Thursday 7th July 2022

It was my last full day in Sri Lanka, and I had no commitments, so I was determined to enjoy myself before tomorrow's exhausting journey home. I slept in a little, had a long, slow breakfast, then decided that I couldn't face staying in all day, as I really wanted to go to Colombo Port, where the people have been camped out for more than 90 days now, demanding that Gotobaya Rajapaksa resigns as President.

It was a little ironic that I was visiting the political protest at Colombo Port on the day that Boris Johnson was finally forced to resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom! I soaked in the atmosphere of the protest, and I took some photos, but somehow it didn't feel enough to just do that, so I got involved by chatting to a small group of protestors, and then doing what I could to help them.

Basically, the protestors are reliant on people helping them to meet their basic needs, so I bought some drinks for them, and then took them shopping to buy some much-needed food supplies to keep them going. Maybe I was a bit mad to get involved, but I was very moved to see young people fighting for economic and political justice for a country that I have come to love so much over the past 3 years.

My flight tomorrow has been brought forward by 45 minutes but is going to be landing at Heathrow Airport 45 minutes later, which seemed bizarre until I found out that we were having a 'technical stop' at Kerala Airport in India, to take on fuel for the flight, as there is no fuel in Sri Lanka! I just hope the plane has enough fuel to get to Kerala Airport. I think it is going to be a very long day tomorrow!








Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 8, 2022 at 12:15 AM

    You must feel you had joined the struggle to oust the President - an inspired way to round off your trip. We now await your safe return to the country with the Mother of all Parliaments that is thankfully still very much alive and kicking!

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