Tuesday 12th November 2024

Today was an incredibly busy one - so much so that my blog is much delayed. We said goodbye to Sky Heaven this morning, as we set off around 07:30 to Tea Leaf Centre Bogawantalawa, having the briefest of stops on the way at Daya's family home in Norwood, where we had a cup of tea with their aunty, who has been like a second mother to them. The journey along the much-improved road to Bogawantalawa is a lovely one and we enjoyed it very much.

When we got to Tea Leaf Centre Bogawantalawa, we were warmly welcomed by Ms. Subagaran, the new Principal there, and someone I have known since I first came to Sri Lanka in 2019. We also popped upstairs to see Kavi and her daughter Merashini, as Kavi is someone else I have known since 2019, and the person, alongside Jesmin, who I work most closely with in Sri Lanka. It was lovely to see her, as both Jesmin and Kavi are a delight to work with.

We spent time chatting with the staff and students, but, after an early lunch, we had to leave to make it to Tea Leaf Centre Maskeliya, where we spent a lovely afternoon at the last of our 5 Tea Leaf Centre visits over the past 5 days. Mr Sivabalan, is the new Prinicipal there, although his predecessor, Mr. Chandrasegaran, who now works with the Central Management Team, is also based in Meskeliya, so we met him too.

After a whirlwind of an afternoon at Tea Leaf Centre Maskeliya, we popped in for a cup of tea at Ananda's garage, where I stayed with his family for many weeks in the spring of 2022. We then popped in to say hello to Babu the tailor in Maskeliya, and Sobiya, who was my conversation partner for 6 months, before going to Rizvi's house for dinner where, after a wonderful chicken dinner, Valerie had her hands painted with some beautiful mehndi patterns, by his eldest niece.

Today's photographs show our visits to Tea Leaf Centre Nuwara Eliya and Tea Leaf Centre Maskeliya, plus a few from our social time in the evening with Sobiya and Rizvi.

















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