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…

Day 6 –Friday 12th February

The good news is that following a dose of the strongest dose of antibiotics known to man, Don and Steve are on the mend and made it down to breakfast. Just as well, as we had a packed day planned. First, was a trip to the Medical Clinic where FODAD funds at least 10 families with medical and educational needs and provides drugs for the clinic. We met each of the 10 children and reviewed their progress. The difference each time we visit is remarkable; each child continues to improve at school or is responding well to the treatment they receive.

This is Diva & Kiva’s story:

Born to a poverty stricken mother, their father was an alcoholic and drug addict who left the family soon after the birth of the twins. Their mother receives no income from him or his family to support the children and is unable to work due to severe depression and Kiva has chronic asthma . Through FODAD, the clinic is able to support this family by providing drugs and childcare. Both children are doing well and their performances at school are improving.  And the remarkable thing..? This assistance costs as little as £7 per month.

Next up was a visit to the School. One of things we arranged on our last visit was a Prize for the Best Attendance and Most improved pupil in memory of Sareth, an old friend of Della and Don who helped in the early days immediately after the Tsunami and before his death was their major contact in Sri Lanka. We needed to find out who had qualified so that we could buy the promised bicycle. The only problem was that the school wasn’t able to separate 5 different pupils. So there was nothing for it but to estimate what we thought we’d spend on a single bike and split into 5 equal cash prizes to be presented at next Monday’s sports day. Out of interest, we went to a couple of bike shops that afternoon – it sounds a doddle but everything takes five times as long to do especially in the heat – and soon found we’d seriously overestimated the cost of a bike. After a bit of deliberation we all agreed that, as the reason for the prize is to motivate the kids to attend school, we’d buy five! Just can’t wait to see their faces when each child gets a bike when they’re expecting some cash which most likely would end up in the pockets of their fathers…


Also today, we discussed with Udaya how the new fishing nets were going which were donated so the village could act as a co-operative and become more self-sufficient. They have used the nets and caught fish but the numbers have been relatively light so far but there are still about 2 more months available to them before the monsoon season hits. The normal fishing still continues to provide a catch – the shark pictured would be sold for about £30.

Day 5 – Thursday 11th February

In medical news, the health of both patients deteriorated overnight. Don was extremely uncomfortable with severe vomiting and diarrhoea while Steve’s aches grew progressively worse and both were confined to bed for the rest of the day.



Elsewhere, reports of a general uprising by the populous to some of the political activities going on at the moment seem to be exaggerated. Our lone reporters, Della and Gav, travelled to the Negombo region and witnessed no visible signs of malcontent on the streets.

And finally 72 orphaned girls were taken out by Della and Gav, their only trip outside the orphanage since our last visit in July 2009. The girls were visibly disappointed that ‘Uncle Don’ wasn’t able to make the trip but excited nonetheless even if there was much less singing on the coach. After an hour’s travel we stopped at Bird/Fish World, a pretty old fashioned park with sad looking birds in too-small cages. The girls didn’t seem that impressed either and found the play park more fun; who wouldn’t if you hadn’t been out for 6 months?!
 Another hour went by and we made it to the beach near Negombo. The girls’ initial reticence was short-lived as soon as we changed into our swimming costumes and charged into the sea. In no time, the girls were splashing around, playing ball and just having tremendous fun.

They all missed Don terribly – ‘he is like a father to us all’, said one – and many spoke about how hard they had prayed for him to recover after his recent surgery.


Although FODAD provides funding to the orphanage for some lessons, sewing and crafts and a music teacher, it’s almost impossible to think of anything we do that brings such joy to so many and the girls are a credit to the orphanage.

Day 4 – Wednesday 10th February

During the cricket match we were introduced to a young boy of 11 and pupil of the Village School who had recently undergone surgery to his abdomen area. Following the surgery, his doctor from the free medical centre insisted that he underwent a scan as the boy was still complaining of pains. As he would have had to have waited for more than a year – there are only 6 machines in Sri Lanka – Della and Steve agreed to meet the family at a private clinic in Colombo where he could be scanned. We will find out what the outcome of the scan is next week.



Next was an extremely useful return visit to the School where we met the new English teacher. She is only 25 and originally hailed from Ratmalana. She was full of enthusiasm and almost tearful when speaking of her hope that should one child graduate through university it would fill her with pride and satisfaction.


Then to the plaque maker, who has been charged with making Declan’s memorial for the music room in the school. Unfortunately, the sign-maker had taken it upon himself to change the words that he thought more appropriate, change the colour and font and insert random spaces where he thought they might look aesthetically pleasing. We put him right and were assured the corrections would be made.


Finally, by the end of the day, the first casualties of this trip had been reported. Don didn’t make it to dinner because of sunstroke and Steve was complaining of aches and pains apparently as a result of a “spectacular diving catch” during yesterday’s cricket match.

Day 3 - Tuesday 9th February

If we didn’t have BBC World on the TV or occasional access to the internet, it would be hard to know what was really happening in the outside world. So it’s slightly unnerving to hear that the President has arrested his only rival in the recent presidential election and dissolved parliament. Such actions can only risk the stability of this country, which just seems to be getting back on its feet with 100% occupancy levels in hotels now that the war is over and confidence had returned.



It was therefore great to spend today with the local kids and villagers to whom the politics matters very little. In the morning we went unannounced to both the local nursery school and then St Mary’s primary school. Both are places where we can see for ourselves the difference that FODAD is still making.

At the nursery school, we spent loads of time just playing with the kids and it’s amazing to see how trusting in us they became. There are now 25 kids registered in the school’s, one-room building. The two teachers do a fantastic job with what they’ve got but had been promised a new building after the tsunami. We called the local Buddhist monk who owns the land and he has agreed to meet later in the week so we can at least find out when a more suitable building might become available. In the meantime, if we can simply get the overhead fan working, it’d make it much more comfortable. Needless to say, the daily meal which FODAD supplies, is still eagerly received as you can see and the teachers said is often the only food or drink they receive.

On to the primary school which now almost feels like a second home. Even though we hadn’t announced our intention to arrive, it was still surprising to see so many teachers “at seminars”… First job of the day was to hand out pastels and paper to 25 kids to do drawings of things that matter the most to them which we intend to bring back to the UK and exhibit and maybe make calendars from.


We also spent a lot of time holding an impromptu English class and finding out more about the students. There are some outstandingly bright children who want to learn.

In the afternoon, our friends Pat and Clive came up from the south of the island where they have been stopping for 4 weeks. They joined us for the 3rd “Ten-ty Ten-ty” cricket match with the coveted “Queen Della” trophy up for grabs. This year’s event had some added prestige given we were using some brand new cricket equipment donated by Callum in the UK who is cricket mad. The locals were especially impressed by the stumps which didn’t get washed away each time a wave hit the beach! So with the sides picked (a record 22 players) and the spectators taking tea on the sidelines, battle commenced. Udaya’s team batted first but managed only 48 runs in the allotted 10 overs. As Steve’s team went into bat it seemed that the trophy would be retained by the English captain. But after some crazy run-outs, and superb catches by the opponents (and glorious ducks by Steve and Gav) victory was Udaya’s.

Day 2 - Monday 8th February

Pretty much an organisation day and down to breakfast at 7.30 and arrangements made for the three wheeler tuk tuk to collect us at 9. Taking our life in our hands we climbed aboard and sped away along pot holes and bumps, through oncoming traffic and fumes to arrive at the Village School where we were to have a meeting with the principal. To our surprise she was actually there and not away at another seminar or meeting! However out of the 12 teachers there we only counted 5. Out of the 120 children we provide food for, school uniforms, shoes and many other things there were about 60.

Eventually we got down to business and discussed the new school band for which we had provided instruments on the last visit in memory of Don’s brother Declan. They are actually very proud of the band, which in Sri Lanka is apparently hugely important and 24 kids stay after school on a Friday for music lessons. And they’ve made pretty good progress in the 6 months since our last visit, featuring in the local press and TV reports! The Principal then asked for an accordion, which we said we would look into, but subsequent enquiries suggest that this would cost over £130 which seems excessive. There was a long list of other essential things she wanted too, which we’ll have to look into.


We then discussed education and were delighted to hear that there was a new English teacher whom we hope to meet later in the week. We did get to speak to some of the kids from last year, who said she was a very nice lady and a good teacher.

The Principal discussed the forthcoming exam results and of the 12 children who took O Levels, they hope 5 will pass. This would be a vast improvement on last year when it was 2 (must be the 2 weeks of English lessons in June /July ’09!!). We then talked about new uniforms, shoes, food, sports, attendance and asking the kids to do artwork that can be taken back to the Village School in Hampstead who support this Village School by the rail tracks.


After what seemed hours of an exchange of views we went off for a meeting with Udaya (the fisherman and our main Mr Fix It man on the ground) and managed to put a timetable together in order to achieve what we can for the school over the next few weeks.


So, a plan is beginning to take shape…


The one thing that we have noticed is just how much busier it is. Lots of tourists are at the hotel which has to be a good thing for the local economy . The downside is that some of our European neighbours don’t get the concept of queuing or being polite to the staff. The only other discernible change? … good to see just 5 years after the original Tsunami, there are now signs erected directing people away from the beach should another hit the coast.

Day 1 - Sunday 7th February

The great thing about travelling is that you get to experience a whole new world. The worst thing is the travelling itself. So about 16 hours after getting up On Saturday, we arrived, bleary eyed at our base for the next 2 weeks at 4am on Sunday morning. We managed to stay awake long enough for a bit of breakfast before snoozing for a few hours. The rest of the day was pretty much reconnecting with our bodies and adjusting to new time zone but we did make a start on discussing the things we needed to do and so the start of an agenda for the next fortnight began to take shape.