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...