Tuesday 10th January 2023

I was up early, and it was a beautiful day, so I sat outside in the sunshine with my morning cup of tea, just feeling so grateful to be out here once again. There is a real sense of contentment here that I find difficult to put into words, but it is most rewarding. It was officially my first working day today, and I am fortunate that 'the office' is just down the corridor from my room in Jana and Yad's house, so there isn't far to go! 

I was supposed to help Yad to complete the Annual Report for their Kindernothilfe (KNH) Project, which I did some staff training for the last time I was here. The KNH Project is an international organisation that protects, supports, and strengthens children who are living in the poorest regions of the world, and Tea Leaf Trust does this through setting up Self-Help Groups for women in the tea plantations.

This being Sri Lanka, we couldn't start on the KNH Project Annual Report today, and I had a meeting with Jesmin instead, where she gave me a series of lesson plans to edit. I spent the morning reading through these, and I was impressed by the sheer volume of work that they represented - just a tip of the iceberg in terms of all the work Jesmin has done on curriculum development for Tea Leaf Trust.

Daya was 30 today, so after he finished work, we met up at The Grand Hotel to celebrate this milestone in his life! The staff were great, and they had even made a little cake for him with 'Happy Birthday Daya' written in chocolate on the plate! They presented this to him with the traditional birthday song, and we had a lovely evening chatting about the progress that he has made since I first met him just over 3 years ago.

Today's photos show my walk down towards Blackpool Junction, with a picture of the tuk-tuk that a lovely Christian guy called Stephen took me round in to buy a small table for my room, plus a couple of photos from this evening's celebrations.








Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2023 at 12:55 AM

    Love the shirt Keith! Congratulations on the continuing good work that you do. Nothing much to report here: rain, strikes, Prince Harry, you know, the usual good news :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. CharlesJanuary 11, 2023 at 2:57 AM

    Good to read your first few blogs, Keith. You write as though you are at home in a foreign land.
    What a source of knowledge and support you must be to the TLT community of the tea plantations.
    We look forward to keeping up to date with your progress over the next two months.
    Best wishes from a mild and damp Acquae Sulis, UK.

    ReplyDelete
  3. John LJanuary 11, 2023 at 4:05 AM

    Good to hear from you again Keith and good to hear that the work in Sri Lanka is back on track.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2023 at 4:26 AM

    Bravissimo! Beautiful pictures! When are you taking me with you? :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. ElenaJanuary 11, 2023 at 4:31 AM

    my previous comment was anonymous...now I managed to write my name although I know that you would recognise me and my comments everywhere ! Bravo! One day I would like to join you in this unique experience :-) xxx from a sunny Catania!

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2023 at 5:21 AM

    Glad to see you've arrived safely despite the epic journey.

    ReplyDelete

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