Keith in Sri Lanka

There was no school for the students, but the staff were in doing their own TKT English training, and I worked in Chan's office upstairs. There were panicked cries mid-morning, as a swarm of bees appeared at the school. All doors and windows were closed, and fires lit to create smoke to deter the bees, who eventually settled in a nearby tree (you can just make out an oval black blob in the picture I hope!). I was speaking to my wife, Val, on Messenger, and about to speak to my daughter, Hannah, who was with her, when there was yet another power cut! I managed to catch up later (and got my son Ben as well), but Hannah had left to go back to London by then, so I was sorry to miss her. You can imagine the huge disruption these regular power cuts - often twice a day - are causing to people's lives here. I took a tuk-tuk into Maskeliya whilst the power was out and wandered round the town taking photographs of the buildings, which I find quite astonishing. They are a muddled concocti...

I had a very enjoyable time at work today. I was scheduled to take a 2-hour Kindernothilfe Project training session this afternoon, but I could not meet Mr. Saravanan (Vino) yesterday to plan it, as the school was closed, so I chatted to him this morning about his expectations for the training, which I then spent the rest of the morning planning (instead of what I was supposed to be doing on the schedule!). The Kindernothilfe Project does outreach work in various rural hubs with some of the most vulnerable (often suicidal) mothers in the area. They set up self-help groups for these women so that they do not feel alone and support them in doing whatever they can to make their lives better for themselves and their children, including encouraging them to set up their own small businesses where possible. Tea Leaf Vision has a team of 7 Outreach Workers setting up self-help groups that currently include almost 400 very vulnerable mothers across the region. Vino has promised to take me to so...

Unfortunately, today was a day full of frustrations. I should have been visiting government schools today, but there were big protests all over Sri Lanka, so all schools were closed again. I still had work to do, so I was able to go into the school building today to complete some of it. I took a photo of the Tea Leaf Vision bus, as an example of the support that other Rotary Clubs have brought to TLV's work here. Today's tropical storm came quite early, and just as I was going back to Ananda's around lunchtime. It was also just before another power cut, which meant the minutes of the meeting I had yesterday with Gobi and Jesmin could not be emailed until later today! Dogs don't mind this disruption, of course, they just lounge around on the roof, as the pictures of Laura and Lily from first thing this morning show! On top of the torrential rain and the power cut, I had news of problems with our building work in Cres, Croatia. I felt a bit better after chatting to my wif...

I thought I would start my blog today by showing you where I am staying at the moment in Maskeliya, so the first picture shows where my lodgings are. I am staying at Ananda's, who is a car mechanic, running his own garage business. My room is above his garage - the open door at the end of the walkway in the centre of the first picture, next to the little balcony with two pillars on the corner. The second picture today shows the view from my room when I open my door in the morning. Laura, one of the family's dogs, is curled up near the end of the roof, with a better shot of her being the 'dog on a hot tin roof' in the third picture. The fourth picture shows the walkway from my room, with the fifth picture showing a little outside shelter that has been built for guests to sit in if they want to. I got to school early this morning and joined a small crowd waiting for it to be opened. I attended the morning staff meeting, then observed one of the Volunteer Teachers teaching...

I had a good night's sleep at last, so I woke up ready for the day today, and it was a very busy one! I was excited that my host, Lasanthi, who is a wonderful cook, had made me egg hoppers for breakfast, as this was a real treat, especially as they were accompanied by pumpkin curry, which might not be your ideal breakfast choice, but, honestly, it is truly delicious, and it certainly sets you up for the day! I was so happy to be in school all day today, having got there for 08:30 when it opened. There are pictures today of me outside the front of the school; of Mr Chan, the Principal, sat in his office; of the staff who were present at the early morning meeting; and of some of the students concentrating on their teachers as they delivered their lessons. The atmosphere in school was so friendly, warm and positive. I observed three of the teachers teaching today, then spent time giving each of them feedback, which is something I hadn't done since I was last in Sri Lanka just over...

It was time to say goodbye to Nuwara Eliya for a while today - maybe even for as long as 5 weeks - as I headed up to Maskeliya to focus particularly on the Rotary International Project, but with a lot of other Tea Leaf Vision work thrown in too! I said goodbye to Rajan, my lovely host in Nuwara Eliya, and thanked him for his consideration and kindness. I promised to visit him when I return to Nuwara Eliya. Ramesh took me to Maskeliya, but we went via Kandapola (where Reggie took me by mistake yesterday!), so that I could have a meeting with Sutharshan and Jesmin. Their beautiful daughter Adhira can also be seen in the photos. It was an incredibly beautiful journey to Maskeliya, one I have grown to love, as you will see from the accompanying photos, but it was rather long and tiring travelling that far in a tuk-tuk! I arrived at Ananda's, where I will be staying this week - and, possibly for the next 5 weeks! It is very basic accommodation, but I have a bed, a shower and a toilet, a...

I had a strange old day today, and, in many ways, it was very amusing! It was always going to be a very relaxed Sunday for me, so I spent the morning quite leisurely getting on with some paperwork for Tea Leaf Vision, and doing a bit of sorting out and packing, ready for my move down to Maskeliya tomorrow morning, as I now have an extra suitcase of stuff to contend with! When I was at Yad's on Wednesday afternoon, she invited me back for lunch today. Reggie took me home in his tuk-tuk that day and agreed to pick me up at 13:00 today to take me to Yad's. He arrived well on time, but I think something must have got lost in translation, as the journey seemed rather odd to me - and it certainly didn't have the familiarity of my journey to Yad's on Wednesday. Eventually, we got to where Reggie thought we were supposed to be going, and he beckoned me to get out of the tuk-tuk. He took me to a front door and Jesmin appeared! It transpired that Reggie thought I was visiting Sut...

This was the start of my first weekend 'off', but it felt no different really, as the school has been closed for the past three days because of the troubles, which I will focus a bit on today. The first picture below shows a beautifully tilled patch of ground that I can see from my room. I have watched barefoot workers in the heat and the rain make a wonderful job of this over the past few days. I spent the morning resting and catching up on paperwork, then ventured out on a rainy walk to GROW, which is the company that Donald and Ladushan, two former teachers from Tea Leaf Vision School Nuwara Eliya, set up. It is great to see the success they are making of their business in the current economic climate, including employing Kawya, another former Tea Leaf Vision teacher, on their staff. I spent some time helping Donald with ideas for his business, and then walked back into Nuwara Eliya town centre, where I took a photograph of one of the petrol stations in the centre, but sadly...