Kiran and Sanjeev's guest blog

We are Kiran and Sanjeev.

Having taken a year out of our lives back home in the UK to discover the world, we are now in Sri Lanka.  We have experienced so much in the several months of travelling and now an opportunity has arisen to stop, reflect and contribute a little.

We've been lucky to meet Della and Don, whose story of surviving a Tsunami in Sri Lanka and then returning every year for the past decade to help the people devastated by the natural disaster, has been nothing short of a humbling experience. Kiran having heard so much about Della and Don through working with Della's brother, was keen to find out first hand what the charity does.  We were also extremely keen to learn about the different projects and to get involved in whatever which way was needed.
During our time here so far we spent a day visiting some of the many projects that Della and Don support.  We ended up at the village school which is attended by children from poor backgrounds, including those living by the railway.  Although these children don't have much in terms of material worth, they appeared to be happy and had a healthy appetite to learn. This was evident when we started to play interactive games with them teaching them about 'opposites', the class grew from six to a crowd!  

Thanks to the charity, these children now have uniforms, shoes and a lunch provided for.  A few of the children even came in on Saturday to help paint their school furniture, some of which has seen better days. Children from the UK could learn a thing or three from them! 

Some teachers are funded through the charity and some by the government. We witnessed first hand English being taught by a teacher funded by the charity. He attends once a week to teach ALL the children English, in one sitting all together. We were amazed at how attentive, engrossed and engaged these children were, again reinforcing their appetite to learn.

The Principal has been witness to these very children attending school hungry and in dirty clothes, some without shoes, and some in flip flops. She'd always wished for better for these children, and in her very own words she conveyed how 'Della and Don have been a god send to these children', providing them with opportunity and hope.

Although only having experienced a snippet of this charities work, it has left us feeling humbled and honoured to have had the privilege to be a part of this community for even a short time.