Friday 20th May 2022

Following on from yesterday, as promised, I can tell you that after concluding our first two Government School visits, Gobi had very astutely realised we would have time to fit in a third one, so he had made a quick phone call to arrange one and we headed off to St. Joseph's College in Maskeliya, which was like going from the sublime to the ridiculous, as this felt like a very upmarket Government School visit!

With around 1,500 students, St. Joseph's is the largest school we have been to. I could tell straight away how good it was, as we were escorted to the School Library to meet with the four teachers who have taken part in the 6-month Training Programmes. We actually sat around a good-sized table to chat about their experience of the project, which was an extremely positive one, giving me some great feedback.

There were two male teachers and two female teachers, both of whom had participated in the conversation sessions - Mrs. Juliet with Anthony Birts, then Prashanthi Raviraj, and Mrs. Megadharshini with Charles Hayward. They felt that the sessions had developed their pronunciation and extended their vocabulary but had also given them some understanding of a very different culture.

It was quite an impressive visit, and although the Principal, Mr. Parameshwaren, had not been available to talk to us on our arrival, I did bump into him as we left in the pouring rain at the end of the day, so we had a brief chat then, and were photographed under our umbrellas! It had been a fun day, but quite exhausting, and I had to have a nap for a couple of hours when I got back to Ananda's!

In terms of yesterday's appeal for help, I received 100,000LKR a few days ago, 50,000LKR of which is going to Mousakellie No. 02 T.V. School (see blog on Thursday 5th May) for basic materials for the students and 50,000LKR to the Staff Hardship Fund at Maskeliya Tea Leaf Vision School. If you are interested in helping in any way, then please just email me at: kjledbury@hotmail.com.

P.S. I am now receiving more comments on my blog, most of which are named, so I know who has sent them. A couple have been sent anonymously, which is a bit sad, as I then have no idea who has taken the time to leave me a comment, so please do add your name if you are leaving a comment for me!










Comments

  1. CharlesMay 21, 2022 at 12:14 AM

    It was good to speak to Megadharshini on Thursday only hours after you had met her, Keith. She was pleased to have met my mentor (!) and - as you say - seems genuinely interested in the English culture which she absorbs in the conversation sessions. I hadn't realised how well funded her school is compared with other government schools.

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