Monsoon Crisis

One of the great things about being in email contact with the Village School is that we get regular updates about what is going on rather than having to wait 6 months to see for ourselves. Therefore we were pleased to see that one of students has been rewarded for his hard work by being selected as a prefect. More shocking, however, was the impact the seasonal monsoon is having on school life although we had already heard that the fishermen were experiencing a very difficult time as they were unable to fish and not generating any income.


These pictures show that the heavy rain is now pouring through the roof of the school creating deep puddles in lots of areas. During our last visit we learnt that the school was built in the 1920s and noticed that it was shabby but the photos clearly illustrate the impact of the twice a year monsoon on the fabric of the building.

Unfortunately, there is little we can do from here but we have urged them to try and get the local authority to make repairs; in our experience, though, such requests will probably fall on deaf ears.

But this story just goes to show how difficult life remains for a large number of people in Sri Lanka. Some of us may be experiencing leaner times, but we still enjoy a standard of living beyond the imagination of the Villagers.