Tuesday 26th November 2024

We are in the rainy season here in Sri Lanka, but the torrential downpours that we are currently experiencing are unusual, and the result of a cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal. It started raining yesterday afternoon, rained continually all through the night, and continued to rain all through today, with the weather forecasts suggesting that it will continue to rain for at least another couple of days, which is, of course, having devastating consequences in some areas of the country.

The eastern part of the country is more seriously affected by the flooding caused by the rain. My good friend Daya, who is living and working in Batticaloa, has been flooded out of his lodgings downstairs and is trapped alone upstairs with only a few biscuits to eat until help arrives. Apparently, they are sending out boats to rescue people, so that they can be taken to temporary relief centres in churches and schools on higher ground that isn't submerged by the floods.

For us, the worst thing about all this rain is simply how dark it has been through the day, as we have got so used to the bright sunny mornings here, with occasional storms in the afternoon and the evening. It has made it much cooler here, with a few more people wearing long trousers, and a handful even wearing jumpers because 'it was getting cold'! Believe me, it is NOT cold here, and this is definitely all relative to what you are used to!

We were in school today as usual, completing various bits of work, then this afternoon we started to think about getting ready to leave, and we wrote a few thank you cards to give out to the various people who have made our stay in Kurunegala such a wonderful one. It is much harder for Valerie to say goodbye than for me, because my goodbye is a short one, as I am returning to Sri Lanka as usual in January, whereas she has no idea yet when she might be back again.

For the first time ever, there are no photographs of mine today, as it has been too wet to bother to take any (normally I would just choose some of my favourite ones that you haven't yet seen to share instead). However, it feels appropriate today to dispense with my photographs, and share some from Sri Lankan news (not necessarily the best quality I'm afraid), plus a couple of Daya earlier on in our stay when we went to visit him in Batticaloa (with the irony of him being in a life jacket on a boat trip!), as I would like to invite you to spare a thought for my friend Daya, and all those thousands of people so badly affected by the flooding here in Sri Lanka at the moment.