Monday 18th April 2022

I had the briefest of lie-ins, before treating myself to a traditional Sri Lankan breakfast of a spicy omelette served with a lovely lentil dahl flavoured with coriander and tiny curry leaves, plus sambal and roti, accompanied by some traditional fresh fruits. The addition of a big pot of coffee made this a truly wonderful start to the day.

Reggie picked me up in his tuk-tuk to take me on the short 7km drive to Nanuoya, which is where the Nuwara Eliya Tea Leaf Vision School has now moved to. It is a tiny, rather cramped building, where my good friend Dayaneethibabu (Daya) is now the Principal, and it was so good to see him again, and Ramesh and Nuzi, who I also got to know well on my first trip in 2019.

Unfortunately, Yadharshini, the Director of Tea Leaf Vison was not there to meet me as planned, so I had a group phone call with Sutharshan, Jesmin and Tharika from the Management Team to go through a Draft Programme for this three-month visit. I then had a Mentor Meeting with Daya, and interviewed 10 of the students, before heading back to Nuwara Eliya with Nuzi via another tuk-tuk journey.

I had a great catch-up evening visiting Donald and Ladushan (with Ramesh), two former Tea Leaf Vision teachers, who have set up their own business (called GROW) through an international organisation called Bookbridge. I ended the evening by visiting a previous favourite haunt called Ambals, with Donald and Ramesh, where we all enjoyed a delicious masala dhosa.
















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