Friday 27th September 2019
Today was the day of the Speech Conference. I was impressed with how well the
Wedding Hall was decorated when I arrived. There was an air of
excitement, as staff and students put together the final touches to make this a
memorable event. There were table decorations on each of the tables for the
students and special decorations on the tables for the guests. I was impressed
by their attention to detail. It was all so well-thought-out and organised.
Yad, Jesmin and Sudarshan arrived
with Rachelle, who had borrowed one of Yad’s saris and looked great in it.
Almost all the male students were wearing their smartest shirts and ties,
whilst the girls had been told they could wear their best outfits and came in
the most beautiful saris, with almost every colour combination you could think
of. It all added to the atmosphere and the intent was clearly to make this
event a very special one for the students. Everyone was taking photographs on
their phones and I was asked to pose with so many students I couldn’t tell you
how many times, and I also took a lot of photographs myself.
The event started with the lighting
of the oil lamp ceremony and all the chief guests, including me went up one by
one to take our turns lighting the lamp. Students then hosted the event in
pairs, one person in each pair talking about their community project, which
then led on to the various classes (7 of them) delivering their presentations.
There were also two girls, one in the first half and one in the second, who
delivered individual presentations on ‘alcoholism’ and ‘gender equality’, both
of which were extremely well-delivered and very moving.
There was a lunch break in the
middle of the event and the chief guests ate downstairs with the beautiful
backdrop of the hills and the lake behind us. It must have been super special
today, because we were even provided with cutlery and I must admit it was
rather nice not to have to eat lunch with my fingers.
Once all the presentations were concluded
in the afternoon, we all voted for our favourite group presentation and the
chief guests had to vote for the individual student they thought had presented
the best. All the chief guests were then involved with handing out certificates
to all the students, with the winning group and winning individual students
receiving little plaques. The event concluded with a vote of thanks and was
followed by everyone taking more photographs of each other – me included. (There are so many photographs that I have selected 10 for today and will let you have the other 8 tomorrow!)
As we drove back to Nuwara ELiya in
an old white minibus, I felt quite sad to leave Maskeliya behind. I had a
wonderful week there and I learned so much about the work of Tea Leaf Vision,
preparing me very well for the tasks ahead.
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