Sri Lanka 2019
From the 17th of November until the 16th of December, I went to Sri Lanka again.
This time both my sons, Tom and Koen, joined me. Unfortunately, this was only for about a week. I started in Hikkaduwa, after which the boys and me went to Kandy. We stayed at Amma’s Homestay.
We went with Nishanta (a great guide) to the Temple of the Tooth. We got an amazing tour. We also went to the Knuckles, with Nishanta, for a day. We were planning to go on a great hike; unfortunately, we got a lot of rain along the way. Because of this we could not finish the entire hike. Along the way we did spot a lot of birds and Nishanta gave us a lot of information about the birds and the surroundings.
With Gamini we visited two schools. We brought toothbrushes and toothpaste for the children. Together with Koen and the children we played a game of memory. We also had a look at the equipment at the playground. The equipment that we bought with the money my colleague’s and I saved. It was amazing to see how much all the children enjoyed it.
We got 35 football uniforms to hand out to the local football club, from our local football club VV Bergen. We did this together with Nishanta, it was amazing. First, they played a match, after that Koen and I got to hand out the uniforms, while Tom took the pictures. We took a picture all together, after everybody got their uniform.
This is where the journey ended for Tom and Koen. I got to stay another week and hand out school supplies to all the children that were sponsored. The school year starts in January, a little different than August/September when our school year starts. This was also a very unique experience. To witness how they try to make the best out of every year, with the little resources they have.
Every day we went to a different school to drop off school supplies and every day I got to witness a different program. The programs looked a lot alike, with a lot of speeches and children doing a play. I got to witness different dances and songs. Beautiful to see how much the children enjoyed doing this and all their happy faces when they got their school supplies.
I got a lot of sweets because every time we finished handing out the supplies, they made tea and sweets for the parents. It was delicious.
In the end, I made the agreement with Ramani that I would come back in 2020 to help again. It would be better to be there a little earlier. That way I get to witness this all again. I hope to be able to put together the school supplies next year.
Overall the experience was amazing.
Ingrid Wester