The final day before an early morning departure tomorrow. Many mixed emotions of visiting the schoolchildren at both the Nursery School and The Village School. Some of these kids will be moving on to new schools in January when the new school year commences and for all of us who have seen them growing up, it could be the last time we see some of them. We can only hope that they have a better future ahead of them than when we first started supporting them. It seems a possibility that the Village School will have their first ever O’ Level student with the minimum amount of 7 pass grades to continue to further education. Should this be the case we will endeavour to continue supporting his further studies.
Amongst several of the final projects we had set out to accomplish today was a meeting with another bakery to find out if they could offer a better price to supply the 150 meals we provide every school day. Even a saving of 1 Rupee (0.006 pence) a day would make a big difference over a year. It presently costs about 11.5 pence to ensure a child receives a nutritional daily meal and the support that we receive ensures this continues. We found that we currently get good value as the new bakery wanted to charge 16 pence per child……..even after heavy negotiation! It currently cost about £23 a year to feed just ONE child a year. There are 140 mouths to feed every day.
We also had discussions with the Principal about ensuring the security of the school and agreed to provide new mesh windows and secure doors. This will also allow more natural light into the classroom, making a better teaching and learning environment.
Della & Gav also had the opportunity to meet with the Head of Maintenance from the International School in Colombo, where Adam is Headmaster, to give us an idea of costs involved at local prices to make repairs to the leaking and poorly maintained school roof.
We then had some very personal and profound business to complete, which left us all incredibly upset but also with the knowledge that one child had been saved from what could have amounted to a life of poverty and servitude.
Saying farewell to people who have become friends, companions and FODAD colleagues is always difficult. The tears in the eyes of hardened fishermen along with those we were fighting to keep back hopefully paints enough of a picture of the close connections that are built and how much people appreciate the assistance that you give them. When we look back and ask ourselves if we have achieved what we set out to do, we can hopefully say yes. If you’ve been following the blog, we hope you’ve enjoyed reading the experiences. Much more could have been written – only time and really slow internet connections have beaten us - but maybe those of you who know us and what we do will have the chance to ask any questions. As this is the last entry, it would be great to have any comments.
Thank you to all those who have supported in whatever way be it large or small. Every contribution makes an enormous difference to the lives of people who would shake you by the hand and give an almighty hug or the child who would run up to you and wrap their arms around your waist. Please try to experience this wonderful country and its people.
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