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.
One of the things we agreed to investigate before we left Sri Lanka last February was the erection of new partitions in the main school hall. The teachers felt that installing moveable walls would create a much better atmosphere for learning and limit distractions from the adjoining classes.
Since then, thanks to your continued support, we've funded 5 new partitions and these have now been built and installed and are already being put to use.
And are they making a difference? Well, thanks to the computer which we provided to the school, we are now in regular contact with the staff and this is what Asika, the teacher to whom we provide a small salary had to say: "...as a result of the partitions, we can see an improvement of all the sections of the school. Actually we see a different level of teaching & learning after separating classes."
And in further news, Asika reports that because of the rise in interest in IT since we installed the computer, the school has been provided with another one from the local education authority. Asika continues: "Again and again, we would like to thank you all for the service you have provided for our pupils."
