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!
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Me and Katy in our Computer Hardware lesson, teaching English to the monks
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Reading the newspaper with Richard at the Men's Special Needs
20th -4th 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.
21st: 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.
22nd: 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!
23rd:
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.
24th 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!
27th- 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.
28th 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.
29TH- 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.
1st 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!
2nd-5th 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!
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