The Challenge

Easter's over and I've had more than my fair share of chocolate.  But now there are only 3 months to go until the 10k so I need to start training in earnest. My limited attempts in the gym so far have been unproductive and even a 3k target seems unreachable.  And then, techie geek that i am, I find a way of plotting the course on Google Maps with a 3D fly by. Awesome.  Until I see the long, long lanes winding through the Gloucestershire countryside; I even had to speed up the fly-through to believe it isn't going to be that long. 

My personal challenge ahead shouldn't be under estimated but I draw comfort from the fact that we now have 4 people running the race and momentum is building for others to run or walk 10k in other parts of the world between July and September as part of the 10k for £10k challenge.  I can't be the only one to fail.

If you want to see the flythrough of the course take look at this 60 second video.

If you want to support me and provide further incentive please donate something on my justgiving page or go to the the Friends of Della and Don webpage.

Cheers

10k for £10k

gavin priestley is fundraising for Friends of Della and Don - JustGiving

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Monday 22nd Feb

An early start as it’s our last full day. We turned up at the school for 0900 not really knowing what to expect. We arrived to a traditional Sri Lankan welcome and took our seats for the unknown! Having been presented with a schedule of events, we realised the importance of the day to the school. They have never been able to hold a “Prefects Day” before as it requires the handing over of a blazer with the school emblem embroidered on the chest pocket and a Prefects Badge.

Having provided these we witnessed what really was a remarkable event, with deference shown by the prefects to all the teachers and reverence to their parents, who were so proud of their children. Every parent congratulated not only their own child but all others. It was one of the most moving occasions any of us have ever attended.

Then it was the turn of the other children from Grade 1 to 11 to receive their “Class Leader” badge and once again we watched delighted children and parents as they accepted their award.


After the presentations, local dancing and songs, and a tea made by the students, all that was left for us to do was to tie up some loose ends. We handed over money for the computer which will hopefully be in place by the end of the week; said our good-byes to the teachers and wished the students good luck for the future and headed down to fishing village. It was there that we learnt about the plight of a family with a 4-year old son at the Nursery school we have visited who has been diagnosed with a hole in the heart. His father earns just $70/£50 pound a month and needed $210/£140 for the life-saving operation. We agreed to pay the hospital for the operation and look forward to seeing the child next time we’re back.

After more tearful and moving good byes, we reflected back on our exhausting but rewarding fortnight here where we managed to achieve and accomplish so much in such a short time:


• Provided 170 pairs of shoes and socks for the children of the Nursery and Village schools


• Assisted the teachers with vouchers towards new shoes –an adult pair of shoes would be about 20% of a teacher’s monthly salary


• Renegotiated the food provided to both schools and paid for March’s bill


• Have agreed to pay a salary to a teacher who provides computer classes and music lessons who also has very good English and has email connectivity which will make things so much easier to stay in contact with


• Provided the school with a brand new computer which can be used for both admin purposes and to provide computer-based training to develop English skills and be used after school or out of term time for one-on-one computer studies


• Pushed for urgent repairs to be made to the electricity supply in the Nursery school which is a danger to the children


• Distributed clothes and socks which were donated to the most needy cases


• Recognised the need for partitions to be built inside the school to separate Years 7-11 to improve concentration - Udaya will be seeking 3 quotes for the job;


• Identified and agreed to pay for a child who would benefit from additional after-school English and elocution lessons


• Provided conversational English lessons for children in grades 9-11


• Identified a need for additional classes for the youngest children who start school but can’t read or write; again, we’re waiting for an estimate of the costs and would hope to be able to support this later in the year;


• Agreed in principal to fund after school computer classes if a suitable location can be found


• Held another successful fun day for the school which helped build teamwork, cooperation and provided fun handing out medals to the winning team


• Presented the first-ever prizes to encourage attendance and achievement


• Unveiled a plaque in memory of Declan Gallagher, Don’s brother, in whose name the musical instruments were kindly donated. Following the success of the school band, we agreed to consider future requests for additional instruments in order to allow more children to become involved


• Gave the Orphans their only day out and agreed to continue to fund the English teacher, band master and vocational skills teaching


• Provided blazers to the school prefects so that the school can be properly recognised


• Provide the fisherman with a new GPS system to replace one purchased 4 years ago


• Presented new sports equipment to the school


• Held the annual cricket match with people from the fishing village


• Provided a grant to a child from the Nursery school who has been diagnosed with a hole in his heart so that surgery can go ahead


• Paid for a further tests for a child from the village who has had major surgery following kidney problems


• Continued to provide assistance to 10 deprived families to assist with their education


• Continued to fund the medical clinic by providing money for drugs and to pay for a doctor


The two weeks have flown by and with further time here, we could have achieved even more. We’ve continued to support established projects, provide assistance to new cases of hardship and have also identified new areas for the future where we think we can really make a difference. Of course, none of this would be possible without the on-going support of all of the Friends of Della and Don. Thank you so much to the many who have been so kind and donated to make all this possible.

Sunday 21st Feb

Back from our little trip away for 2 days which we spent in the tea plantation area. This country is as rich in history and diverse in its beautiful scenery and wildlife as it is friendly and welcoming. It really should be on anybody’s list of places to visit.

Day 12 -Thu 18th Feb

We know from the feedback on Facebook that loads of you are reading the daily updates and it’s great to hear from you. But don’t forget you can see the full feed on the blog at http://wwwfriendsofdellaanddon.blogspot.com/ where there is other stuff such as videos and links to the website.

Back to today, which was hot… very hot. But we kicked off with a visit to the Nursery School where it was their turn to receive brand new socks and shoes - made possible by a very kind single donor in the UK. We spent about an hour just playing with them and ending up making as many animal noises to match the pictures in their books, which they found hilarious.

Then we handed out the shoes and it wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that some of the boxes were as big as the kids receiving them! Whilst this was going on, Della met with the Buddhist monk who pays for the orphanage for an update on the plans for a new building and to see what could be done to accelerate the repair of the open mains electricity fuse box. Hopefully that will be sorted very soon while the new building may take another year or so.

Next was a return visit to the Village School. The first thing they had organises was the official unveiling of the Declan Gallagher memorial plaque in honour of Don’s brother where the band instruments are stored. Don made a short, moving speech honouring those who made the band a reality (we’ve subsequently received a video of the school band playing at Christmas on Sri Lanka’s equivalent to GMTV which we’ll post on to YouTube when we’re back in the UK.

Other events included the official handover of winners’ medals for the Sports and Fun day earlier in the week which was introduced by Steve making a speech in Sinhala which went down really well and was much appreciated.

We also managed to tie up a few loose ends. First we agreed to pay the “volunteer” teacher who has been at the school for over a year but hasn’t received a penny. Although a relatively modest amount (about £360 per year) we have complete confidence in him and that he will continue to teach the kids English, music and computer studies. He is extremely popular with the students and got the biggest cheer and applause when all the teachers were presented by Della with gift vouchers to buy new shoes.

We also agreed to pay a mother who has 3 children at the school enough each month to cover their bus fares – just £3. She is a model mother, totally dedicated to her pristinely-turned out children and who cleans and sweeps at the school. Until now, she had made drinks at home and sold them for just enough profit to pay the 100 Rupees to cover the fares each week. It’s such a small amount but she is absolutely determined that her children get the best education possible so perhaps can lead a better life than she is used to. Her eldest son now Head Boy and accredit to her.


These amounts are relatively small but additional expenditure for us – WARNING shameless plug follows: if you think you could help cover the costs, please make a small donation. It’s amazing how far so little goes.

We then lunched at Udaya’s house on the beach. A Malibu mansion it’s not and even after visiting many times, there’s still that rather uneasy feeling of discomfort at the living conditions. But, they had gone out of their way to lay on a spread of freshly caught lobster, fish balls, dhal curry and rice, that even the flies failed to stop us tucking in.

After we took tea on the beach – yes, the Brits were sat in the roasting sun whilst the locals found whatever shade they could. Udaya and his wife then presented Della with a surprise birthday cake to mark her birthday last month and a rather extraordinary musical lighty-up thing. Almost surreal, but special nonetheless.


Eventually we got back, hot, dirty and dived into the pool before rushing off in Tuk Tuks in the evening to try and source a computer for the school in time for our last full day on Monday.


We’re all pretty tired now; it’s been so full-on. So on Friday we’re heading for the cooler climes of the tea plantations to try and start some of the books we brought.


Next full update on Monday – enjoy your weekend!

Day 11 - Wed 17th Feb

Over the last week, the relationship with the Village School Principal has grown and there is now much more mutual trust which had previously been elusive. This culminated this afternoon when she joined us for tea at the hotel. We were able to re-iterate that we really only had the best interests of the children at heart and wanted to help her improve the school so that it was the school of choice in the future for the village and beyond and to ensure its future was guaranteed.

We discussed lots of ideas and agreed to look at:


providing moveable partition walls in the main hall where the pupils from Years 7-11 are taught to minimise distractions from the other classes;


pay a monthly fee to one volunteer teacher to teach English, music to the band, and provide computer studies if a suitable venue can be found;


give the school a makeover by whitewashing the walls to brighten the environment; repairing some of the broken door frames; installing some ceiling mounted fans and metal bars over the windows;


provide after school classes 3 times a week for the youngest children who can neither read nor write;


and to see if there were a cheap way of providing transport for the children who were previously based in the fishing village but had been relocated to flats by the government some distance away.


All of these are pretty ambitious tasks which will require a lot of work (and I daresay extra fundraising) to make happen but should make a huge difference to the children.

Day 10 - Tuesday 16th Feb

This morning it was time to re-visit the Girls’ Orphanage especially so that Don & Steve could meet them having been laid up in bed last week on the trip to the beach. It was evident how excited they were to see Don again and his Mr Bean impressions soon had the girls in hysterics; the clown was back in town! We were treated to some of the special performances held back from last week’s trip ranging from local dances to performances of the “hokey pokey”. But with games to play – being blindfolded and trying to place the eye on the elephant, or mimicking monkeys – there was a really relaxed atmosphere and not anything like you’d expect in an orphanage. Given Don’s recent health scare and Mrs Mohammed also being seriously ill at the same time, both gave rather poignant speeches about how important the support we give the girls and equally how highly regarded Don, Della and their friends were in their eyes.

We agreed to continue to fund the girls’ education for the foreseeable future and really look forward to being able to take them out again. The whole set up is very organised and the professionalism and love that the teachers have for their girls is evident and we hope to be able to transfer some ideas to the Village School.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Day 9 - Mon 15th Feb

Today was a remarkable day. Over 130 pupils from the local Village School had a wonderful time at the Sports and Fun Day. But today was also one where we all reflected just how much all of the stuff we’re doing is only possible by the efforts of so many. Here, Colin and Udaya were at the school at 6am hiding the bikes for the big reveal ; the staff and pupils made so much effort to set things up to run smoothly; Shahan and his family took time off work; and a couple of holidaymakers gave up their day to help out and hand out over 130 pairs of shoes. In the UK, individual donors, groups of people in various workplaces, and family members had all given their time or money to help the poor, underprivileged and needy. We sincerely thank everyone for making days like today, which will live in people’s memories for a long time, possible.


At 0830, we were met at the school gates by the School’s new band. The school had only received the instruments last September following our last visit and as a gift from the family for Don’s 60th birthday. Lumps in throat time as they played for us with so much pride….

Next was the fulfilment of another idea from the last trip – the presentation of a memorial prize for best attendance and performance over the last 12 months. We were honoured to have Sarath’s widow, son and daughter attend and handover the certificates and bikes. The excitement in the crowd when the first bike was wheeled in behind them was a magical one; when the 5 winners saw them it was pretty emotional.

By now, it was 10am and the heat was beginning to beat down onto the school’s dusty playground. But the battle between the 6 teams was about to start contested by the Lanka Lions, Raging Bulls, Black Rhinos, Kings of the Ring, Queen Bees and Scooby-Doos. Six events would decide the victors:


The Sack Race

The 3 Legged Race

Passing Water

Lime and Spoon Race

Mega Balloon

Balloon Dancing

 Despite all the organisation, each event took 4 times as long to complete as we made up the rules on the fly and had to improvise with some of the limited items available to us. But the kids remained happy, cheering their teams, and the smiles and laughter were infectious.


Eventually, Steve’s “Lanka Lions” were crowned victors with a tight 3-way tussle for the top with only 2 points separating them from Don’s “Kings of the Ring” and Colin’s “Black Rhinos”.

We were probably wilting by now but there was more to do: just the small matter of handing out over 130 new pairs of shoes and socks to all the children. Luckily, our new recruits Beryl and Bernard came good and stepped in to help and were visibly moved as the children expressed their thanks by touching the ground before them in customary style. And then finally we hand out other new cricket set to the school. With that, the pupils began to disperse after a long hot day – and it was interesting to see how many cramped toes change immediately into the new shoes.


By 2pm, the enormity of the effort required to organise such events hit us as we guzzled some cold Cokes. There are almost too many people to thank – but if you have helped in any way, large or small, thank you, and rest assured it has been a wonderful, worthwhile day for the kids of St Mary’s Village School.

Oh, and when we got back to the hotel, another box from the UK had arrived packed full of socks and collected as part of the “Sock it to them” campaign. See, everyone’s amazing!!

Day 8 - Sunday 14th Feb

Lots to organise today.  We started with the delivery of the 5 bicycles to the hotel which we’re storing in our rooms until tomorrow's prize giving ceremony at the School Fun day.   

Then we visited the bakery to arrange food and refreshments for tomorrow plus to renegotiate the bakery order which provides meals for over 150 kids every day.  Prices are rising in Sri Lanka and the pound is falling against the USD which means we need to make every cent and penny go even further. The bakery has acknowledged that it can provide local food as well as buns each day so we're just waiting for the quote.

We also had an interesting visit to the home of the signmaker for Declan's memorial.  He has done a magnificent job and is shown pictured with Don.  Hopefully we'll get it installed in the School's music room later this week.

There was also some last minute shopping for items for the sports day...including over 150 balloons... Yes, the infamous ballon-blowing competition and balloon dancing is back.  We are really looking forward to what should be a packed day which will see us awarding the bikes, handing out over 100 pairs of shoes, presenting a new cricket set and seeing the band play for the first time.

An early night beckonzzz

Day 7 - Sat 13th Feb

And on the seventh day, FODAD rested…. Well, apart from recruiting a couple of holidaymakers lounging around the school to come and help us with Monday’s Fun Day and checking our schedule for the remainder of our stay and realising how little time there is to do all the things we need.  But we came up with lots of new practical ways which we think we may be able to help the school, in particular, so that one day it might become a school where parents want to send the kids and achieves some of the highest grades in the area…