9 days into our Nov 2014 trip

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Last week I posted a blog  about our new classroom on the beach and there will be more on that before we leave Sri Lanka at the weekend but here is more that we have been up to.

On Wednesday last, we took the girls from an orphanage we have supported since  the Tsunami to the beach. The only time they go outside the walls of their orphanage is when FODAD visits.   They look forward to these days so much, as do we and  have the most fantastic time together.  We have known some of the older girls for 9 years now.   We have paid for  their home economics classes including cookery, embroidery and English.  4 of them were trained as nursery school teachers and a couple have married and had babies.  We hope that we can continue to support the girls for years to come.

In the sea with the girls

At the weekend, we distributed toys and clothes all of  which had been donated by friends in New York and Oxford.  The kids were thrilled to bits

New clothes and new toys!

Brand new clothes

No, we are not too old!

We also visited our dear friend Doreen.  We have known her for 9 years as she is the devoted parent of  2 of the children at our school.  She lost her leg in a tragic accident just over 2 years ago.  We are paying for a prosthetic.  The first dummy has been delivered and I was moved to tears when I saw her stand on two feet for the first time.

Today we visited the nursery school in the Jungle at Girilcola.  We have bought uniforms, shoes and books for these children for over 5 years now.  The Buddhist Monk who also has a Temple where we are based in  Mount Lavinia   introduced them to us.  Their parents are really poor farmers who often have to wade in several feet of mud in paddy fields.  We gave the 5 year olds school bags and books to give them a head start at their new schools.

More to come!

Education, Education,Education

Children from the Village School attend the  FODAD classroom for extra lessons.

My  intention was to write a blog today telling you all about mine and Don's very busy first 4 days in Sri Lanka since we arrived on November 16th.    We were surprised that there are so few tourists in November and that everywhere we walk there are thousands of butterflies.  The whole area is like a butterfly park.   For those of you who don't see us on Facebook or Twitter and do not know what a wonderful time we had on Wednesday with the girls from the orphanage whom we first took out 9 years ago, I was going to tell you about that day but ..... today we had an experience which confirmed the very heart of FODAD and its  mission.     It deserves a blog of its very own.  Don and I attended two classes in our very own FODAD classroom in the Fishing Village.  In September we had published a letter on our blog from the teacher we had employed earlier this year  http://www.friendsofdellaanddon.com/page6.html        On Tuesday, we helped to repaint the room we rent in brilliant white so that we could use a projector without a screen and today we attended 2 lessons. We were bowled over.   Our kids are really coming on and they absolutely love the lessons.  We will get there!  They will get there.  The kids from our Village will now have the opportunity to learn not only English but extra Maths, Science and History.  

It is almost 10 years since the horrendous tsunami that brought us together but we are so happy that together will all of you, we really are giving the children hope of a better future!  

Watching English language videos with kids from the Village in Class this afternoon!

I am shamelessly using this opportunity to launch our holiday campaign.  On 26th December it will be 10 years since the Asian tsunami.  If you can spare a donation as a holiday gift, you will help us continue with this work.http://brick.friendsofdellaanddon.com/    Thanks so much on behalf of all the wonderful children we support.   Della and Don

  

A Letter From the English Teacher

We were thrilled to receive a letter from the English teacher last week (see below), who we began to employ in February.  He gives English lessons at our school and also teaches our village children twice a week on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings on the beach where they live.  We joined his lessons a couple of times in February. 

When we returned to Sri Lanka in July, the weather was not always as kind and there was a monsoon sea which had covered half the beach.  We quickly realised that we would need to look for an alternative classroom so that the children could enjoy their English lessons uninterrupted.  There was a Tsunami-damaged house next door to where our friend, the fisherman Udaya lives.  We paid for 6 months’ rent and Udaya and his friends turned it into a classroom.  We were absolutely thrilled to receive pictures this past weekend which showed the transition and the teacher in class. We cannot wait to see him in action during our visit in November.  

The original beach 'classroom'

The new classroom

The new classroom in action!

"Hi

How are you. I hope you both are very well. I’m writing this  letter  to thank you for the great help that you have done .At first we started the English class on the beach with the help of yours. Then I had to teach to the students who are really poor and innocent in a hut which was on the beach .That hut was used by fishermen who live in the area. So sometimes when I went there , their fishing nets and fish boxes were everywhere .In that dilapidated hut we could not bear the nauseous smell that comes from the decomposed fish remains .At the end of a short and worst period we have been given a very nice class room by you. Although I wanted to thank you at the same time ,since I was busy with my students every day, I  couldn’t send you an email .I apologize for my delay. 

As I explained you I had another problem also. Since I didn’t have a way to show my students the international pronunciation way , It was difficult to make them to understand what the foreigners are telling. Then although they can express their ideas in English when they feel it’s difficult to understand what they say , they are afraid to go ahead and continue communication.

As you really know the pronunciation way of Sri Lankans and the native speakers like you is different .Of course it is because when we use a second language we have some effects of mother tongue. I’ve seen it everywhere when I was in abroad.

I’m not trying to push my students to  speak  like you. If we need so they should live in your society among native speakers but I really need to improve them to understand what you say for that I needed  to show the way that native speakers speak.  As  always you are here to help us as a blessing from God you had sent money to buy a multi projector .You will see the improvement when you come next time.

-        Ishan Gamage  -

-        The English teacher –

-        Sri Lanka."

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

July 2014 Week 2 Blog

One of the highlights of our trips to Sri Lanka is taking the girls from the orphanage to the beach for the day. However, because it was Ramadan we were unable to do this so we visited the orphanage instead.  They treated us to a programme of dancing, singing and comic sketches, one of the funniest being a Della and Don tribute act, which was hilarious and scarily accurate!  We gave each of the girls some material to make dresses for Eid.

The Della and Don tribute act

Handing out Eid gifts

Receiving Mehndi from the girls at the orphanage

Without Father Mahendra, whom Della and Don met early in 2005, many of our projects would not have gotten off the ground.  Due to his heart surgery last year, we had not seen him for some time and so we were delighted to be able to visit him in the Archbishop's Residence, and to see him looking happy and well.

Don, Father Mahendra and Della

The generosity of our friends means that whenever we come to Sri Lanka we have clothes, shoes and toys to distribute in our village.  Word spreads quickly, and it is an effort to manage the resulting enthusiastic surge of people that suddenly appears. 

Clothes distribution

The FODAD team! 

On Sunday we visited Doreen.  We have known Doreen for 6 years, as she is the mother of two boys we support, one of whom is now completing an apprenticeship in an air-conditioning firm and the other who is at our school.  Doreen met with a tragic accident 18 months ago when she was run over by a three-wheeler.  As a result, she had a leg amputated.  We support her as there is no welfare available in Sri Lanka.  Her refusal to indulge in self-pity, her constant smile and her devotion to her children is truly humbling and extraordinary.

Doreen and her children 

Yesterday we visited Kukuleganga, which is an extremely remote area in the heart of the jungle, where the Jungle Nursery we support with uniforms, bags, shoes and books is located.  We had been invited to attend their Perahera by the Buddhist monk we have known for some years, and who divides his time between Mount Lavinia and Kukuleganga.  The children, parents and teachers and put a tremendous amount of effort into making imaginative costume and decorations.  One boy was dressed as a demon, and was so realistic that he frightened many of the other children. 

The demon! 

Perahera procession

Today (Tuesday), the kids from the Children's Home came to the beach in Mount Lavinia for the day. It was the third time we had done this and we were told they were so excited about coming that they barely slept the night before.  They had even made their own kites, and drawn beautiful thank-you cards which were very moving.  As on the two previous occasions, we had lots of fun and a lovely meal. 

Kite-flying

Cricket 

Meal time

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