Our last day at the projects

Yesterday was our last day at the school in Attydia, and so we had a party for the children. In spite of the rain, a large number of the children were at the school when we arrived, and to begin with, they could choose from playing games, taking part in music and dance, or having their nails painted. I helped with the nail painting, as I like do this a fair amount in my spare time. Steve “uncle” kindly watched the door so that only a few eager girls could come and have their nails painted at any one time. Myself, Fi, Eliza and Lesley each had our own station from which we could beautify the girls nails, and they were very pleased with the results! Dinushka, a sweet boy from grade 5 had his thumb nails painted too. Red proved to be the most popular colour, but I was never without a cue for my gold laquer!  I’ve only ever painted my own nails, and so I was pleased to be able to share this skill.
Following this, we packed up and went downstairs to join the disco which had already begun. Loud music was skilfully provided by placing a microphone by the i-Pod speakers, and everyone looked like they’d been having a good time dancing. Myself and Eliza joined in, when one boy started playing his drum, to which different people started dancing to the beats he created. At one point, Steve D-C started a round of “head, shoulders, knees & toes”, which sounded interesting with the drumming accompaniment. The children loved the dancing, and were very pleased to have so many photographs taken of them. I later heard how the boys in charge of the music accidentally broke a fan, but then fixed it after half an hour’s fiddling with sticks and other devices. Before saying goodbye to the children, we handed out cake and chocolate milk drinks, with no child going home empty handed. Mrs. Silva the head teacher said a very heartfelt goodbye to us all in her office, and presented us with gifts and refreshments.
In the afternoon we boarded tuktuks for our last visit to Attydia, to watch the children’s performance, and were at the beginning each given one beautiful pink flower. Sister guided the children during their acts, and the whole performance went seamlessly, despite some minor technical issues. The children performed to a high standard, with lots of confidence, and despite the heat they were brilliant entertainment. I was very pleased to see that the children had the opportunity to dress up in their best clothes and show off their talents. Steve “inspirational leader of Asha” gave an interesting story about an old lady with a leaky pot (but I cannot remember the message  ). We then sung our version of “Sing A Song” by the Carpenters, and helped the children to sing along with us too. The performance was closed by a recital of the Sri Lankan national anthem.
I was sad to say goodbye to the children at the school and centre, but will be looking forward to hearing about how they are getting on in the future. I will certainly never forget the wonderful experiences I have had on this trip to Sri Lanka.
Rivka

Nails, football and Michael Jackson - who needs translators

Early morning monsoon rain fell heavily on the roof of Tropic Inn. The rain is louder here; the pregnant drops bigger and fuller. When they bounce off the roof they splash and shatter into further drops. In England I dread the rain, but here it serves as a welcome change, the downpour splitting open the humid curtain that wraps around the houses.

This week has flown past. On Monday when we started working in the school the heat pulled us down, and we would arrive back at Tropic Inn at lunchtime needing a shower and a sleep before returning to the school in the afternoon. But like the rain and the humidity and the contradictions all around you get used to it.

Before we knew it we were waking up on our last day of working in the school. We had promised the children that the last day would be a party. All week we had been teaching the children colours, the names for various fruits and animals, the parts of the body, the numbers up to 10. As we arrived at the school we were greeted with “heads and shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes.” Today we would not need the words but would enjoy using our senses of “eyes and ears and mouth and nose.” Indeed all of these would become the currency for the final day’s transaction as we had planned a disco, nail bar and football – the world over, these are the things which children can share without too many verbs and nouns and adjectives.

The first thing to do was to rig up an old PA speaker that the school used for the head teacher’s announcements. We set up her microphone next to a tiny portable i-pod dock which we had brought. You really know that you are working in a poor area when kids don’t have any technology – no i-pods or mobiles; the school didn’t even have a calculator. But they knew the music! It was a bit echoey in the old school hall but wow – crank it up and the place came alive. We had some Banghra music but there’s nothing quite like Michael Jackson, Tiny Temper and Glee songs to spark the combustible cocktail of children, dancing and gymnastics to life !

It was magic. The children showed off their best impressions of the old king of pop with the boys combining handstands into their dance routines. Finlay and Ethan obliged, accompanied by squeals of delight. One of the boys brought out a dusty marching band drum which had seen better days but which was still capable of belting out a bang or two. Suddenly the beat of Michael Jackson was augmented by the beat of the drum, and both the boys and girls formed a circle of rhythm around the boy with the hand-made drumming sticks. (Drum sticks – now that would be a good thing to bring next time we come).

Upstairs four of the team ran a special nail bar for the girls.This was a noticeably quieter room than the disco downstairs but the same smiles and sunshine faces were there. Earlier in the week when we were teaching the younger children the names for the colours in English, I had taught the children the song ‘Red and Yellow and Pink and Green, Orange and Purple and Blue, I can see a rainbow, see a rainbow, see a rainbow too.” Now we could see the rainbow on the ends of the girls nails. A simple treat which cost so little but gave such joy to these girls, some of whom had never had their nails done. Again the words were limited, the girls quiet as they stretched their fingers out to the awaiting brushes. Words weren’t needed this was a moment of truer communication.

In the playground, the boys were having a great time with a proper football - brought by the Carrick-Davies family with a pump - and left behind as a gift for the school.

If it is true that time does indeed fly when you enjoy yourself, this week was a speeding bullet. Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye. And then we exchanged gifts – us giving the children cake and chocolate milk, the head teacher Miss Silva giving us a little wooden elephants or Sri Lanka key rings. Finally, after protracted goodbyes, tears and hugs we walked together with some of the children back up in the direction of Tropic Inn. The rain had long gone, the road dried out warm and dusty as ever.

And then the road divided, the children waved and shouted as they took one path – back to their homes, the rubbish piles, the shared toilet and shower – back to their mothers looking after their siblings, back to the simple but full lives. We took the right hand path back to our air conditioned inn – it is very basic by western standards, but a palace compared to where these children live.

Our minds were spinning with memories and sounds, songs and stories shared not through words but by the language of nails, Michael Jackson, laughter and holding hands. The language of children the world over.

Steve Carrick-Davies

Fi and Eliza

Today was our last day working in the school. Most of the children received their end of school reports, and it was lovely to see them achieve good levels, and be given back their grades. At the end of lesson three one of the boys from my year 11 class was playing the drums on the back of an old dustbin, and all the children were singing and dancing! It just shows that people and children around the world can have absolutely nothing, but can still have the most beautiful happy smiles on their faces. I was nearly in tears as I watched them, all having such a good time on their last day of school! Xx

I know it’s going to be really hard to say goodbye to all the children that we have worked with over the past week at their final party tomorrow, but I’ve really enjoyed it and I’ll never forget my experience.

By Eliza

On Wednesday, I went with some others from the group to spend some time at the Centre in Athidiya for a special needs session run by Catherine, an Occupational Therapist from the UK. Sister Concepta and Mrs. V had taken some members of our group round the community to visit the homes of children with special needs, encouraging them to bring their children along to the centre.

For reasons that are not clear, there is a higher incidence of children with disabilities born into the community at Athidiya and there are few facilities or resources to support them. Four of the families brought their children along to the session, ranging in ages from 10 to 25. None of these young people had any language at all, 3 couldn’t walk unaided and all face day after day lying in darkened rooms with no stimulation to speak of. Catherine has started a toy library based at the Centre and we spent about an hour and a half working with each young person to find out which toys they found most stimulating or exciting. They were then able to take those toys home for the week.

This was a sobering experience which brought home to me the extent to which attitudes to SEN in the UK have really changed over the past 50 years or so – my hope is that these attitudes begin to change here in Sri Lanka too. The mothers and sisters who brought their family members along to the session undoubtedly love them, but there is no education or training available to help them support and stimulate their loved ones. This toy library and the hands-on training and modelling that Catherine and others are providing could be the catalyst for the change that is so needed. I’d love to get together a supply of toys – noisy, bright, shiny, tactile – that we could send out here to add to the collection. Any contributions welcome!!

Fi

Follow the Carrick-Davies blog at www.carrickdavies.wordpress.com

Video of the new building

While we have been here, we have returned several times to the building site where work is well under way. We can see the new Community Centre going up before our eyes. So many people have helped to bring Sister's dream into reality - many, many thanks.

Visit to Athidiya

Wednesday 3rd August
We had a very interesting morning as Sister showed us around some of the houses in Athidyia. It gave us an insight into everyday life there and it was an opportunity we would never have had normally. Everyone was very pleased to see us and Sister in particular. The first family we visited were very welcoming. We met a mother who had lost her leg due to diabetes and she told us that the nutritionists (Kiran and Bavana, who visited the Asha projects with Steve in March) had come to speak to her about diet and how to control her diabetes. Although it was quite shocking to think that poor diet had partly caused her to lose her leg, it was also good to know that the nutritionists had been helpful to her.
Sister explained to us how the houses now were now all permanent structures and all had bathrooms. We saw some houses with two storeys which people had built. We met a family where the mother had been working as a maid in Saudi for two years and the money from this had paid for an extension to their house. Although the housing is better than the make shift shanties they are still very basic by our standards, with a lot of people all living in one room and very cramped. The canal which runs alongside the housing is filthy and floods regularly.
Finally we went back to the community centre where a special needs play club was taking place. Four children with special needs came to visit and play with the toys. This club is in its early stages and is hopefully something that will continue and grow. There is obviously a need for developing provision for children with special needs and their families.
We had such an interesting day and are very grateful to Sister for showing us around.

Jane

PS. A special thanks to Katharine Egerton for all her help with visiting families and arranging the session at the centre for a few of the disabled young people in the patch. Katharine has become a great friend to Asha, she presently works in Brent (NHS) and has been very open and willing to share her knowledge and skills with us. Thanks Katharine your a star!!

The fabulous Asha Well

Yesterday Lesley, Angeline and I spent the day with another amazing nun – Sister Placida. Among the many projects she runs is something she named New Beginnings. She had been working in the Colombo slums which sound worse even than Atthidiya in the old days – people living in tiny shacks with just a shelf where the women and children slept and all their goods underneath. The men slept in the road. They had no cooking facilities so they bought food in plastic bags – no real family life at all. When asked why they lived like this, she says they always said they had no choice. She insisted that there is always a choice and started to take small groups out into the villages, to show them that there is plenty of space in other parts of the country and that a different life would be possible. She established a group of families who were willing to explore this idea further, and worked with them for many months, helping them to create a sense of community and a different set of values. She raised the money to buy some land in a village and in 2007 9 families made the move away from their life in Colombo. For the first 6 months they all lived in the only property on that piece of land, while they helped local builders to build each family a house. One of the reasons the village is underpopulated is lack of water – and the families found that they had 3 natural springs on the land. They approached Asha Trust for funding to build a well – which we did a couple of years ago. All the villagers benefit from the water – the families had said from the outset that the whole village would drink from this even to the last drop.
Talking to the families was truly extraordinary. It was clear that their lives had been truly transformed. One mother told me that when she brought her first baby home, in Colombo, she arrived from the hospital to find their mud up to her hips, following one of the regular floods. Her second baby was born in the village, and she said words could not express how happy she is in their new home. Another woman said that before she entered her new home, she ran around the outside several times, unable to believe that all this was for her family. They have found work, and they are all growing vegetables, fruit t rees and even coconut on their plots. They had no idea about food growing – and Sister has stories about how amazed they were when finding that a seed could grow into a plant which would then produce so much.
Sister has done this with two groups in two different villages now – 19 families in total, and has another 8 families ready to move as soon as she has raised the money to build their houses.
I feel so privileged to know these amazing women . Sister Placida’s entrepreneurship and courage is truly inspirational.
Radhika

Eliza on her first day at the school

Today was my first day working with the project in the school. I was a little nervous, as Shyla and I had Yrs 9, 10, and 11! (and I’m only just about to start year 9 in September!) But I have to say that they are a really bright bunch of kids, who could confidently speak some English. They were very small classes, minimum 4 and maximum 8.
We were concentrating on fruit and numbers in the classes today, and playing games like “I went to the market and I bought...” We also did role play, Shyla and I being the fruit-sellers and the children the customers. They each had a pile of fake money, and had to order fruit asking for the price. They understood most of it really well, and seemed to find it great fun.
After the three lessons of the morning we went home, and freshened up before we went to the community centre, to visit Sister Concepta, and children that were performing in the show that they have been practicing for to show us. There was a misunderstanding with the date of the show, and now it’s on Friday instead, and so we went to visit the builders that were developing the new community centre, using the money that we had raised in England.
We also went to visit Athidiya, when my family and I came two years ago we were seeing the new houses on the other side of the river being built for the families that lived in the slums, and it was really heart lifting to see all of them so settled in their new homes, and recognising some if the children who went to the school.
I really enjoyed today working in the school and visiting Athidiya, and I’m really looking forward and excited to start the day tomorrow! 

Eliza, 13

Update from the school

Working at the school this week has been highly enjoyable, as ever – the children are so pleased to see us, enthusiastic and energetic and a bit hard to manage at times. I have been popping into classes threatening them that if they don’t listen to the team, we’ll go to other classes tomorrow... Their faces drop so dramatically that I feel really guilty – especially as we have no intention of carrying out the threat. Angeline and Jane have been showing the rest of us up by doing gorgeous work on Elmer (the multi-coloured elephant). We’ve also been doing Handa’s Surprise (lots of discussions about fruit and animals) and of course the Hungry Caterpillar – always a hit. With the Secondary pupils we’ve been discussing time, families and food.
Some things at the school have definitely improved. A number of classrooms have attractive displays – a rarity in previous years – and the science teacher is enjoying the equipment Eston Park School provided.
Yesterday the Head asked me to “advise” one of the Year 8 girls. Her attendance has been poor and the Head has visited the home several times to encourage this bright girl to come to school. Somehow, she thinks that if I speak to her, things will improve. So I did as I was asked. It turns out Aksha lives with her grandmother – and she does not come to school when her grandmother does not have enough money for food. On those days Aksha sells fish to bring in some money. The Head pleaded with her to let her know when this happens, as she will provide the food that day – but to be honest I am not sure this is a long-term solution. Asha Trust provides a meal at the school for pupils, but we don’t offer it to grandmothers!

We’ve also been to the Asha Centre in the afternoons. On the first day, there were 42 children in that tiny space – no bigger than a small front room – and we were all amazed at how well they worked despite the extraordinarily cramped conditions. The children at the Centre are from the same community as the pupils at the school, but they have the advantage of coming to the afterschool club and Saturday school, and getting all the input from Sister and the team. They have learned to share, to take turns, to co-operate – things the school pupils find quite hard. And of course they have daily English / Singhalese / Maths help. Many still struggle, but the difference between the two groups is stark , despite the Centre children living in the most challenging housing in the area. Its great that once the new community centre is complete, Sister and the team will be able to work with even more of these children.

Radhika

Emily, 14, on her first impressions

This is the very first time I have ever got involved in charity work overseas or in England .I have met the lovely team who put so much time and effort in to helping the Sri Lankan community. I have always been encouraged to share and give at home since an early age but I didn’t realise why that is so important until now. In Britain some education is really taken for granted. I have so far been to the local school and met lots of children. I have found so many similarities between the UK children and Sri Lankan children despite the severe poverty. We went to the centre sister runs and we were all welcomed with songs in English. I found it very encouraging and it made me understand why the English language is quite important. At the school it was very different but the children were helpful and most of them learnt a lot of English conversation. We visited the land and it was only then I noticed most of the poverty. The housing was better than before but it was so basic. The river was filled with pollution, rubbish and was non drinkable. This is a major issue. The land was the foundations for a new building for the disabled in the community. I just find it so inspiring to see so many lives changed by the work done here in Sri Lanka but also hope the world does see these conditions through open eyes.

BUilding Update

A number of you have asked about the latest on the building of the community centre. For those who don't know Asha Trust has been raising money in order to build a fit for purpose community centre in the heart of Athidiya, Presently the local team opperate from a small one room ''centre'' which is the downstairs of a small house. In order to grow the work and have a greater impact the team have been dreaming of a new centre.
We bought the land about a year ago now and since then have been battling with various bits of officialdom.
However , we think we are about there now. During our trip I spent half a day arranging a letter from a lawyer which we hope is the last document we need,
Our every so positive architect , Chinthaka, has now submitted all documents to the loacl council for approval. So all being well we hope the build will start in May!!
At this point the building will be usable and we can take our time resourcing it and developing the programmes and activities .This is all very exciting !
A big thanks to everyone that has join us in enabling this to happen.
We still need to raise about 10K to complete the building as planned and still fundriseing
We are planning a 50 Mile cycle ride on 7th May along the river lea. We ran it last year and it was such a great day. If interested please contact me on info@ashatrust.co.uk.
Steve

another exciting adventure

We met Ms Silva, the principal of Sri Punyakami. As we entered the school compund, we saw a tired looking building, barely equipped classrooms and an environment with very little appeal for learning, creativity and innovation.
As we started talking to Ms Silva about her school and pupils, it was apparent to us that this principal not only faced the challenge of running an under resourced and poor performing school but battled with many social problems mainly poverty, preventing pupils to purchase basic school related items such as shoes, books and bags. Without the help of Asha Trust, a large majority of children will still come to school on an empty stomach and leave hungry at the end of the school day. Access to food is a basic human right and good nutritious food is far beyond the reach of many children who attend this school.
As well as social problems, Ms Silva also faced emotional problems with her teenagers. She had a teenage girl who eloped with an older man, an attempted suicide, many single parent families as well as children with no parents or children who were either looked after by the granparents, relatives, neighbours or a known person. When she related some of the stories to us, it felt like a storyline straight out of Eastenders but it's amplified a hundred times more. Many of these children are stuck in a cycle of poverty, poor education,no qualifications, drug addiction, teenage pregnancy with a future outlook of very low paid jobs (working as servants for many women) or jail sentence. It may sound like a complete exaggeration but with 95% of children facing the above problems, it is the reality they face.
This lead to a discussion around self esteem, especially for girls. Ms Silva told us that with a heavy curriculum to deliver, this subject was not even considered. Although our main purpose was to run nutrition based workshops, we also agreed to run some very basic self esteem workshops for the 14-16 year olds.
After organising time tables for our nutrition and self esteem programmes, we then headed back for a nice cup of Ceylon tea. Our heads reeling with all the information and prep work we needed to do before Monday dawned upon us.

Work at Athidiya – March/April 2011

We arrived on the morning of Friday the 25^th March in Sri Lanka, the hype of Sri Lanka vs England for the ICC World Cup 2011 was heavy in the air. We were greeted by huge cut out posters of international cricket players at the airport and throughout the city of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. Cricket seems almost a religion here and one of the important aspects which glues the whole nation together.

As we approached the exit of the airport we were instantly hit by the weather – hot and humid. It was time to get accustomed to the heat fairly quickly we started to discard our jackets and scarves. T-Shirt weather here we come!

After dropping our luggage and a quick freshen up at the hotel, we were invited for breakfast to Anukshie’s house (one of the ASHA Foundation trustee). We were given kiribath for breakfast. Kiribath is milk rice which is usually served during any festival or celebrations in Sri Lanka, it was very warming to hear that our visit was seen as a celebration.

We then visited Athidiya, where the nutrition workshops were going to take place in the next two weeks. Athidiya is an area of social deprivation, to say the least. Athidiya consists of many families affected by Tsunami and refugees from the war. Both the countries largest ethnic communities, the Singhalese and Tamils live side by side in these communities.

We met with Sister Concepta an inspirational woman, who has dedicated her life to serving the people from this community. We were affectionately welcomed by Sister Concepta and more than 30 smiling children from ages 5-16 in the current centre run by Sister Concepta and her two members of staff, Rosemary and Mrs V. After the short introductions and mass handshakes with all the children we got down to business.

We learnt that the children who attend the centre all come from Athidiya. Sister and her staff run tuition classes from Monday to Friday and a life education session on Saturday. The life education sessions can consists of a variety of topics from drama to card making, motivation and health.

We knew we needed first hand information about the community and their needs. It was crucial for us to establish this so we are able to deliver workshops which are relevant and useful to them.

When Sister Concepta started relating the information, the reality of the situation did not even come close to the preconceived ideas we had about a deprived community. In an afternoon spent with Sister Concepta, we began to realise that our nutrition sessions will need to be adapted to basic messages, not because of the lack of understanding but because of sheer poverty.

The background knowledge Sister provided us was most valuable and we got to hear how their daily struggles mask many other health and/or social problems in these communities. The poverty experienced in these communities are below basic human rights and needs.

We had a walk around the area with Sister, she showed us their houses and their living conditions. Until recently, many of the families were still living in shanties (small temporary buildings made out of polythene).

The government were generous enough to provide these families with the necessary brick and mortar but were told to get on and build their own homes. A non governmental organisation provided the community some support in building their homes. Their houses consist of a single room and a kitchen, no windows or a bathroom only their front and back door for light and ventilation. They have a communal showering area, toilet and taps for water. Their houses are barely equipped, many slept on the floor. In one of the houses we passed by, there we three generations (13 people) living under one roof (I told myself never to complain about my house again!).

We also asked one of the women what she had cooked for lunch, she showed us her kitchen with three pots, a gas stove and cylinder. She had prepared rice, dhal, some spinach and sprats (small dried fish, cheaply available). This menu is not dissimilar to the rest of families in the community.

During our walk Sister also relayed how many families due to tsunami and the war have lost family members and what surprised us most was to hear how there was a huge drug addiction, teenage pregnancy and single parent families in the area. Many families affected by these problems are stuck in a vicious cycle unable to lift themselves out of their current situation. There are no state benefits, community development programmes or community health service for these families. In my mind they seem to almost be forgotten by the rest of the society.

By the end of our first day and with no sleep for more than 24 hours, Kiran and I were overwhelmed by everything we heard and thought this was definitely going to be more than just a nutrition education sessions.

Saturday 26

We were invited to the life education session at Sister’s centre. There were about 25-30 children from ages 5 to 16. The room almost full, however the children were all seated quietly and keen to listen to what we were going to say. We did not prepare a powerpoint presentation, hence our session was very practical and interactive. Sister Concepta translated what we delivered in Singhalese. Although there were a few Tamil children, all of them were fluent in Singhalese. In our session, we got children to draw foods they ate everyday, we then asked them which food groups the foods belong to and explained the importance of the food groups and how their functions in our body. It was a challenging session because of the various age groups, we provided simple messages and the older children joined in to give answers as they already had some knowledge. The session was a interactive all they way, we asked questions and tried to engage all the children.

After the session, all the children who attend Saturday session receive a nutritious supplement prepared by Sister and her staff. The nutritious supplement is called ‘Samaposha’. Samaposha contains, mung beans, soya beans, corn and rice. The dried powder is mixed with sugar and grated coconut to and made into tennis balls size and each child receive two of these balls. Children from Athidiya are mostly undernourished due to the and the lack of food and income their homes. These nutritious balls provide some the of essential vitamins and minerals which otherwise are not received from their daily diet. It’s lucky if a child consumes at least 1 portion of their 5 A DAY.

We brought a big box of celebrations which we gave out to all the children and Sister Concepta said that this was ‘luxury’ for these children. Many of them saved their nutritious balls and chocolates to share with other siblings at home, even the five year olds. It was truly amazing to see their willingness to share what little they have with the rest of their family. I’m not sure if I had such a strong instinct for sharing at the age of five.

We then headed to the school to meet the principal of the local school, Sri Punyakami School......

Tune in for another exciting adventure.....

Buvana & Kiran

Monday March 28^th.

Marvellous! It’s nothing short of wonderful.

Kiran and Buvana had a packed day running sessions today, firstly at the school with a group of year 11’s. I’m not sure they really wanted to engage and probably thought they would have an easy hour & half staring into space or having a laugh with their mates. Not a chance!!

B &K led an interactive and participatory session on the different food groups and what they do is in our bodies. At the end of the sessions we had 3 fantastic, colourful posters of different foods and comments on each food group all produced by the young people and then in groups presented back to the class. The young people participated really well and did some great work.

After lunch onto Asha Centre @Athidiya where 20 mothers from zone 6 ( the particularly tough part) congregated and B & K led them once again through the food groups and answered a host of questions , demystifying the tropic and correcting the myths that have grown up around particular foods, especially when related to certain health conditions such as diabetes , one elderly women thought she shouldn’t eat protein and another women thought you should cut out all carbs if you have diabetes .B& K in they respectful , non- judgemental , yet clear way presented clear& concise information.

This session finished at 3.30 and it was a quick dash back to the school to run that session again with a group of 15 women form another very challenging area adjacent to the school. WE have wanted to do something for those in this area for some time but nothing has really come off. The houses are very basic built like tombs with no windows just the door way for ventilation and light and tiny of course, Sanitation is less then basic, plus Drug addiction is major issue. It’s not high end!! So to be able to do a session with 15 women from this patch is just great! It feels like a seed has finally been sown.

As I say, truly marvellous

Tuesday 29^th March

Today was a similar programme to yesterday except we visited Beulah at Soill. This a children’s day care centre, but in attrition to the children’s work she also runs women’s groups and credit unions. Good to see how the work is going on.

The other big news of the day Sri Lanka beat New Zealand.

PS. I've heard that some of you have been trying to respond but cant for some strange reason. please feel free to send to asha email info@ashatrust.co.uk

In the Deep End

Friday 24^th.

Buvana, Kiran and I arrived in country save and sound. After setting in to our respective accommodation B & K in a guest hse, I'm with family) we met Sister Concepta ( the inspirational nun who heads up the work in Athidiya) , Mrs Vallapulla and Rosmary at the centre where we were honoured with garlands and a wonderful welcome speech delivered by one of the children. Sis C took us on a short tour of Athidiya where B & K asked a number of the local women about their diets, usual foods and where they purchase their food. It became clear that all only eat one good meal a day at best and at times even this is a struggle.

For dinner we went to a cafe/restaurant that have the most wonderful Kiri Appa (milk hoppers) which a kind pancake but crispy on the outside and stodgy in the middle. Buvana was reminiscing on how she had used to have Kiri Appa for breakfast cooked by her grandmother. so dinner was a big success.

Sat 25^th

Attended the ‘life education’ session that Sister C runs each Saturday. Buvana & Kiran were thrown in the deep end by being asked to deliver a session on food & health. After a quick flurry of activity searching for paper and colouring pencils and using Sis C as interpretor they delivered an impromptu session of the 5 food groups. Of course they did very well but the more important thing was the massive learning crave that took place, both in the delivery as well as a greater understanding of the issues. As a result they are a lot more confident about delivering the sessions next week. These sessions will take place in the school during the morning with yrs 10 & 11, sisters centre in the afternoon ,followed by another session at the school for some of the women for a very challenging patch adjacent to the school.

Tomorrow will be an easy day , Kiran wants to visit the street market at Petta and I’m sure we will find ourselves at Odel’s (Colombo’s answer to John Lewis) at some point. Any orders?

Last post this trip

These are my last couple of days – I fly out tomorrow evening – and I’ve been trying to get through that list of tasks I arrived with. Had another meeting with Sister to discuss current projects and then went back to Punyakami school to feed back some of the decisions Trustees had made at last week’s board meeting. All good. I then went to visit another school Asha supports: Koralawella School serves another poor community and we got involved when we met a teacher who told us that a few children regularly faint in school, due to hunger. We provide a drink of milk for half the pupils and a meal for the 50 of the most deprived children. And no-one faints any more. We also funded a small group to attend tuition– it's very common, apparently essential, for children to attend these after-school exam preparation sessions – and the Head proudly told me today that they had the best results in years last year, so much so that they were featured in the newspaper. Five pupils passed their O levels, four of whom had benefitted from the Asha-funded tuition, and all these young people were now doing A levels– a first on both counts. Last year only one person passed, but her family needed her to go out to work so she was unable to continue her education.

This afternoon, we went to open a bank account for the building project. To be honest, opening bank accounts for charities and community projects in the UK is a bureaucratic process, and of course it’s no different here. But after 2 ½ hours of form filling and answering questions, Sister, Beulah, Anukshie and I emerged rather jubilant that we had done it!

Tomorrow I will meet the architect to collect the BOQ (bill of quantities, an itemised breakdown of the costs for the building) and make one last visit to the Centre in Athidiya, to say goodbye to the children and the team.

It has been a wonderful trip, and I can’t believe I got to be here, working with these amazing people. Steve is coming across at the end of March, and we are bringing a group out here in July – lets hope the building is well underway by then.

Laying the Foundation Stone

This morning I went to the Municipal Office with Anukshie (my cousin in whose name we bought the land, as Asha was not at that stage registered in this country), to submit the plans for the building. There we met someone from the architect’s office and we began the process of going from desk to desk. Steve knows this process well – he’s spent many hours similarly going from desk to desk when trying to get Asha registered. Eventually Chinthaka (the architect) advised that Anukshie will need to come back in a few days with yet more papers. In the meantime, Sister, Mrs V and the builders were waiting for us at the site, so we decided to defer this rather miserable bureaucratic process.

The Foundation Stone ceremony was lovely. Sister said a prayer, and then we cut the soil, the builder dug the hole, and each of us laid a brick – Sister, myself, Anukshie, Mrs V, Chris, Alison, Chintaka, and the builder. No singing or dancing involved! We then ate Kiri Bath and bananas, and shared it with the builders and the neighbours. There was a young girl watching all this from the house opposite – it was Asha, who has been part of Sister’s work since the beginning, who happened to be off school today. We had already named the charity when Steve met Asha on the streets of Athidiya as an energetic 7 year old, back in 2004, but she has been present at all the shows and events ever since. Back in 2005, during the first trip, we suddenly discovered it was her 8th birthday and I remember us singing happy birthday to her in a very hot, airless building in Athidiya and someone in the group finding a bracelet in their bag as a gift. Her father is in prison and Sister told us last year that her younger sister is malnourished. But Asha is as enthusiastic and bubbly as ever – it was great that she was part of today’s ceremony.

This afternoon I visited St Mary’s College, a school nearby where we know the Head Teacher. A primary school in Durham have approached us to help them to find a link school in Sri Lanka, and I went to discuss it with the Head . This school is better resourced than Punyakami, the school we support in Athidiya, has a more mixed pupil body, serving some very poor families from Athidiya and surrounding areas as well as some from less challenging backgrounds. They have computers and internet, and will be more able to take on a partnership, I think. The Head was keen, and I was able to hand over lots of information about the Durham school. I’ve agreed to go and speak to the staff and pupils in Durham in February, so I took some pictures and tried to gather some details.

Tomorrow, I’m taking a day off the Asha stuff to visit my elderly aunt in Galle, 3 hours away, catching the 7am train. You may remember that the railway line hugs the coast all the way down, making for a beautiful view of blue sea, golden sands and palm trees on the beach...

Progress on the building

Great progress with the building of the new centre – I think. Met the architect, Chinthaka, yesterday morning, and we got the paperwork organised in order to make the submission to the planning department. Tomorrow we are taking it to the council offices, and Chinthaka is sure that it should take no longer than 4 weeks to get approval. He also introduced me to the “baas” - the site manager who will organise the build. And tomorrow, we will go straight from the council offices to the site, where we will lay the foundation stone. This foundation stone business seems to carry some weight around here – I have no idea about these things – but Sister, Mrs V, Chinthaka and everyone else seems excited about it. I’ve said “ we’ll keep it simple, wont we?” to everyone concerned, but I am a little dubious. I know there will be “kiri bath” – the celebratory milk rice that Sri Lankans eat at New Year, birthdays, graduation events etc. And it is just wonderful that we are formally marking the beginning of the building process.

At Sri Punyakami school they enthusiastically showed me all the science equipment that Asha has recently provided (thanks to Eston Park School). In case you’re wondering, the odd shapes in the picture are bright plastic body parts – and they‘ve also got a large circuit board, which the children clearly enjoy – but as it needs electricity (of course), the class have to crowd into the head-teacher’s office for that lesson, as there’s no power in the science room!
Chris and Alison are doing conversation classes at the school for the next few days. We agreed with the Head yesterday that they would do 3 classes a day, but by this morning, they were being entreated to work with another two – there’s no doubting how keen the school is are to improve pupils’ spoken English.

And this afternoon I took the bus to the Sioll Centre, where we have been funding a nursery and after school clubs in another poor community. Beulah, who leads this project, has started to work with a local midwife, running baby weigh-ins for the families that use the centre, and also for other young mothers in the area. She has great plans to develop this into a nutrition project and use these sessions as a way of offering parental education sessions.

Off to buy bananas now for the Foundation Stone ceremony tomorrow - an essential accompaniment to the Kiri Bath.

Great to be back in Sri Lanka

NB If you get this in a tiny, barely legible font, you might want to click on the link which should open a new window on the Blogger site... Dont know how to change the font size on the email version.


Having arrived in Sri Lanka for my brief week on Saturday evening, it was great to meet Sister and Shyamini on Sunday. As always, I am struck by the impressive work done by the team here as well as the huge challenges faced by this community
. I heard so many positive stories. The children had been on a trip to an amusement park and the elephant orphanage (funded in part by local donors). A local family had also funded Christmas gifts for each of the 60 children. The young women’s group had spent December making Christmas cards, producing 2000 hand-crafted cards which they sold through Laksala (the government-run craft shop) and a large bookshop in Colombo. They made over £400, which was shared between the 12 young women in the group. Given that these families often earn £2 a day, this extra income would have been significant. Its so good to see that the team here are helping these young women to develop skills, confidence and bring in much needed income.

On the other hand, Sister is very concerned that there have been 5 suicides in this community in the last year or so. All men, fathers, whose sad deaths have left 5 widows coping with raising young families on very limited incomes. One woman earns Rs 250 a day (£1.40) and is struggling to feed her 3 small children. The team have plans to run small enterprise training in the new building, to help women like this to increase their earning potential. In the meantime, they are working to offer what support they can.

The main purpose for my brief visit this week is to help to progress the building project, and I’m off to see the architect this morning. And then a visit to Sri Punyakami school, with Chris and Alison from Forest Gate who have a few days here.
Radhika