Last day

 Pupils at Koralawella school

Two of our hotel trainees

I had a packed day planned for the last day.  A visit to Koralawella School first thing – this is the school where Shyla has volunteered on her own for  the  last couple of years,  making the most of her long summers before the rest of us arrive.   Asha provides a breakfast club, initiated because the teachers told us a few pupils in this very poor community were fainting during the day.  They don’t faint any more.  Our friend Elizabeth is Headteacher at a primary school in East London, and is keen to establish a link with this school.  Last Summer Shyla worked with the  Koralawella pupils to write about themselves and their families for the UK pupils, and I had a lovely collection of responses from London to take back.  It’s all a bit slow and old school without internet access (no electricity at the school), but we’ll get there.

And then I went to meet the potential hair & beauty trainees, to take them to the training venue to meet the course leaders.  Unfortunately, none showed up!  The local team were very disappointed, and a bit embarrassed I think, but to be honest, it was quite a big ask to think they’d head off to Colombo , to an unknown venue to find out about rather scary course.  I should have read the signs when one of the young women I'd invited a few days earlier asked me what she needed to wear - of course I told her what she was wearing that day would be just right, but perhaps it was all rather intimidating The main reason given for the no-show was that they and their families were concerned about the  journey to Colombo – all of 4 or 5 miles.  But we face this in  East London all the time – young people boroughs like Newham and  Tower Hamlets are reluctant to seek work in central London.   

So I went off on my own to the Salon and explained to Cheryl, who runs the programme.  She responded really positively and said the magic words “Why don’t we start the course off in your new centre then?”   We know that local is best, but I had understood that it was a requirement it had to be delivered in the established centre in Colombo, with all the equipment etc.   She’s going to start off with activities that  don’t require sinks,  and we’d need to get some simple portable mirror-stands.   Once the trainees are hooked and relationships established, she’ll move them to the Colombo salon.  A very positive outcome.  That afternoon, back in Athidiya, a young woman sought me out because she had heard about the course and was very keen to pursue a career in hairdressing – she’d done a short course already, but it had not led to employment.  She is well known to our team, and she will help with recruiting the  first cohort. 

I also met the team leading the hotel management course.  We discussed a celebration event at our new centre in May, to mark the completion of the first cohort’s training.  They are going to invite parents and others from the local patch to celebrate the achievement of the group who completed the programme, all of whom will by then have secure employment in high quality hotels and restaurants.  We hope this will help us to recruit the second cohort.

I’m back in the  UK now, looking forward to returning in July with the whole family and 18 young people and their teachers from Eston Park School in Middlesbrough.