Our journey began in the usual fashion, waving joyful goodbyes to families as the sense of anticipation began to grow within. The bus departed Nottingham and our adventure had begun. After a long, tiring but expedient journey we touched down in Colombo airport 32 hours after we had left Nottingham to be greeted by Karru, our Partner Schools Worldwide guide and creator of the Janoda foundation, our base in Hambantota for the next 10 days. Immediately the heat hit us, eclipsed only by the warmth of the welcome we received from our hosts. We wearily clambered into our bus and set off…on our 7 hour road trip to what was to become home for the foreseeable future.
Despite our tiredness we took in some amazing sights as we passed through the amazing, tropical land that is Sri Lanka. We passed the cinnamon and tea plantations avoided the death defying TukTuks and stopped for our first taste of Sri Lanka, a wonderful lunch of beautifully spiced breads and pastries which formed our breakfast. After this we journeyed to see Sri Lanka’s Mood Stone mines, marveling at the traditional methods in which the rocks were dug from the ground then shaped into amazing pieces of jewellery by the skilled miners and craftsmen. We all were struck at the apparent dangers that these brave men faced each day as the tunneled deep beneath the earth to make a small living. This was really brought home to us when we visited a small home only a few hundred meters away to watch a husband and wife team peel, cut and shape cinnamon trees into cinnamon sticks. In the baking heat they demonstrated a craft that was beyond our comprehension in producing something which we see so little value in when picking it up from the supermarket back home. The questions raised were already showing that this rich land held a real challenge to our values and expectations in life.
After pit stops by the beach to buy lunch and see Sri Lanka’s famous ‘stick fishermen’ we made our final push to Hambantota. Upon arrival we set up our rooms and built our tents for the week, ate dinner then settled down early for some overdue sleep, that night, no-one stirred as we slept outside beneath the starlight sky.
Sunday began with a trip to the local Church for most of us. We enjoyed the experience of taking part in a service that we did not understand but demonstrated the global nature of the Christian faith. We were received joyfully and, touchingly, the Father took time in the service to speak to us in English. Upon our return home we were treated to an amazing lunch, delicately balancing various spices and bursting with complex flavours. The food is good and everyone is enjoying our fare. The afternoon was filled with an amazing demonstration of wood carving by a local carpenter. Before our eyes he transformed a roughly hewn hunk of teak into…well you will have to wait until we return to find out! By this stage the group was already showing signs of forming a closely knit team and our trip to visit a turtle nesting beach to look at a conservation project there really inspired the students to work together to think how they could make a difference to these beautiful creatures. We ended the evening with a special dinner out eating ‘hopper’ a pancake like delicacy served with a curry and a (very hot) Sanbal.
Today we felt like our mission here has now begun. After breakfast we travelled the short journey to our partner school, where we met our buddies and saw the school for the first time. The reception was overwhelming. I shan’t say too much as I know that each student is desperate to recount the amazing welcome to you personally, but we were greeted with a riot of colour, joy and a real passion to form a partnership. We were treated in such a loving manner that we were all inspired to form new friendships and to work together as partners as we journey together and learn from each other. For me, seeing buddies come alive to the students as they forged the beginnings of friendship was a real privilege to witness and after a tour of the school and a game of ‘elle’ (in which Ms Barratt was caught out by Mr Skinner!) we left for our home full of excitement and a real commitment to work together. We spent the afternoon working in pairs as the students all planned a 20 minute lesson to help teach the students English and then shared their final activities with each other. The excitement is really building and we, as leaders, are inspired to be working with such amazingly gifted, passionate and caring young men and women. We cannot wait for tomorrow, our project has started, friendships and flourishing and our vision is rising. So far this trip has been memorable, I am sure this is just the beginning and we have so much to come.
Martin (author) on behalf of team Sri Lanka
PS: The students had written a blog but technical issues have prevented us posting yet. We will have this resolved soon and will post it as a matter of urgency. Thank you for your thoughts and prayer, God bless.