Dear people,
What a culture shock but what a happening. This was for me my first time on a far away trip. Of course I have been for business in Europe and even in China once, but this was different.
My partner Natasja knows the ins en outs in Sri-Lanka but for me everything was totally new and strange. E.g. the shoemaker who sits on the pavement on a small rug mending shoes from old looking materials . The dustman who pulls his cart and stands with his bare feet in the rubbish to push it down.
However the children affected me even more. They really live in poor conditions to say the least. In the morning they walk to school on their bare feet, or flip-flops with holes in it, and often with nothing in their tummy. After the lessons they walk all the way home again with a big smile on their face . I have been 3 weeks in Sri Lanka, have seen with Natasja the real sri lanka and not only the beautiful hotels but also the poverty and the fight of people to survive and give their children a good, happy and beautiful future.
This trip taught me to look at people in a different way of which I was never interested in.
When I come back next time I will look at things from a different prospectus .
Alfred my partner has written this piece)
But want have we done?
1 wettewa school
We gave educational materials for the nursery and infant department. It was very sad to go this time as the maths. Died a few days earlier due to a tuk-tuk accident. We also looked at the sponsor project at this school and I met up with my sponsorchild.
2 serevena home
We gave the last cupboards. The last 5 years we have given 25 cupboards. They still contact Gamini when there isn’t enough food (read not enough donations). Plus alle the boys got 200 rupees to put in their piggy-bank and the metron will put this in the bank for the boys when they leave the home.
3 succes
I come back here back every year to see the girls. We had a good chat and we gave them , like every year, 200 R. pocketmoney and a bar of chocolate.
Besides those items we give every year something else. This time it was a trial (mini) perfume and they could choose a lipstick donated by Etos in Heemstede. This year something had changed there were less girls. After the war families start to look for lost family so some of the girls were reunited with their own family members again.
4 autistic school
I visited an autistic school to have a look at the new toilet which was built with Rina’s money. Teachers, children and the mums were very happy with it. We gave the teacher a lot of wooden games. She was very excited about it. There were toys from Holland (v.b. primo and duplo, ) and toys I had bought there. This autistic school is part of a small primary school with 40 kids. It is very poor but with a team of dedicated teachers. We gave them educational materials as well and all children needed new shoes so we provided those shoes.
5 school (name ?)
we visited another school where a toilet was built from our money. It was a happy occasion happy to see everybody so happy. They asked some money for a roof above a small shop where the children can buy a bit of food as most children need to leave very early to be in time at school. The lady who prepares the food earns a bit of money herself.
6 janikas school
I visited this school last year and didn’t think it was very poor but gamini told me there were. So I went back and we discussed what was needed.
2 out of the 3 requests I could give them. First a ceiling fan to keep their computer room cool. (computers given by the government) and secondly books. So I met up with 3 of the teachers at the book shop and they had a list with them and could buy for 100 euro worth of books.
7 sponsorschool
last but not least I visited together with Ramani our sponsorschool. This is sponsored by primary school R.K De ark in Heemstede in the Netherlands. I asked the children to do a beautiful drawing for the children at my school. I gave all the paper and crayons to use. Furthermore all parents were told to be there at the meeting where Ramani explained about this project and what needed to be done. Teachers promised to tidy up more and keep the place neat. Children thanked for our help and parents promised to help with the painting, cleaning etc.