Week 1 Blog

The majority of the first week was spent introducing our visitors, Carol and Ellen (the Head and Deputy Head of the Village School in London) to our projects.   The parents, teachers and children of the Village School in London have been long term supporters of FODAD; they have funded the school meals at both the Village Nursery and the School which have been provided daily since mid-2005, as well as paying for the playground, which was opened on the first anniversary of the tsunami, and its recent refurbishment.

The School

Our first stop was a visit to the Village Nursery so that Carol and Ellen could meet the teachers and the children.  The children put on a small 'Perahera' (a Buddhist festival procession).

Carol, Ellen, Della and Don with the Nursery School teacher

Mini Perahera

Next stop was the school, where Carol and Ellen were able to hand out the food to the children, which they were pleased to see was healthy and nutritious.  In the afternoon we were all treated to a performance of dance and songs.  They gave several different sizes of cricket sets to the school, which were immediately put into action.  They also managed to persuade a visiting UK school to donate three netballs which the girls at the school were delighted with.  We also had the privilege of being able to watch one of the English lessons given by the teacher employed by FODAD since February.  We were hugely impressed with the quality of his lesson and the enthusiasm  shown by the class.  The teacher, Ishan, also teaches English on the beach twice a week on the beach.

Ellen watching the English lesson

English on the beach

The new netballs

On Saturday afternoon there was a game of 'Elle' (A Sri Lankan sport similar to baseball) on the beach which became fiercely competitive, with Udaya's team winning by a huge margin (see picture below of the winning team).  The sporting event also gave Lucy and Udaya the opportunity to hold a rematch of the famous 2012 100-m sprint competition.  

The wining team!

The race

On Sunday we visited the Children's Home to see the two boys, originally from our village, in Siyambalape.  It was great to see Sanjaya and Sanjeewa again, looking well and happy, and all the other children too, who were delighted with the cricket bats brought by Carol and Ellen. 

Lucy, Sanjaya, Sanjeewa and Harry

The Children's Home