Before and during our tour in August, we are really looking forward to our volunteer project (painting job) at a small primary school in ‘The Knuckles’; a forested mountain area north of Kandy, centrally located in Sri Lanka. And today, Thursday August 8, is the day!
Through the Sri Lankan Hope for Children Foundation, we have already contacted Natasja and Nishantha, our guide for the coming days, via WhatsApp and Facetime. Following this contact, we decided to recruit donors in our neighborhood. In 10 weeks we managed to raise a nice amount for ‘our charity’.
Nishantha is one of the volunteers in Sri Lanka who is affiliated with the foundation. Professionally, Nishantha organizes multi-day tracking through the mountain area, but he has a different agenda in the coming days. Nishantha knows the area like the back of his hand and has extensive knowledge of the many plant and animal species in ‘his homeland’.
We arrived at our meeting point ‘Oak Ray Restaurant’ in Kandy around noon. We drank some coffee and talked a bit. After the introduction, Nishantha and the twins took a tuk-tuk to his house to temporarily store our backpacks and the buckets of paint (and brushes + rollers) we had bought (which was quite an adventure for the boys because they had just met Nishantha met 😊).
We left Kandy around 1pm by public bus, and made a transfer to our accommodation in The Knuckles mountain area for the next 3 nights.
Because we had enough time, we made a stop at the primary school that we will be renovating in the coming days. What a warm and impressive welcome we received from the children and teachers! In fact it was a ceremonial event which made us feel very welcome and special. After introductions, tea and some local delicacies, we continued our bus journey over the hilly roads.
Due to the reconstruction of one of the bridges in the area, we walked the last part of the transfer 🥾 to our accommodation ‘Nipuna’ in the Knuckles. We were soon welcomed by an unexpected tropical rain shower. We were completely soaked from head to toe. 🌧️ We were relieved that our passports and other belongings we had with us did not get too wet by the tuk-tuk, which drove the luggage and the children the last 2 kilometers or so to the accommodation. After arriving, freshening up and changing clothes, we had a nice barbecue. We went to bed early: the journey had made us tired.
After breakfast we walked back to the small village to take the bus to the primary school. The weather was good: sunny and clear skies. The surroundings of Knuckles are really beautiful 😍!
Because a number of parents had prepared the classrooms (filled holes in the walls and moved furniture out of the way), we were able to start painting quite quickly. These are two buildings that we paint inside and out. With the help of the children and parents, I think we have done a good job.
Before the schoolchildren went home, we gave them a stroopwafel and we also handed out the toys, the filled pencil cases and other items that we had brought from the Netherlands in a large suitcase. They seemed very happy with it! 😁
At the end of the afternoon we cleaned ourselves in a small waterfall and headed back to Nipuna, just like yesterday. At 8 p.m. we had dinner: Kottu with BBQ chicken 🍗: delicious! We went to bed early again for the last full day tomorrow in the Knuckles area, hopefully to finish the painting project!
We got up early to start at school a little earlier than yesterday. We walked again the approximately 5km to the bus station in the village and arrived at the school around 10.30am. Since it was Saturday, the children and teachers were not present at that time. We immediately started brushing and rolling the walls of the smaller building, finishing the job today. Also today we received help from a few parents, including a professional painter. At 3 pm we finished the parts of the building we had planned for today. I think we can be really proud of what we have achieved. And it seems that the teachers and children were also very happy with the result. Very satisfying!
Since we couldn’t finish the entire project, we arranged with the professional painter to finish the job in the coming weeks. We pay for the paint and other supplies.
After saying goodbye we went to a waterfall to swim and wash. A welcome refreshment after a few intensive painting hours. On the way back we treated ourselves to a few cans of King Beer and a bottle of Arrack (local SL whisky): cheers to a unique experience! 🍹
This evening Rémi became a little ill. He had stomach ache and fever. He went to bed early without having eaten much. The rest of us ate with the crew and other Dutch family who had planned some hikes in the Knuckles. The crew surprised us with folkloric music and songs: also a great, entertaining experience. Thanks Nishantha & crew!
After packing our bags and eating breakfast we said goodbye to the wonderful crew. This time two tuk-tuks took us to our next accommodation – for 1 night – in Kandy: Sky Lodge. The location and views here were breathtaking. Nishantha invited us to go to a local Buddhist festival that evening called Perahera. After a cooling dip in the pool and a few hours of relaxation, the tuk-tuks drove us back to the center of Kandy to witness the Perahera. Some explanation about this event:
“The entire event of the Kandy procession lasts for weeks, starting with planting a jackfruit tree, wishing blessings on the land, to a water cutting ceremony in Sri Lanka’s longest river, Mahaweli. The entire process is packed dancing, music, drumming, waving, waving flags and carrying of the sacred casket by the anointed tusker, which is adorned in beautiful clothes. The reason behind this is to pay respect to the relic of Buddha and it is one of the most devotional celebrations of the culture. The entire fortnight is busy with devotees, spectators and tourists.”
After eating some pizza (here we met the same family we met on the bus from Wilpattu to Anuradhapura 10 days ago 😄) we came across the first elephant on the street, while Nishantha took us to the festival. After an hour of waiting (mandatory sitting on the sidewalk), the event started. An impressive event!
After seeing the Peharera we drank a milkshake in a bar and said goodbye to Nishantha. Now for real! It was a great pleasure meeting you. We had a very special time, which will hold a special place in our hearts. And again: thank you for your hospitality, kindness and care over the past few days!!! 🙏🏻
Good luck and have fun in SL in the coming weeks!
Greeting,
Bas, Mirjam and children