Keith in Sri Lanka

Yesterday, I said I would be celebrating Diwali, which is what the festival is called in Northern India (and commonly in the UK, too). In Southern India, Sri Lanka, and other parts of Asia, including Singapore where I was born, the festival is referred to as Deepavali, which is what I shall be calling it from now on. For some very basic information about Deepavali here in Sri Lanka, please click on the following link:  Deepavali in Sri Lanka (2026) | Festival of Lights, Dates & Customs Pretty much everything you will read in that link is happening here at Daya's home over the next few days. Indeed, this morning alone we had the cooking of traditional sweets in the kitchen, the thorough cleaning of the house, various guests coming and going, and various shopping trips to get all the Deepavali provisions. It is extremely similar to our run up to Christmas, and every bit as exciting - especially for the children, of course, who absolutely love it. Another similarity is the fact th...

Yesterday's blog was greatly delayed by the lack of an internet connection in Pussellawa, although I found out, of course, that this was not confined to Pussellawa, but widespread across Sri Lanka due to the shocking weather conditions, with torrential rain almost every day. There was no internet connection still this morning when I left at 10:00 on the journey back to Norwood, so yesterday's blog and diary were not completed until this afternoon, but today's is back on schedule. Having only worked for three rather intense days for the Gnanam Foundation, it seems crazy to now have a five-day break for Diwali, but I will make the most of this last bit of time with Daya and his family, with a much more intense schedule still to come when I return to Pussellawa. I had a very pleasant journey back to Norwood, and it was lovely to be back here with the family, although I am excited to go back to Pussellawa in due course, as the work there will be very rewarding. I will use the r...

I went to bed early last night and got up at a sensible time, so I felt so much more energized today, which is just as well as it turned out to be a very rewarding and successful day. I was picked up by the three-wheeler at 09:00 and had a great chat with Madona on the way to the centre. It's a 30-minute journey to and from the centre, so it has already become a valuable time to discuss the day ahead on the way there, and how the day went on our journey home. I felt for Yushan and Rasha yesterday, as they tried to replicate my lesson demonstration. My comments yesterday about teaching being a highly developed skill failed to mention that these guys are trying to be excellent teachers using a foreign language, so they deserve huge respect for even attempting that in the first place, and enormous credit and praise when they demonstrate the incredible turn around that both teachers managed when they taught the lesson again today. I wasn't sure that they would want to try to teach ...

I was extremely tired last night but still woke up at 04:00 and decided to complete some work that I wanted out of the way before the long Diwali break. This included writing a report for my school visits with Gowri last Wednesday, answering a few Tea Leaf related emails, and getting ready for a lesson demonstration on the present continuous tense later on this morning. It seemed like a very good idea at the time, but I certainly came to regret it big time later on in the day. I was well into getting my work done by the time the chanting at the Buddhist temple opposite my room started. Like clockwork, there is very loud chanting from 05:30 until 06:00 each morning, and my recommendation to anyone visiting Sri Lanka would be to secure accommodation that isn't next door to a Buddhist temple! Despite the noise, I completed all my work, and I was feeling well pleased with myself when Madona arrived in the three-wheeler to pick me up. The good vibes actually lasted all morning, as my le...

The day finally arrived when I started my key project of this visit to Sri Lanka - supporting the work of the Gnanam Foundation by helping to train the staff who deliver education sessions to youngsters from the Nayapane Tea Estate, from 15:00 - 17:00 after school on weekdays, and from 09:00 - 16:30 on Saturdays and Sundays. I received a fabulous welcome from Ms. Madona, the Countrywide Director of the Gnanam Foundation in Sri Lanka, and her lovely team of staff. I have known Madona since I first came out to Sri Lanka in 2019, when she was a teacher with Tea Leaf Trust in Nuwara Eliya, and I have followed her progress over the past 7 years, so it was particularly lovely to find myself working with her once again after a long time. I loved the building that they are working in, and I was particularly impressed with the team of staff that I spoke to today - a team of 8 staff, including Madona, although 2 were not at the centre today. I spent time with Madona scheduling the whole of the 5...

It was lovely not to have to leave at 07:00 this morning, as 09:00 was a much friendlier start time! My driver was called Chamra, and he got me from Norwood to Pussellawa in record time, as we arrived by 11:30. I am staying at the Nimbodha Lumbini Inn, which is in a tiny place called Wahugapitya, just outside of Pussellawa. It is owned by a Sri Lankan lady called Latha, who lives in the UK, and is run by her brother, Kumara, whose family are in Nuwara Eliya. I was thinking of the English expression: 'Don't judge a book by its cover' on my journey here, and extended it to 'Don't try to put a western cover on an eastern book', as this sort of sums up what I have learned over these past 7 years in Sri Lanka. Addressing Sri Lankan issues from a western viewpoint failed pretty significantly under the British Empire, and continuing to approach Sri Lanka with a western mindset generally does these wonderful people a huge injustice. It was so tempting when I arrived in ...