Visit to Sri Punyakami school

Last week I visited Sri Punyakami  school.  Sri Punyakami is attended by many children living in Athidiya  and Asha Trust supports several projects at the school.  Asha Trust supporters who have come to Sri Lanka will be familiar with it having visited or volunteered there. 

Having been a frequent visitor to Sri Lanka over the last few years and not just as a tourist, I have got used to the high levels of poverty in many areas and it is sometimes difficult to look at it all with fresh eyes and remember what it was like the first time I saw families living in makeshift houses, near dirty water and trying to eke out a living with very little.

Then occasionally, I see or hear something and I am reminded of the stark differences between some peoples’ lives here and my own.  Halfway through the visit as Ms Silva, the headteacher, was showing me around, a dustbin truck arrived and there was a bit of commotion as Ms Silva directed the children to empty their classroom bins.  One child from each class diligently took out the class bin and put it in the rubbish truck carefully ensuring no rubbish was left on the ground.  Can you imagine us doing this in the UK when we were at school?

 

Ms Silva showed me how Asha funding is supporting the children that attend the school. For example, the shoe project pays for shoes for children who don’t have any.  Ms Silva advised me that in the past children have not been able to attend school due to not having shoes.  Ms Silva and the classroom teachers have so far this year identified 43 children who were in need of proper footwear and these have all been provided.

Asha Trust also supports a breakfast club where children are given rice and curry every day.  The government pays some funding towards this but it is not enough to ensure children have a healthy, nutritious meal every day.  I was saddened to hear that sometimes this is the only meal that some children have during the day.  Clearly, education is really important for breaking the cycle of poverty and according to Ms Silva, the breakfast club has really got parents on board with sending their children to school.  Parents know that if they send their children to school, they will be guaranteed at least one meal a day.

Ms Silva knows Athidiya well and is in contact with many ex-students so she will also be speaking to the young people in the area about the employment training programmes that Asha are currently funding and organising.  It looks like we finally have enough potential trainees for the hair and beauty course and I am meeting with them today along with Sister Concepta, Cheryl, the trainer and another member of her team.  The training will last 3 months with the trainees attending the centre in Athidiya initially before moving to Cheryl’s training salon in Colombo.  Trainees will be given the chance to learn about all aspects of hair and beauty from hair cutting to sari drapes – it all sound really exciting!  The training will hopefully start next week, I’ll keep you posted!

Katherine