Tuesday 10th May 2022

The first picture of an empty bridge at 08:00 during curfew this morning is symbolic. It was pouring with rain - the rainy season seemed to kick in last night with no let-up - and there was a power cut around 07:45, which is the first one I have known this early. I live at one end of this bridge, and I cross it every day to get to school. Normally at 08:00 this bridge is teeming with life, but sadly not today.

The empty bridge to me symbolizes the fact that Sri Lanka is running on empty. My blog has attempted to be positive each day, and Peter Hopwood emailed me this morning to ask me if the situation out here was really as bad as the UK news suggests it is. The sad answer to that question is that it is very dire out here indeed - not for me personally - I really am very safe - but the country is certainly in crisis.

The second picture of the revolting leech (covered in bits, as I think it fell off Gundu the dog this morning before I found it!) is also symbolic. At the bottom end of Sri Lankan society, women pick tea leaves for next to nothing and deal with leeches every day. At the top end of Sri Lankan society, there are human leeches ruling this country who have bled the country dry and desperately cling on to power.

So, my blog today is rather more serious, as I don't want you to think I am having an amazing, jolly time out here, and that everything is fantastic. I am having a wonderful time out here, but it is tinged with great sadness, as the people are suffering. My work out here is badly disrupted, but for me that is a minor inconvenience, as I come back to the UK at the end of 3 months here, leaving the mess behind.

It is important to get this message across to you, so please bear with me as today's blog is necessarily a bit longer. I am here primarily to monitor and evaluate the Rotary International Project, but as this is being facilitated through staff from Tea Leaf Vision, I am also here to serve them as a charity, and I intend to continue coming out here to do that for as long as my health and finances allow me to.

In terms of the suffering here, you need to see the short-term and the long-term positions. In the short-term, soaring inflation has seen prices of basic goods rocket, so the poorest people in society - many of whom live on the tea estates in the hill country - are becoming concerned about where their next meal is coming from, and the real threat of starvation is fuelling people's anger against the government.

In the long-term, the picture is even bleaker, and it is sadly a question of hope. Young people in Sri Lanka see no hope of a future for themselves here, and many young, highly educated Sri Lankans have already left the country or are seeking to emigrate to Australia and Canada in particular. This 'brain drain' has serious implications for the long-term future of Sri Lankan society and is heart-breaking.

For young people on the tea estates, emigrating to Australia or Canada to find a better life is an impossible dream, and Tea Leaf Vision exists to help them to at least try to achieve a better life in their own country. So please excuse my blog being twice as long today, with two very stark images, but it was important for me to share this message with you to help you see the situation out here more clearly.