Tuesday 3rd November 2026

The day finally arrived when I started my key project of this visit to Sri Lanka - supporting the work of the Gnanam Foundation by helping to train the staff who deliver education sessions to youngsters from the Nayapane Tea Estate, from 15:00 - 17:00 after school on weekdays, and from 09:00 - 16:30 on Saturdays and Sundays. I received a fabulous welcome from Ms. Madona, the Countrywide Director of the Gnanam Foundation in Sri Lanka, and her lovely team of staff.

I have known Madona since I first came out to Sri Lanka in 2019, when she was a teacher with Tea Leaf Trust in Nuwara Eliya, and I have followed her progress over the past 7 years, so it was particularly lovely to find myself working with her once again after a long time. I loved the building that they are working in, and I was particularly impressed with the team of staff that I spoke to today - a team of 8 staff, including Madona, although 2 were not at the centre today.

I spent time with Madona scheduling the whole of the 5 week placement at the centre, and establishing the key foci for the staff training whilst I am with them. I then spent time interviewing each member of staff individually to get to know them, so that I can personalise their training needs. I feel blessed to be working in such a beautiful environment with such a committed and enthusiastic team of staff, and I think we will achieve a lot before I have to leave in the first week of December.

My thoughts in yesterday's blog were very much in my mind today, as I emphasised to the staff that this was not my visit, but theirs, and that I was extremely committed to tailoring the training that I offer them to meet their needs and not any preconceived ideas that I might have about what their needs might be. The Gnanam Foundation has run a successful project here for the past 3 years, with a view to extending it to other tea estates over the next few years.

Today's photos show the lovely welcome that I received this morning, including from a group of tea picking ladies who take rest breaks in the grounds of the centre, a few of which I encountered again during a short stroll over lunch time. There are also a couple of pictures of the very enjoyable afternoon session with the youngsters.
















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saturday 5th October 2024

Image
It's my fifth trip to Sri Lanka, but on this occasion I am at last joined by my wife, Valerie, and it will be lovely not to be on my own this time. We flew out of London Heathrow Airport one hour late at 22:30 UK time on Friday, and after a rather excruciating eleven hour flight, we eventually landed at Colombo Airport just after 13:30 Sri Lankan time on Saturday. I slept for a few hours on the journey, but Valerie struggled to get any sleep at all. Sandra Wanduragala met us at Colombo Airport, and we drove into Colombo for a couple of hours - meeting up with her daughter, Selena, at the Good Market, which we really enjoyed and would love to go back to. We then went back to Selena's home, where it was good to be able to freshen up a little bit, and enjoy a nice cup of tea, before our driver, Rohan drove us to Kurunegala, where we will be based for the next two months. Arriving in Kurunegala, we met up with my good friend Tharika and her daughter, Evinka, to have dinner at Sri B...
Read more

Wednesday 4th March 2026

Image
I have reached the final day, so there are a mixture of emotions; a deep sense of satisfaction for a job that even I think has been very well done this year; a lingering sadness that I am leaving behind a country that I have grown to love so much; a mighty sense of relief that I have a direct flight from Colombo to London Heathrow; and much happiness to be returning to Val and the family after such a long time away, with great anticipation of a relaxed time together in beautiful Croatia. I was up early and had my final breakfast at the Colombo Swimming Club, which has been a delightful place to spend my final days in Sri Lanka for a number of years now, as there is a relaxed familiarity about the place from spending so much time here. I booked a transfer to the airport, then set about packing up my things, which didn't take long, as I had already spent a long time sorting out my luggage before I came to stay in Colombo. I was picked up at 10:00 to go to the airport and everything w...
Read more

Tuesday 4th March 2025

Image
I finally got to my last day here which started very early, as I was up at the crack of dawn to sort out a few things in the apartment, then get my last few bits of packing done. Razeena once again brought me breakfast, which was a great start to my day. After breakfast, I popped a present for Sandra in Ravi's office, just in case I didn't see her to say goodbye to her but then met her at the Junior School on my way back and said a fond farewell to her there. I left at 08:30, with Liyanage driving me to the airport - not that I was aware of that journey, because I had got up so early this morning that I nodded off for most of it. I hardly had to queue at all for either the security checks or for check-in, so I had quite a bit of time before my flight was due to take off at 12:50. I had a delicious, filled croissant for lunch, with a latte, then went to Gate 9, where I didn't have to wait too long before boarding the plane, which thankfully took off on time. It was an 11-hou...
Read more