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
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