It’s great to be back!

After a month in the UK I have missed Badowita!  It has been great meeting up with the local teams, finding out what has been going on in my absence and supporting with finally getting some new projects off the ground.

The big news is that the centre in Badowita finally has its own water supply.  Up to now, we have been ‘borrowing’ the supply from the neighbours but what a relief for the local team to finally have their own supply.  Sister Concepta and others have worked really hard to try and get the connection.  It has not been easy.  The final sticking point was paying the yearly municipal taxes and passing the proof onto the water board and relevant authorities. After endless journeys to different offices, the matter was finally resolved with the tax for the year paid and relevant offices informed.  The tax bill came to a grand total of Rs65 – approximately 25p!

This week saw the launch of a small project but with huge potential for development in the future.  Earlier this year I got to know Seema who works as a counsellor and creative therapist and runs an organisation promoting well-being particularly among women and children.  You can find out more about her here -   http://www.ceylontoday.lk/18-10722-news-detail-different-strokes.html.  

As part of the work, she currently supports 2 groups of women, living in difficult circumstances, with an income generation scheme where they are able to sell sewing products that they have made to prestigious shops in Colombo such as Odel, the most well-known department store in Sri Lanka popular with tourists and Sri Lankans alike.

Seema has been able to provide us with a sewing teacher, Upaseeli, who this week started sewing classes in Badowita.  Upaseeli learnt to sew through one of Seema’s projects a number of years ago and is a talented seamstress.  Approximately 10 women took part in the first class and Upaseeli started with the basics teaching the class the chain stitch, blanket stitch and buttonhole stitch.  Seema and Upaseeli are confident that the group can learn to sew proficiently within a few months and we are currently thinking about products that would sell both in Sri Lanka and the UK.   

Further ideas welcome!

The class already seems popular among women in the area with more enquiries since the first class. It has particular appeal for women with children as we have scheduled it at a time in between school drop-offs and pick-ups still allowing time for the women to go and cook the midday meal.  Talking to women in the area, despite many of them wishing to find paid work, it is often difficult to juggle this with the responsibilities of childcare and managing a household.  I’ll keep you posted on how the classes develop.

All quiet on the first floor of the centre as the children meditate

In other news, the summer holidays are already upon us and school has closed.  For the first time this year, however the centre will remain open for the first part of the holidays.  Rather than do formal classes, however the teachers are running drama/music and life education sessions for the children in Badowita in the afternoons.

Dharshana with friends and Maneesha, the lead teacher from the RCCI

Support for those with disabilities continues to go well.  Last Saturday I was able to spend time with Dharshana, a young girl with a hearing impairment.  She has a profound hearing impairment and her family have been advised by specialists that she is in need of a cochlear implant operation.  This operation can only been done privately in Sri Lanka so her family are trying to save as much money as possible so that she can have the operation in the future.  In preparation for the operation, Dharshana has been receiving communication training so that she can learn to make sounds by copying others lip movements.  I was amazed to see her progress this week.  The teachers at the RCCI have been working with her on a one to one basis whenever they meet her on a Saturday and she is now copying lip movements and making sounds that are more and more like what they should be.  
 

 

Class 5 at the RCCI

I also visited the RCCI school last week and was able to get an update on how the autistic children that are supported by Asha Trust are getting on.  There remains a large demand for support for children with autism and their families and several new children with autism now attend the school.  What was lovely to hear was the progress some of these children had made.  Ilona, the headteacher, was able to tell me many stories of children with autism who had found it difficult to manage initially in the environment at the RCCI.  However, thanks to initial one to one support with dedicated teachers, these children are now able to be in a class with their peers, concentrate for periods of time and develop their learning.  Parents also receive help and advice on how they can support their child in the home environment. 

Yes, it is indeed great to be back and part of the Asha journey once again!

Katherine