The Friends of Della and Don: Week 4 in Sri Lanka

The week did not start well! We had expected Steve and Gav to arrive on Sunday at about 4pm ready to start work on Monday morning but due to a delayed flight out of Birmingham, they missed their connection in Dubai and we did not see them until late Monday afternoon having spent 24 hours in transit. Really disappointing!

On Tuesday morning, Steve and Gav visited the school and gave them 2 laptops which had been kindly donated by Cleeve School in Cheltenham and joy of joy – a trumpet! We finalised our preparations for “Fun Day" which is fiercely competitive and made arrangements for the visit to the beach from the children’s home the next day.

The Principal is presented with new laptops and a trumpet

Asika the Bandmaster gets to grips with the trumpet

Wednesday morning was Fun Day. Della and Don’s team were “The Sharks” Steve’s the” Lanka Lions” and Gav’s "Scooby Doo". Della made a mess of unfurling the Union Flag but after that hitch, the games were underway. The Sharks were well into the lead in no time. They won the “lime and spoon-race” easily and did well enough in the sack –race, bottle filling, musical chairs and balloon dancing to win medals for the first time ever! We think they were given the strongest team out of pity. Gav’s support for his team reached new levels of devotion especially in the heat of Sri Lanka.

A slight technical hitch!

Special guest appearance from Scooby Doo

The victorious Sharks

Della and Don with winners' medals

Our friends Beryl and Bernard had turned up at the school earlier with a brand new sewing machine. The Home Science teacher was thrilled and we look forward to the kids being able to sew their own uniforms in no time at all!

Presenting a new sewing machine

Late that afternoon we entertained 22 children from a children’s home inland. Some of them had never seen the sea. Each of the children has a seriously tragic story and to be able to have such fun with them was magical. They also enjoyed soft drinks and sea-food fried rice at a local beach restaurant.

Enjoying the sea for the first time

Last shot before enjoying a meal

Thursday was the long-awaited day out with the girls from the orphanage. The bus turned up sharp at 9am and the girls had decorated it beautifully. They sang all the way to Bentota where we played a few games before having lunch and then going down to the sea. They were really impatient to get down there and when I told them they would have to “learn to be patient” they said that they had waited patiently for a year. Well, you cannot argue with that! They had such fun. Sadly it was time to leave all too quickly. They presented us with beautiful mugs they had decorated for us and then sang all the way home. Such lovely girls! We were so sad to say goodbye and this year more than ever, we realised just how much this day out means to the girls.

The Orphanage girls perform before hitting the beach

On Friday morning, Steve, Della and Don went to the clinic which we support. We were thrilled that we could assure them that we would be able to fund them through the coming year. They do an amazing job. We pay for the drugs and the administration but the doctors give their time totally free. Through the same group we sponsor 18 children’s education they are all doing well.

From there we went straight to the school. Eight of the children had been entered for an environmental workshop. Two of the children had come first and second in our district and are going forward for awards from the President of Sri Lanka. We had provided the caps and uniforms that they will need for the occasion and were very proud to present them.

Presenting caps for environmental awards

Friday Afternoon saw the 8th Cricket Match on the beach between Udaya’s team and Lahiru’s team. We watched drinking tea and eating cake. Udaya’s team won and Della presented the cup to the proud captain before the fishermen launched their boats to fish all night.