Monday 9th May 2022

There was no school again today, as spontaneous protests were breaking out all over Sri Lanka, so it wasn't advisable for the students to come in. This decision became all the more justified later on when a nation-wide curfew was imposed this evening, as tensions grow ever stronger here. The nation-wide curfew will still be in place tomorrow, so schools will be closed and travel around the country banned.

I was told that I made it sound very peaceful out here, and for me personally that is true, as Maskeliya is a rural town and quite remote, but elsewhere, in the capital Colombo and other larger towns, the situation is very volatile. I have been advised not to go anywhere tomorrow, but just to stay here at Ananda's, which of course is what I will do, as I don't want to put myself at any unnecessary risk.

After intense pressure, Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as Prime Minister today, but his brother Gotabaya is refusing to step down as President, and it seems clear that the protests and the unrest will continue until he does, although that isn't going to create some magic fix for the country in the short-term. It will take a long time for divisions to heal and for the country to recover economically and move forward.

I worked in the school building today, but I doubt that will be possible tomorrow. I just managed to pop into Maskeliya and wait at the Bus Station to meet up with Manga, who was my conversation partner in the second cohort of the Training Programme. It was lovely to see him, and we went for tea and vadai, but as soon as I heard that a curfew had been imposed, I got a tuk-tuk straight back to Ananda's.