Today was our final day at the Janoda Foundation. We woke up at around 7 for breakfast at 8. Unlike previous days, our visits to the buddies’ houses were mostly played by ear; we had planned to leave to go to the first of our buddy’s houses at 9 which was put back to 12:30 to give us more time to help out with team 2’s project work. At 12:30 we ate a fantastic but spicy lunch at Will’s buddy’s house, again practicing eating without cutlery. We all walked back to the foundation to be split up into groups, each visiting one buddy’s house. We had 3 coach-loads of people dropped off in 4s at different locations around the local area to have some snacks and see the buddy’s houses. After the slightly awkward start to the meetings, we found the buddy’s and their families to be very welcoming and nice. After this, we left to return to the place we had been calling home for the past week and a half, with many people using our free time to pack their bags in preparation for the early start tomorrow. As it our last night here, we are having a traditional Sri Lankan buffet and celebration to say our final farewell, in the celebration we witnessed some amazing speeches by one of the people who made this trip happen and the team of people who have made our stay as excellent as it has been, after the speeches a collection of certificates were given out to every student to say thanks for helping the Jonoda foundation , this was interrupted by the beat of some drums and the jingling of bells. It was a man with a scary mask and long hair while spinning two flaming sticks. This creeped some people out. After there was a fire eater doing cool tricks with the fire, it was amazing. Now we look forward to the elephant sanctuary, our last stop before our eagerly anticipated return to England.
By Kade Green
Due to Karu’ss popularity he unexpectedly got us into a Buddhist ceremony this morning which was because of the celebration of POYA day, the one day of the month where there is a full moon. While there we experienced monks blessing us with a gift of a string bracelet, the community coming together to worship and pray and we got a feel for Buddhist culture. After this once in a lifetime experience we headed back to the foundation for a bit of lunch and then soon after we went to an orphanage close by. The children ranged from ages 4 to 15 and as we entered a long line of them walked shyly towards us however as we got out the bubbles, games and books they opened up and enjoyed every moment as did all Weydon students. All agree it was an eye opening experience to discover that the less fortunate are so thrilled and happy with so little. After a couple of hours of playing and laughing we ended our time with the children nicely singing head shoulders knees and toes, Alice the camel, Hokey Cokey and a few other nursery rhymes. As we said goodbye a few people shed tears due to the connection had with the children, many students decided to come back some day. By the time we got back to Janoda Foundation our buddies had arrived carrying flowers ready for our second temple visit, we got changed into our all white outfits once again and we were transported there. Our buddies took the lead and showed us what to do and how to do it, the friendships were true and close tonight, it was obvious the true bonds being made.