When we last visited Sri Lanka in February/March of this year we became increasingly concerned about the lack of ecological awareness in the village, particularly concerning the dangers of burning plastic and leaving it on the beach. As a fishing community whose lives are heavily dependent on the sea, we were keen to improve people's knowledge on this issue. Sadly, the situation was not helped by the lack of support from the municipal council who did not encourage the village to protect their local environment.
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New signs in the village & the freshly painted class room
Before she left Sri Lanka, our friend Sarah Greaves left a power-point presentation with Udaya (the fisherman who is FODAD in Ratmalana) It explained the dangers of plastic in the ocean and was for use in our beach classroom. By chance, a group of students met Colin (the fisherman who prevented Della from drowning in the Asian Tsunami) and were enthusiastic to help clean the village beach. They got in touch with Della, who advised them to share the presentation with the school and the wider village community. Udaya invited the local priest who came to share the message. Much to our great joy, Kishmi (Udaya's daughter) was appointed translator., She could not have done this without the English lessons at our school on the beach.
When the municipal council saw the effort going into cleaning the beach, they agreed to be come involved in regular garbage collections.
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| Local priest sharing the message (Kishmi translating on the right) |
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| Using the laptop bought by Sue Liddiard in March |
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| Colin painting the class room |
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| After the first few hours of cleaning (English teacher third on the left) |
