room. It was interesting to see how the Hindu temples have many figures and gods, and Buddhist is just one. After that, we went for fruit salad and pancake and tea for brunch then headed off to another temple. This one was the big Buddha on a hill. Here we looked at the view and then I went in the gift shop and bought a leaf with the teaching hands of Buddah on. I told the man in the shop that I was going to be a teacher and he said ‘good luck’.

We then headed for the Queen’s hotel, opposite the Sacred Tooth, which was lovely and quintessentially colonial. Here I met a woman called Minette, who was playing the piano, she had blue eyes and was Sri Lankan; she told me her eyes were a gift from God and her music she composed was inspired by nature. We had a drink at the bar then headed back to guesthouse. We then took a tuk tuk to the elephant Millenium sanctuary. It was amazing, I saw the elephants in the lake, after paying 2000 rupees to get in (£12), and then we cleaned and scrubbed them in the lake. After 20 minutes, he told us we could now go for a ride, so we hopped on and our elephant ‘Tanil’ walked around with us on his back led by the mahout (elephant trainer). I then went back in the water and continued to wash it then we sat on its back and it gave us a shower!

27^th- Monday morning back in Homagama, was free to roam around and relax and I did some more lesson plans. In the afternoon, I went with Aaron the Mahinda Rajapaski school and I coached volleyball. It was really good fun, there wasn’t much space to play and at one point the rain came down ferociously, but we managed to find space round the back on the school and we played volleyball for nearly 2 hours! All of my instructions were in English, without any translation, which was also successful as they learn from that also.

28^th This evening I went to the beachside in Mount Lavinia with a group of Sri Lankan people. One boy taught me that the LTTE are the only terrorist regime to have killed two world leaders, the Sri Lankan and Indian Presidents. We had a very interesting political discussion and I began to consider coming back to teach in Sri Lanka and focusing a research paper on the relationship and effects of and between education and war/post-war.

29^TH- After the projects,  I went on a boat ride with Katy on Maharagama lovers lake (haha!) in the afternoon and in the evening I went  to the temple with Lakmal. He taught me that there are 3 sections of the temple, first you go to dagoba, then into see Buddha, then outside around the back where there is a large tree and other small statues on Buddha. He told me a story that there was an elephant running towards Buddha to kill him, but the moment he got there he just kneeled down to Buddha instead.

1^st March: Today we went to the Men’s Special Needs and we did exercises and  I gave hand and head massages. After, we went to the orphanage at Sanhinda. At the orphanage we played ‘On the beach, in the water, up the mountain’- a prepositions game. We also did a language focus on days of the week, and we handed out all of the days in 3 teams then said ‘go’ and we did a competition on the first to complete the days of the week in order. That night we had a Sari party and I dressed up in Yasintha’s Sari and we had a nice tea, and I had Cokis (coconut and flower fried snack) for the first time. It was rassi! (delicious in Sinhala!)

That evening I also had an email from Laurel bank in Shaw. That weekend they raised 387 pounds (sorry, no pound sign on a Sri Lankan keyboard!) for me to take to Cambodia! THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE WHO HELPED!

2^nd-5^th The weekend. On the Friday, we went to the deaf school project with Alyia in Golumadma Junction after teaching my last lesson with Andrea. It was sports day, funded by the National Lion Org. We got there at 2pm and had a lovely time for 4 hours; we had a shower at the centre. Here I also learnt the rules of cricket, a game that I now love! We then got a tuk-tuk to a club called Cleopatra, which has the largest dance floor in Colombo. We stayed until 3pm and got a tutk tuk back to Mt Lavinia, after stopping for a cheesey Kottu Roti.

The next morning I went around The National History Museum in Colomo. It was fascinating. I started with the pre-history section (from origin of man to the start of evolution). I continued to walk around and learnt many interesting things about the different historical periods in Sri Lanka. I went outside and met a lady who told me about her travel agency and if I would like to work for her, she said she had been watching me feed the puppies and also offered me lunch saying ‘you have fed my country’s animals, now as respect I want to feed you!’ We exchanged email addresses then I then went for a walk with Janice and walked around the natural history museum.

Scrubbing the elephants

My volleyball class at the Mahinda Rajapaksha College, Homagama

Sports day at the Deaf School

Fitting in as a local and eating with hands!

Private beach near Matara

Mangustine... the best fruit ever!

My ride home from when I got lost!

After, we took the bus to Matara to stay with Rageeths family. The next day we woke up and went to an amazing part of Kamburagamwra. It was a private beach, off the road and down a track. We had to cross a shallow stream to get to it. We spent the morning swimming and snorkelling. I found an amazing piece of coral washed up on the shore. I saw many beautiful fish along the coral reef. He then took us to Weligamma, his cousins hotel and we met his cousin Vinnie and we went surfing (I couldn’t even stand up!) That evening we got the coastal bus back to Mount Lavina and that was the end of week 4!

My first two weeks in Sri Lanka with SL Volunteers

The Beach in Mirissa; we sat on the traditional fishing sticks!

1 day old baby turtles in Mirissa

Mirissa sunset

Home-stay puppy; Hugo. The Sanhinda children had previously put flowers in my hair

Me and Mali (little brother in Sinhala) in the Men's Special Needs center 

My Village 

Sanhinda Orphanage with Andrea and Annabelle

The Orphanage Sign

Men's special needs using the donated stationary

My donation..... thank you everyone!

MASSIVE stick insect in the jungle... and I wasn't scared. It was so gentle.

So, on the 6th February, I arrived in Sri Lanka from an amazing and luxurious weekend in Abu Dhabi. I was tired, hot and the sun was just beginning to rise. At first, it was slightly chaotic, and I had not mastered how to put my backpack on yet, so I found a trolley and strolled anxiously through to arrivals. As I scanned for my name, or any kind of indicator of who was picking me up, I came across Mr Niel, holding an 'SL Volunteers' sign, and I thought 'result' the journey starts here...

My first culture shock was the 'anything goes' system on the roads... I clung for my life and the driver laughed... I was constantly shouting, 'watch out for the dogs,' and he said I was crazy! We arrived at the homestay in Homagama, and met Amma and Thatha (mum and dad in Sinhala). They have 8 amazing dogs, some that are originally theirs, others that have made their house their home, kind of like the constant flux of volunteers. I took a picture of all my donations and then put it in the storage wardrobe in the home stay. Here all volunteers access the resources. The family and project coordinator were extremely grateful! We had a nap and Amma made us darl and rice, it was delicious! We walked into town and came across a Buddhist/Hindu temple that was beautiful and had the story of Buddah inside on pictures. I spoke to Mr Niel, (the man who picked us up and also the Project Manager), and he told me Buddhists do not pray, it is a meditation, a way of life, there is no praying as such, just occasional worship but more about how you live your life. We had an early night and I struggled to sleep due to the heat of the night.

Day 2: We got up and had jam, bread and bananas for breakfast then went to the hotel for orientation. We learnt a lot about Sri Lankan culture- girls must cover shoulders and knees, take shoes off for entering homes and temples. After that, we used the hotel pool and went for a swim (I raced a Sri Lankan boy and won!) It was I, Aaron, Annabelle, Janice (a new lady who deaf had just arrived from England), Min Yan and Andrea and Natalie. We swam for 3 hours, and then we got out and started learning Sinhala then Saja and the other people before having our evening meal. I loved being back in the pool at night as it was Poya day, which means festival day in Buddhist culture, and we had a full moon. At night, Annabelle and I snuck off to the shop and I bought a Kik-cola, which is a take on coca-cola, and they always want the bottle back as a deposit. We came back to the house, had a chat with others, and then I tried to sleep.

Day 3: We woke up to the blistering sun, had breakfast, and set off on the bus to The Youth Centre. When I go off the bus, I saw a cow just walking down the middle of the road amidst the crazy traffic. It was a great experience; the centre offers English lessons for vocational learning, so computer engineers, bakers, beauticians, etc, all roughly 18-25. We had a couple of hours there and observed the lesson led by Katy and Aiden on formal and informal and debates, such as 'books vs. computers'. In the break, we went to the cafe; I had Vegetable rotti and mango juice, yummmyyyy. We went on the internet and afterwards I spoke to Janice about her life. We then set off to the all girls orphanage. On the bus, the driver told me to sit right at the front next to him, which was a crazy experience as I nearly flew out of the door, but I kept my grip and enjoyed the light breeze and wind in my hair riding up front. We then got off and walked a mile to the orphanage. There, we were greeted by various young girls, and interrupted one lesson, so went in the textiles room to speak to older, 14, 15 year old girls. They spoke about parents, and I had learnt that some are in Sri Lanka others have to work abroad to make more money. Here, I met a lady called Atigala, she was 77 years old and had worked in social work and with the orphanage for 13 years. She never married or had children, a man was ‘too much trouble’. The young girls were interested in the pictures on my phone, they also brought us food, or as they called it a ‘tea party’ which consisted of bananas and yummy sweet ginger and coconut pancakes. After being there 2 hours, just as an introduction and a way to practice some conversational English skills, we left for home in Homagama. We got home and had dinner, with a few political debates and I spoke to Janice about Shakespeare, our favourite quotes ‘Once more unto the breach my friend’ and mine from Lear, ‘nothing will come of nothing, speak again’. I am now in my room, listening my fan blow, which is making me feel so warm inside accompanied by the sound of tropical rain. 

Day 4: I woke up and had a shower at about 8am. We got ready and set off in the blistering heat, we set off for the special needs centre. Whilst walking through the markets it was funny to see that where the railway tracks were, the people had set up their stalls and would move them is the train signal was heard. When we arrived at the special needs centre, we were met by many men with Down syndrome, physical and mental disabilities. It was very sad to see, some were just old. One man was isolated in a room, with a cage like window; he would sit there and reach his hand out to you. He grabbed my hand too much, scratched it, and pulled my top. I was bit shaken by that so I moved away. We spent two hours walking around the centre, giving the men our time and playing, colouring, dancing, talking, sharing stories, giving one man, amazing at maths, questions to do. In the afternoon, we went on to the mixed orphanage in Sanhinda. It was a lot nicer and more facilities than the girls’ orphanage, they had a keyboard, a playground, whiteboard etc, they had rabbits and dogs to care for. One little boy captivated me, his name Mohammed. He was very good at English and Yasintha told me he doesn't know his father and his mother works in Qatar. He was 10 years old, the same age as my sister. We played for hours with them, they were making music with sticks and on the side of the slide and singing and dancing. Outside, just before the rain, a large coconut tree began to shed its leaves and they all started jumping up to catch them, getting excited. The rain started then and all the children had to jump up and go and collect their washing. They also have to do all of their own cleaning. We then left the children and headed home through the traffic. We got home and got ready for our jungle trip the next day.

Day 5: We had training the next morning on the orphanages. Yasintha said that many children end up in orphanage because their families go to work in other places, or their mother is a prostitute, the child had been born outside of wedlock or family had died in the war. We was told to always be positive and remember that the children are a product of their experiences, a lot have seen more than us. We discussed it was inappropriate to touch, cuddle etc and try to remain distance (which is very hard as one of the first things is that the children want you to pick them up and cuddle and play). I then went to Natalie's house at Mr Geewanas and met him from the first time. He was in the war for 11 years and had been a sniper. 40 men in his regiment had died; he did not have one injury. He is now a carpenter at the back of his house and his family live in Colombo where the children go to school. That afternoon we got ready and went to the jungle. On the way, the driver got out, put some money in a box for Buddah, and prayed to bless the journey. We got to Kitugala quiet late so we had food and then started drinking and playing card games.

Day 6: We got up and got ready for white water rafting and team building exercises. We had a great time down the river and saw the bridge from the film ‘The Bridge over the river Kwai’. Later in the afternoon, we did some team building exercises and had a stick insect on my arm, which was HUGE! That night we went down to the party with people of a 'lower class' and they made music with drums and singing. They sang a song, political, saying that if you think the politicians are bad in Sri Lanka, England is all about bribery! I sat talking to one boy, who told me the history of Sri Lanka, and said he respected the English for cultivating the land, bringing tea, and doing the railways. However, he felt angry at the fact the English too a lot of gems and didn’t give much money to Sri lanka for them. Also, they worked for a textile factory that goes to the UK, shops such as M&S, they make labels. But, they get very little pay and the price goes really high in UK. He then told me about the war. He said he likes Tamil people, they are Hindus and good people. They, however, wanted a separate state in the north to the south. The Sri Lankan army then went on to fight a ‘terrorist’ regime called the LTTE, a group of Tamils with extreme views. He told me, it was a misconception, the Tamils were not Hindu, but Christian. Were these the Tamils influences by the British and ones that received a better education?

Day 7: we got up, had breakfast, and set off for a jungle trek. We did confidence jumps and rock sliding, it was so beautiful. I lay for a moment, and just looked at my beautiful surrounding and just thought of when Arthur C. Clarke said that 'Sri Lanka was the best place in the world to view the universe', it really really is! After going in the waterfall we set off back home and then had lunch, rice, devilled chicken, beetroot, pumpkin, ginger, spicy potatoes and for dessert banana and papaya. When we got home, we had a catch up with Amma and family. We went to Mr Geewanas house and Natalie cooked for us. That night, I spent time with Rajitha on the balcony and we spoke about the education system here being very difficult. The free University is a government run university, which is difficult to get into, and if you do not get into this university you have to pay to go to one and these are very expensive to run. We spend time looking at the sun and sharing our life experiences and our plans for the future. His are to get a good to look after his parents and get a good job to do this. Once his sister gets married, she leaves the family home and he becomes the man of the house. If he doesn’t find a wife, his parents will help find him one.

Day 8: Petrol went up at the weekend, so the buses are on strike today. We are sat around, writing blogs listening to music. This was the first day I tried Kottu Rotii; it was delicious! It is chopped pancake, vegetables and egg, with spicy sauce! We are still going to go in to the project, the orphanage so we will get a tuk-tuk. We headed to Marhabodi girls orphanage. When we got there, the girls were running around crazy. We calmed them down by putting our arms up in the air and counting 1,2,3. We didn’t have a whiteboard pen so I suggested that we just use paper and write it up and go from there. We did ‘animals’ and then we got them to write that down, we then went through all the animals and got them to write all the animals and then act them out. It went really well. The girls sang the national anthem and drew animal faces. When we got home, Aaron and I went down to the well to have a wash. Rajitha made me keep my skirt on, even though I had a bikini on ready for my wash in the well, because if anyone came, and I had to remember that 'I am a ‘lady’.

Day 9: Natalie, Andrea, and I taught our first lessons at the Youth Centre. We taught the bakers and the netball girls. It went really well, we did introductions and opposites 'left-right' etc. With the girls, we taught them formal and informal language. Whilst in the Bakery class, I had them come up to the board and we wrote Happy 11th Birthday Grace (my little sister), and put a love heard around it! After class, we got caught in a Sri Lankan down pour and managed to find the right bus to get home. On our walk home the man who gave us a tuk-tuk ride for cheap and gave us his card, stopped us in the street and gave us a valentines rose each. We also stopped by a shop and had Hoppers for the first time... made from coconut milk, rice, and flour. It was delicious. That night, we sat and planned our trip to Unawatuna and Marissa this weekend after a trip to pizza hut for 'lovers day'.

Day 10: Today we taught a lesson to the engineers, we did directions and blind folded each other and had to direct in English. They blindfolded me as an example and Aiden directed me out of the classroom! After, we drew a map on the board and gave them all direct places to and from and they had to write the directions in English. After that lesson, we went to the girl’s home in Marhabodi and played games with them. I danced with one of the girls like nobody was watching, we went crazy and it was so much fun. For 5 minutes it was total happiness, I even forgot where I was. People in society, on their birthdays donate food to orphanages, so we had to cut the trip short as someone came in to donate food.

Day 11: This morning I got a lift to the special needs place from Rajitha. On the back of his bike felt so amazing, wizzing through the traffic with the wind in my hair, he kept asking me if I felt comfortable. Whilst I was there, I met a man called Bali, who lives at the home because he is old, but has a separate room because the others have ‘mental cases’. He was telling me how he has a daughter and son who hardly visit, but he is happy and used to be a weight trainer. He is Christian and reads the bible every night. I was also speaking to a boy called Manake, who is a young boy who just travels in the volunteer with the men. We swapped bracelets. We drew pictures and did some maths with Mr P. After that, we went to the orphanage in Sanhinda. Here, I am drawn in to a 10-year-old girl called Nerlam. She fascinates me, and I sat with her and we did some English one-to-one! We did 'How do you feel? What is your birthday? What do you like to eat?' We then went out to the playground and all the children put flowers in my hair. A storm started to brew and the skies turned black, and when we got back, they open up with a heavy down poor and the sky would light up and crack every so often. It is the day before Amma’s birthday so we went to the shop and bought her all kinds of treats, including hats and a banner. It is Sri Lankan tradition that whose birthday it is takes some cake and everyone around the table has a bite from the same piece of cake that was in Amma’s hand.

Day 12, 13 & 14: We had one class at the Youth Centre. It was a new class and was good. They were very quiet and we were trying to get them to introduce their name, likes then dislikes. After that, we played a game in groups where you had to say name and what you like and go around the group, with the next person repeating all that was said previously! We had fun and got to know each other, whilst learning English. It was also the cultural day at the centre and a ship had arrived with youths from all over the world. So, we watched traditional Sri Lankan fighting, Kandayan dancing and a Sri Lanka vs Foreigners football match. We danced outside and sang with the girl’s football team, I cheered for Sri Lanka. After that, we got ready and headed to the beaches in the south; Mirissa, Unawatuna and Galle. Here, I saw many animals, python, monitor lizard, turtles; baby turtles, puppies, and had a monkey jump on my back! We walked around Galle fort on the Sunday-day time and watched people jump of the cliffs. We also jumped in, had a swim, walked around, and started dancing and singing with a local Sri Lankan family. The fort is full of colonial Dutch museums and buildings, it was incredible and we walked around until dusk then ran back to sit at the temple in Unawatuna and watch the sunset...The following morning after a night on the beach in Unawatuna, we went to a meditation class. I was not able to concentrate as I kept feeling my head drop and fall asleep. But I learnt that the key to happiness in life consists of the balance of compassion and wisdom (from meditation class!)....we then set back off home to Homagama.

Sinhala Language I have learnt so far: Estuti = Thank you. Lassani = Beautiful. Prashner = problem. Obe nama mokada = what is your name? Obe gama mokada? What is your village. Ama= Mother, Thatha = Dad, Mali = little brother, Nangi (little sister), Peasu = crazy.