Friday 23rd January 2026

I was up late last night doing my blog, completing my diary, sorting out thank you cards, and finally getting round to writing up the case studies from the two interviews I did with two of the Trainee Teachers on Wednesday, which I was determined to complete before I left Tea Leaf Centre Maskeliya today. I love doing these sorts of interviews and writing them up, as I think it is one of the things that I am most skilled at doing, so it was a pleasure to get them done.

I would love to have attached the case studies here for you to read, but I doubt that data protection protocol would allow me to do that, so you will just have to believe me when I say that these were a very powerful record of the Tea Leaf journeys of these two Trainee Teachers, and great testament to the impact that Tea Leaf has had on their lives. I could interview all the staff and write up dozens of case studies that would make remarkable reading and be truly inspiring.

Today was a wonderful final day with my Trainee Teachers and capped the end of a lovely week at Tea Leaf Centre Maskeliya. It's a little sad to leave each Tea Leaf Centre, but it has always been an 'au revoir' rather than a goodbye so far, and I will see many of the staff again this time next year, hopefully. Uma, the Principal, gave me a lift into Maskeliya, and whilst I was waiting for the bus a random guy stopped and offered me a lift in his car to Norwood, which was rather lovely!

I hadn't been back at Daya's for very long when Gobi, Kavi, and their lovely daughter, Merashini, appeared, stopping by on their way from Bogawantalawa to Hatton to do some clothes shopping for Daya's wedding. I was delighted to see them, as I have probably worked more closely with Gobi and Kavi than any other member of staff at Tea Leaf over the past 7 years, and I will be working a lot with Kavi at Tea Leaf Centre Bogawantalawa next week.

Today's photos show my Trainee Teachers preparing for their final teaching experiences outside in the lovely sunshine this morning (as it was quite cold inside the building today), students enjoying a game of carrom at lunchtime, the final, obligatory, staff photo at the end of the day, the mystery driver who gave me a lift back to Daya's in one of the smallest cars I have ever been in, and a couple from Gobi and Kavi's visit early this evening.











Comments

  1. CharlesJanuary 24, 2026 at 3:33 PM

    The colours of the teachers' clothing are vibrant - presumably because the sun is shining so brightly?
    How good that by the end of next week you will have spent an equal amount of time in each of the four TLV centres. Hope the Bogawantalawa week doesn't involve early starts in the way that Maskeliya has done.
    Look after yourself, Keith.

    ReplyDelete

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