News from Asha Trust in Sri Lanka!

Well it’s been an age since I last wrote.  There has been lots going on but finding a time to write about it has been a challenge!

We are moving forward with the employment training programmes.  The second group for the hospitality training have just finished the ‘classroom‘ part of the course and are starting their work placements this week. We’ve had positive feedback from the students and the tutors so far.  Many of the students have been impressed with the practical nature of the training.  They have been practising silver service, using kitchen order tickets and have even been learning how to tie a tie!  This training should all stand them in good stead when they get to train in a real-life situation.  The hotel school have also negotiated higher training salaries for the students with the hotels so this should hopefully further encourage them to complete the 3 month course.  

  

We are also busy recruiting for the second group to take part in the hair and beauty training and Cheryl and her team are planning to start next Monday.  As before, they will start the training in the Asha Centre in Athidiya but plan to move quite quickly to the training salon in Colombo.  Many of the students who did the course the first time said that they would have preferred to move earlier to the training salon in Colombo.  Of course, it is easy to say this in hindsight and it is important not to forget that many of the young women in the first group were very nervous about coming to Colombo initially.  However, Cheryl and her team have been great at building positive relationships with the young women doing the course so I am confident that they will be able to respond to the needs of the women well and encourage them to make the move to Colombo when they are ready!

Recruitment for these second groups of trainees has been somewhat of a challenge and the training providers and the local teams are considering how we can improve the recruitment process for the future.  Word about the hair and beauty course has certainly got around to young women in the area but this has made it harder to recruit females for the hospitality course as they tend to be more interested in the hair and beauty course.  The hair and beauty course is a better ‘cultural fit’ for many young women and their families as there remains a great deal of concern amongst many families with regards to their daughters working in large hotels and their personal safety being at risk.  Of course, with success stories of past trainees, we can attempt to break down these barriers but this takes time.  Having said that, the one girl who is taking part in the hospitality course is absolutely loving it and is fully supported by her family!

Whilst recruiting for the second hair and beauty course, Sister Concepta and I came across this rather professional bill board on the bridge at the entrance to Athidiya.  Yes, one of the trainees from the first group has set up a salon in the area.  We eagerly went to see her at her home and she advised that her business is slowly building.  She has had lots of customers and employs 2 other women who also completed the course to help her when needed.  

There is lots more to update you all with including the progress with the building of the community centre in Athidiya and increased support for those with disabilities.  However, I will finish here for now and update you with further news next week!

Katherine

Celebration time!

On Monday we celebrated the success of the young women living in Athidiya who have recently completed the 3 month hair and beauty training programme, run by Cheryl of CG Hairdressing and her team.  

It was a lovely occasion at the centre in Athidiya with a welcome speech by Sister Concepta followed by the certificate giving and of course a piece or two of celebratory cake!  Two of the ‘graduates’ also made an impromptu thank you speech and what they said really highlights how successful the training has been.  They talked of how the training had changed their lives for the better and that the support and love that was given to them by the trainers made their confidence increase and realise their self-worth.  They also talked of how they can now see a bright future and realise that there is another way to how they have been living up to now. 

Over half the women who completed the training are looking for a job working in a salon with the help of Cheryl.  Most have been on interviews and some have already secured positions in top salons in Colombo.  The remaining  women are working from home with their new skills. All have already had paying customers!  It will be interesting to speak to the students in the next few months and see how their plans have developed.  Cheryl is also keen to keep in contact with the trainees and support them in the future if they wish.

I think it is no exaggeration when I say that I can see the change in these young people myself.  They are brimming with confidence, have plans for the future and realistic aspirations.  All the women personally thanked Cheryl and her team for the great opportunity and also wanted to pass on their thanks to Asha Trust.  So on behalf of all the women who graduated on Monday thank you to all those who supported this project – you have made a real difference to these women's lives!

Katherine

The women sign to confirm they have received the completion bonus and say a little thank you to Asha!

The summer holidays are nearly over...

...Sister Concepta is back from a well deserved break on a retreat and lots of exciting things have been happening at the centre and with Asha Trust projects!

The most exciting thing by far this week was the filming of the hair and beauty trainees in Cheryl’s salon for  a television show to be aired this Sunday on 'Derana TV' at 11am!  I went along to see some of the filming and was amazed at the transformation of the trainees.  Look at the photos to see for yourself. They looked professional, confident and relaxed in their surroundings. 

 

Cheryl, the trainer, advised that she continues to be pleased with the commitment and enthusiasm of all the trainees.  Some are already earning money in Athidiya doing hairdressing and beauty work from home whilst others wish to work in a salon in Colombo.  Cheryl is busy looking at potential opportunities for those who wish to work in salons.  A real success story!

The young women finish the course in 2 weeks and Cheryl and her team are busy planning the awards ceremony that friends, family and the team in Athidiya will be invited to.

We already have a list of people who are interested in being part of the second cohort of trainees.  Word has clearly got around about the training and we hope to offer further training in this field within the next few months.

 

In other news, we now have enough young people interested to start a second cohort for the hospitality training run by Harpo.  Harpo and his team will meet with them on Monday.

Millennium IT, a Colombo based IT company have got in touch as they wish to run a computer project at the centre, providing computers for the centre in Athidiya and running lessons for children and young people who use the centre.  They also wish to train someone locally who can continue with IT classes long-term. This is great news as this is something that the local team has raised previously as a need within the community so thanks for your enthusiasm and support Millennium IT! 

On a final note, I would like to give a special thank you to Mrs V with all her support with the disability project and her relentless energy at supporting me with the ‘hard to engage’ families.  She has been a real asset with regards to engaging these families and the work is slowly paying off with attendance levels increasing week by week as well as new children with disabilities in need within the community being identified and assessed. 

That’s all for now but more news soon!

Katherine

Friday 20th July

A much-deserved lie-in for the entire group today was met with snores of approval from all. After our final breakfast with our Cockney companions, we proceeded to pack our cases before a trip to Odel, the local department store. Many of the lads took advantage of the £2 Calvin Kleins on offer here. Coming back for an early dinner, we presented the staff at the Tropic Inn with a parting gift and swathes of thanks for being utterly unmatchable in the past two weeks. Saying goodbye to the Londoners today was second in emotion only to that at the school yesterday, and was epitomised Lasitha and the staff at the Tropic stopping what they were doing to run outside and wave us off. The service we had at the Tropic belied its two-star reputation.

A short coach journey by our standards (still two hours) took us to the Camelot Beach Hotel in Negombo where we were greeted with orange juice in a luxurious reception; it’s almost as if they were trying to match the Tropic! We went to the pool surrounded by the idyllic beach setting and enjoyed a couple of hours to wind down and many seized the opportunity to purchase last-minute gifts from the beach sellers, winding up Miss Meyer no end. A flawless meal filled everyone to the brim, but this was by no means the highlight of everyone’s night. This came earlier, with the opportunity to have a boiling hot shower. All of these things are testament to our view that this is much more like the ‘tourist side’ of Sri Lanka. The group are currently taking full advantage of the dance floor, with some questionable shapes being thrown by a few of them!

It is strange to now be sitting here writing this in the knowledge that it is our last night here. It would be impossible to find any member of the group who would not rank these couple of weeks among the best experiences of their lives. Even the four of us who have been before agree that this trip, although very different to last time, has been unbelievable. The standard of the lessons, the rapport among the group, the laughs we have had along the way, the personal things we have all gained from it. All have been simply magnificent.

A few years ago, none of us would ever have expected to have such an opportunity in our lives, let alone at such a young age. The chance to make such a measurable difference to the lives of young people who, aside from their environment, are not really any different from ourselves seemed like a distant pipe dream to many of us beforehand, even in the build-up for those who had not been before. Sister Concepta summed it up so succinctly when she said that no dream is too big. We have all been a living example of that sentiment in the past two weeks. A novel could be written about her influence in the community alone, and her bubbly personality is infectious. She really is an inspiration to everyone.

Radhika and Steve also deserve a special mention. Their tireless efforts over the past year to organise this trip, and even more so in the last two weeks while we’ve been here have been remarkable. It is admirable how much work they put into the community on a regular basis and we have had such a privilege to be a small part of that. As if this weren’t impressive enough, they have been simultaneously working on another three or four projects during the two weeks, while also always being available when we needed them, at any hour of the day. Hopefully they will read this and realise how much we appreciate the efforts they have made!

Though this blog is on behalf of the whole group, as staff and mentors we really should afford special thanks to the group. They have maintained fantastic spirits throughout the trip even when times got tough or when they saw sights which shocked some of them. The camaraderie among the group has been brilliant throughout, with the way they have all stuck together showing just how powerful an experience like this can be.

This is not the end for our affiliation with Asha Trust, with Radhika and Steve, with Athidiya and Sri Punyakami School. This experience has left us all with a desire to continue to help them carry out their fantastic work. It will leave a lasting impression on all of us, each for our own reasons, and hopefully we can all continue to try and make some sort of difference in the same way we have started to now.

Yesterday in our final meeting, Steve came out with a saying which epitomised the hopes we have for the future. He quoted Dr Martin Luther King, saying “we should all move from the thin of sympathy, to the thick of action.” This trip has signified the beginning of a move towards that action, and hopefully upon returning to our ‘normal’ lives back home we can continue to move in this direction.

Now, here comes the boring bit. Our first flight leaves Colombo at 2015 local time on Saturday, and we land in Manchester at 0730 local time. The coach is due to pick us up from the airport at 0830, meaning we should be home anytime from 11 onwards. We will keep parents informed of more specific times when we know them. Thank you for reading our blog and following our progress in Sri Lanka, and thank you for the support in the fundraising which preceded the trip. Our final hope is that the 2014 trip, and any subsequent ones, can be as successful as this one has been, and that the students who go will enjoy it even half as much as we have this time.

Sam Skillcorn, Glenn Dawkins and Daryl Howe

Thursday 19th July

Hannah: On our third school day my group taught grades 9,7, 3 and 4. We had already taught some of the years and had made some friends already but as we had to change and take the year 7's now we found it a little difficult to communicate and put points across. However they were more than willing to just sit and basically talk to us about things like our family. They found this particularly interesting. My group decided to use the majority of the resources available to us to teach the different grades about the human body, but usually it just ended us singing head, shoulders, knees and toes for about half an hour! So its safe to say we dont want to hear that song much anymore. We tried this with the grade 3's but it just wasn't working so we switched to colouring in. Everyone loves a good colour in. We made them little books and drew different animals and other things, which they seemed to enjoy.

Liam: Due to a change in the timetables I was placed in with the 7th grade which I hadn't previously taught- thankfully however the all boy class was in a cooperative mood and so the lesson went well. Next off we had grade 8: an all girl class who we had taught before. We were met with welcoming faces here and managed to keep the bickering between the kids to a minimum.

The afternoon perhaps didn't work out as well as the morning, to say the least. First off was the 2nd grade children who created total anarchy: to simply keep them in a room for the druation of the 45 minutes was a challenge! After this we had the 4th grade who were a little more obedient but still rowdy. We went back to the hotel with the intention of a good rest.

Hannah: Hectic doesnt even describe my afternoon. I was put in Indoor Games with Jacob and we were given the grade 5's and the year 3's and 2's. I've never seen so many children crown around a game of Happy Families in all my time. However this peace didnt last for long as they soon became restless and bored of Snap and Connect 4. They were literally all over the place and I'm pretty sure half of them just left. Jacob soon rounded them up and we tried again with the Happy Families. Its so strange how grateful they are for little things like a game of snap cards - it really puts things into perspective for the whole group.

Liam: instead of the 'regular' afternoon our group travelled to Athidya with Radhika to meet Sister Concepta and to see what kind of living conditions the children were living in. After a short chat with the sister we set off through the shanties of Athidya which was an eye opener to say the least. We were told by both the sister and those that had previously been (Sam and Daryll) that the area was vastly improven in almost all ways, however the area is still very basic. After going I have a much better understanding of the situation that the children are in, and it certainly gave a much better insight into just why the kids are as excitable as they are - today was definately an eye opener.

Hannah Richins and Liam Hopton

Wednesday 18th July

Emily: Today started with the usual walk to the school in the humid-as-ever heat. Seemingly, it was warmer than all other previous days and each day begins with a stroll along the road that our hotel is situated on and Daryl saying ‘It’s hotter today’, although we all soon realise we’re dripping with sweat despite our specially acquired shirts. On reaching the school, we were greeted by our students and started class on time. It’s beginning to dawn on us that we have to leave these children here - the surreal nature of that came across us all at one point but resilience has become key so we just carried on and my first grade was grade eight. Favouritism is hard to avoid but the four boys that make our class are the most willing, adorable and able children I have met on the entire trip. They embody the attitude of the majority of the Sri Lankan people. With our grade eights we made modelling clay animals as they are so incredibly creative.

In the afternoon, the EPS group took a trip to the Asha Trust Centre in Athidiya for a show from the local children. We already knew, from our other visit to Athidiya, that some children from the school are inhabitants of the 360 family neighbourhood but I saw one child from my grade eight class and this was one moment that I will remember for the rest of my life.

After grade eight, there was grade two. Grade two is the equivalent of a six/seven year olds’ class but with a MASSIVE language barrier. We bravely gave up the idea of modelling clay and took to crayons and tiger masks. The younger children are sometimes difficult to cooperate with in my opinion; patience is the key. However, being able to work with the differing age ranges is one of the main essentials on this trip as working with only one age group does not provide a large array of skills. Not only that, but the grade twos are SO cute.

I tried to find my ‘wanna-be’ pen pal at break to give her my address but she’s in grade 10 and they are sitting exams. Hopefully tomorrow!

The two lessons after break consisted of chanting of my groups’ names repeatedly and colouring in animals. Grade four were exceptionally excited, but as ever did as asked. They repeat words and it is sad to learn that ‘copy’ is a word they are so used to. They copy words and rarely understand so it has become a personal mission to allow them to process too. If ever a person needs a confidence boost, our grade fives are the solution. Walking into the classroom, I was greeted by a chair and a dozen stories. The mix of Singhalese and English language becomes second nature to understand. Grade five is so incredible, too. So kind. I will miss all of our grades dearly and the school will leave a big imprint in my memory.

Oliver: As we set off to Athidiya around 2:45 pm the humidity had set in and we instantly began to sweat. When we arrived at the school at around 3:00pm we were greeted by a procession of dance who instantly began to sing as we approached the Asha Trust Centre. We were greeted by Sister Concepta who called members of the group to light a candle each to symbolise the unity and peace. We then proceeded inside to sit down and allow the show to begin. The first performance was by an approximate grade nine girl who moved fluently in a Sinhala style dance to greet us and kick the show off. Throughout around 20 performances in the night, there were group songs, dances and poetry by all ages from the Centre. One of the most striking performances was that of a grade five group of girls in authentically crafted outfits who all moved in time and step with each other and the music to create a captivating performance. During the show, there were some intervals which the Sister filled with a grade six poetry performance from a wonderful young girl. She spoke about nature and Sri Lanka. She was so moving due to her bravery and courage to stand in front of 30 people and recite interesting facts and opinions on the spot.

The children in the Centre touched my heart as they constantly had a gleaming smile on their face and didn’t alter their expression throughout the show. It was so genuine. They were so grateful and happy with our presence at the school and in the Centre. These children come from Athidiya which is, as said, an underprivileged and troubled part of Sri Lankan society. Upon my visit, I saw some children I taught at the school which gave me an insight as to why the children may act as they do at the school sometimes. They have no idea of play in our sense and self-control means a very different thing to them. For instance, self-control to the children means to use beatings to keep each other in line whereas children in England are taught hitting is wrong and to not be violent towards each other.

Personally, the first time I saw the children’s behaviour I was shocked and felt the need to intervene.

I will never forget the children and the way that they are with each other and the volunteers, how gracious they are even though they live in poverty and are underprivileged, how the children share the things they are given with siblings and friends, and even beat each other up over simple things!

By Emily Skillcorn and Oliver Guy

Visit to Athidiya and the show!

On Monday it was our turn (Me, Ros, Clarissa, Omar and Shyla) to visit Athidiya. I had a general idea of what this would be like and had heard back from other groups about their experience there, but seeing it all first hand was completely different. We were greeted by Sister Concepta and a group of children at the community center, a few faces I recognized from school, which was lovely to see. Sister explained to us a short history of how she started her work there and how Asha had supported her through this. What struck me the most about sister was the respect she had from everyone she spoke to! We were taken on a tour of the town and shown how the new houses were developing and how the families are now living. The houses are very very basic with only the bare necessities inside, yet each person we came across was very house proud and encouraged us to look in to their home. We were even invited inside by one of the ladies as sister was showing us the one ‘shack’ house that was left. The lady who was living in this tin shack invited us in to her spotless family home with pride and a smile on her face. Sister wanted to show us how 360 families used to live like this lady in shacks, and you can’t imagine how anybody could have lived like that let alone 360 families. Seeing what the homes used to be like made me appreciate how much it has improved and how much of a positive effect this must have had on all those families.

Walking around the village I noticed how many of the houses were building additional floors on top of what they had already, some with two floors some even in the process of 3. This showed me how the living is slowly but surely improving for these people. However even with all the improvements that have taken place or are in the process of taking place, the village is still a shocking place to visit and really opened my eyes to how much still needs to be done and as cliché as it sounds, how lucky we are at home. Taking for granted the everyday things like running water on demand, complete privacy and security (the list goes on). Yet despite all the things these people theoretically lack, each one we met had a smile on their face and was so welcoming to us. One of the mothers of a child at the school came to speak to us and just kept telling us how grateful she was for us being at the school and asking us to stay forever, this really touched me as it showed how much the work of Asha is appreciated in this community, definitely a massive encouragement and incentive to keep going and do more to help whenever we can, because like many of us have said after visiting Athidiya, no human should have to live like that.

Gwenan

Over the last week I have had many amazing experiences in Sri Lanka, from having the challenging yet fun opportunity of teaching young children to seeing elephants up close in the wild. The children are enthusiastic throughout all of our lessons and I was surprised to see just how eager they are to learn.  Yet finding it hard to remember everyone’s name’s as soon as you walk into a classroom you find yourself with all the children running up to you and asking you what your name is. It’s so sweet how they do little drawings of us on the whiteboards and write our names in Singhalese.

 Nothing beats putting a smile on someone else’s face and I can’t help but love seeing all their little faces light up when we put a simple smiley face on their work or give them a high five. Going into a class and teaching kids may seem like a little thing to be doing but the impact it makes on them is huge.

 Another event to add to my experiences of Sri Lanka is the Rhythm and Harmony Show at the Asha Foundation Centre in Attidiya which we came back from about an hour ago. The children performed many dancing and singing acts which ended with our group performing a slightly embarrassing head, shoulders, knees and toes remix. It was so nice seeing all of the hard work they all put in for us, with their dancing and singing. Before the kids left we each gave them a little present with food which they were very thankful for. None of them opened their presents, instead they took them home to open them with their family. This gesture was so heart-warming, thinking of how little they had yet how willing they were to share.  I felt genuinely moved.

I’ve grown close to many of the children and tomorrow will be a sad time saying goodbye as we spend our last day at the school. I know that I will never forget this life changing experience. 

Saffy