August 2014 Week 3 Blog

The medical clinic we fund has now been open once a week since May 2005 and the doctors have seen nearly 16,000 patients in that time.  As ever we were welcomed by the committee who we have worked with since the beginning.  We went through the accounts and were surprised to see how much the cost of drugs has increased in the last 12 months.  We are delighted that we can continue to support them as they do an amazing job supplying free advice and medicines to people who could not otherwise afford them.

On Wednesday July 30th we visited the sewing machine project near Hikkaduwa.  We bought the women their first sewing machine over four years ago and we subsequently bought two more machines which now support over 100 people.  On our last visit in February they asked us to buy an overlocking machine so they could make their saris to a more professional standard and this trip we were pleased to be able to go with them to buy the machine. 

Visiting the Sewing Machine Ladies in their shop

The following day we had been invited to open an art exhibition at the village nursery school.  The kids had made fantastic sunglasses, drums and hats out of yoghurt cartons and coloured paper.  Della can be seen  which Della can be seen modelling.   The nursery school is on the premises of the local temple, run by Ananda (the monk who divides his time between the temple in Mount Lavinia and the jungle nursery - see previous blog).  We discovered that he had a treasure chest of artefacts in the temple, which included a compete bound volume of Singhalese newspapers from 1934.  

Cutting the ribbon

We went immediately to the school to watch an end of term cricket match.  We all presented trophies to the winning team and best players, which was a nice to way to end the term and say goodbye to all the children. 

Presenting trophies

The next day we met with Wishwa whose letter many of you may will have read in May of this year (http://wwwfriendsofdellaanddon.blogspot.com/2014/05/from-boy-to-man.html).  He has started his A-Levels and we agreed to pay for his extra classes and uniform.  His dream is to go to university as his parents are incredibly poor, and we will do our best to support him in fulfilling his goal. 

Many of you will have read about Doreen who is confined to a wheelchair after an accident last year. We support her and her two boys whom we have known ever since we have worked with the school.  We took her youngest son, Smith, to buy clothes for him and his elder brother.

On Saturday night the fishing village threw a magnificent party for us on the beach, with some of the best fish we'd ever tasted, as well as amazing music.  We ate and danced into the early hours.  An enjoyable end to a busy week...

Party time