A Successful First Day!

Well it’s the end of the first day of building and boy did everyone work hard. 

Some of us got up at 6am and did yoga on the roof of the guest house.  Then piled into the van and pickup truck after breakfast for the 30 min drive to the Children’s Village. 

I’m pretty pooped and ready to crawl into bed so I’ll post some photos here so you can see what we got up to today.  I wasn’t wrong when I told Lal that the firefighters know how to get stuff done - as you can see from the photos the first day was a success - electrical wiring almost completed, walls going up on the medical dental building, stairs cut out of the side of the hill so we can easily get to the community centre, lots of sand sifted, roof just about completed.

I didn’t get a chance to set up the kitchen today so that will be my job tomorrow as you can see I’m starting from barebones.

After everyone headed back to Unawatuna Lal and I stayed behind to chat with some of the families in the village and sort out the work schedule for the next week.  As we were sitting there in the community hall I all of a sudden realized where I was and what we were doing.  It’s surreal!  I’ve been going nonstop for the last year and today it finally sunk in that we are really doing this.  I got goosebumps sitting there overlooking the valley of little homes as the sky turned pink and orange realizing that this dream was coming true and that I should savour every moment.  I am so grateful that this great group of men and women who are sacrificing their vacation time to come and work hard in the hot sun are here helping this community of people.  This project with positively impact the lives of over 800 families and children.  What a wonderful thing to be apart of!

I made a couple of new friends today…

Thank you for reading and for all your encouragment and support! 

Eden

The Vegetable Market:sweet cinnamon, fresh vanilla beans and lots and lots of chillies!

Today I learned how to make dhal curry, green bean curry, pumpkin curry, aubergine pickle, coconut roti, Sri Lankan style salad, and devilled potatoes.  It was a long hot day but I’m feeling excited about the large task ahead of me on Monday of making the first lunch for the group at the project site.

The day started off at the vegetable market. Karuna, my Sri Lankan cooking teacher, and I headed to Galle market in a three wheeler.  On arriving at the market I was delighted to find mountains of exotic colourful fresh veggies.  I wanted to eat it all - two of each please!!  As we pointed to each ingredient for our curries the kind man at the veggie stall weighed and bagged everything for us…such a civilized way to shop!  Karuna found my sheer delight on discovering banana flowers, fresh cinnamon and vanilla beans to be quite humourus.  The cinnamon is so sweet and flavourful - I am actually breaking off pieces of a cinnamon stick and eating it right here while I type this.  So wonderful to see such a huge variety of fresh veg all grown locally, picked at the perfect moment for enjoying and only transported a short distance from the field… I am starting to realize why my homemade curries in Canada are always lacking that rich round sumptuous flavour that the curries have here.  I could have spent the whole day at the market! 

We head back to Karuna’s open air kitchen with the three wheeler weighed down with bags of lentils, spices, rice, and fresh vegetables and coconuts. 

First we shucked coconuts and ground out the fresh meat to make coconut milk and coconut cream sans vitamix.  Then we carefully assembled each dish all the while I’m sneaking bites every time Karuna goes into the other room - I feel like I’m a child sneaking cookies from the cookie jar.  She is so patient with me and 3 hours later we have created a meal that is probably the most delicious thing I’ve ever made.  The two of us groan with delight as we sit down to feast on our elaborate meal.  

Here is Karuna’s recipe for Devilled Potatoes… enough for 4 people

Devilled Potatoes (Ala Thel Dala)

250g potatoes cubed (approx. 3 medium)
2 pinches of turmeric powder
1 pinch of salt

2 onions sliced thinly
5 garlic cloves sliced thinly
1 stick cinnamon broken into a few pieces
1 small piece of Rampe  (similar to lemon grass)
20 fresh curry leaves
4 t of coconut oil
3 t chilli flakes
½ lime juiced

Boil potatoes until tender with turmeric and pinch of salt

Prepare all of the other ingredients. 
In a separate pot heat the oil – when hot add in onion and garlic and fry until a golden brown colour
Turn off heat and add spices into the onion mixture.  Then heat everything together until curry leaves are tender.

Add potatoes to spice mixture and pour over lime juice – mix gently.

Try not to eat it all before it reaches the table!

Serve with a vegetable curry (recipe to come) and green salad.

Ala Thel Dala - Devilled Potatoes

I took a ton of photos of the dishes we made and will post those with some other recipes soon.  The internet has been a bit patchy this evening so won't be tonight.

Getting late here and the work group will be flying in in a couple of hours.  They’ll be arriving here in Unawatuna tomorrow afternoon!  I’ll be heading to the village early to wash up and prepare the kitchen and then early Monday I’ll head back to the market to buy all the veggies for the day’s meal. 

Hope you get a chance to try out the recipe! Let me know what you think.

Have a wonderful Saturday.

Eden

Sending prayers to New Zealand…

Sri Lanka being a small unprotected island hanging on to the south tip of India by a bridge of tiny islands feels like we are bobbing around vulnerable to any of the natural disasters lurking under  the  ocean.  Yesterday the ocean was exceedingly rough and this morning I made my way down to the beach for an early morning swim to find huge surf eating up the beach.  Those angry waves are the result of the earthquake that recently rocked the streets of Christchurch New Zealand killing over 100 people and another 200 are missing.  Sending our thoughts and prayers to those families affected. 

Our preliminary work is all done the group headed to the village this week to see what has being going on so far.  Water lines are ready, materials are there and now we just need 11 more members of our team to arrive safely tomorrow.  

Doug, Dave, Mary and Lisa (Doug's wife and daughter) Me
standing on the foundation of the medical dental centre next to the nutrition centre.



Doug, Mary, Dave, Lisa, Randy

We are deciding on paint colours now.  Bright white walls inside and I’ll be getting some large canvases in Colombo in a week so we can get the children to paint some colourful pictures that we can hang throughout.  Will be fun to have a large art project for the children to enjoy!   Any suggestions on the outside paint colours? 

We have been given an empty home in the village to use as our kitchen and store all our dry goods and supplies for lunch.  The women of the village are going to be taking turns helping us with the meals.  Some traditional home-style Sri Lankan food!  YUM!!  Red hot chillies, tangy fresh lime and cilantro salads, freshly ground coconut with spice…. just like the landscape here the flavours are vibrant, fresh and red hot!

Tomorrow I have my first cooking class to learn about all the fresh authentic spices and how to mix them to make the delicious curries and other traditional dishes I love so much.  I’m so excited.  I’ve been learning bits here and there over the last 6 years of travelling here but I still have so many questions. I’ll be sharing with you some of the recipes that I learn and photos of the dishes so you can try them at home. 

Some flowers just for you!

Thank you for reading...stay tuned tomorrow for some traditional Sri Lankan recipes!

hugs,

Eden

http://www.aimias.org/ for more information about AIM and our projects

A tourist in your own Village?



This is where the playground will go

  Well the preliminary/preparation group arrives tonight…the first 5.  Over the next 4 days we will be buying all the tools that the firefighters will need and making sure that the next month of hard work will result in a solidly built medical centre, finished nutrition centre, and playground.  Lots of work but as I’ve been told by our point person with the firefighters we’ve got 2 more volunteers on board for the second group! 
We’ve hired a translator.  Ian Lai a chef from Richmond BC who helped out with our benefit in November will be jumping on a plane next month to help us cook up some delicious lunch meals for our hard workers.   Lal has found a fridge to keep the water cool and we’ve even got a beautiful building from the Salvation Army to use as shelter from the sun while we enjoy lunch or just need a break.  All these little details are coming into place and absolutely exceeding my expectations.  In a country that works at a much slower pace than the harried frenzy of North American life things are moving along quite well.  Lal Withanage is the one to thank for everything.  He has been working late into the night organizing every detail. 

Lal Withanage

Lal has had a very interesting life.  I’ll have to ask him first but I’d like to share a bit of his story with you in a later post.  The last time I was in Sri Lanka after many interesting conversations I suggested that he start writing his autobiography and the day that I arrived last week he handed me a stack of papers – now it’s my job to type it up on my computer and hopefully (if he says yes) share it with you!

I thought I might share an observation with you.  As some of you might know - I have a real curiosity of people.  How they live and interact.   Yes I am guilty of eavesdropping at a restaurants or discreetly peeking into windows as I walk by at night hoping to catch a glimpse of how other people live. Some might call this nosey but I’d rather call it healthy curiosity and to some degree I think we all have that same curiosity.  People and their stories are fascinating.  One of the best things about travel is the opportunity to meet a whole new variety of people and see a whole new way of life. 



Unawatuna



The man just down the beach in his Hawaiian print bandana, Elton John flip up sunglasses, handlebar moustache and white speedo is sweetly feeding a stray dog his lunch.  There is an elderly woman selling saris and sarongs out of a big blue ikea bag - she walks along the beach in the hot sun all day.  She’ll carefully take out each piece of cloth and let it colourfully float in the breeze the moment she makes eye contact with someone who might look like they’ll pull out the 200 rupees ($1.80) to purchase one.   I saw her yesterday evening chasing her giggling grandchildren around a small roti shop. There is a Japanese family sitting at the table next to mine with 3 year old triplets who are speaking German – too cute!  Some people are here for holiday, some people are here because they were born here,  some (like myself) are working/volunteering  for an NGO, some came here after the tsunami to help rebuild the guesthouses that they had frequented and have never left, some have come here to disappear. On my 2006 visit I spent a few months in a town not too far from here called Hikkaduwa.  I met a guy who was quite friendly and he joined us for dinner.  Later on we discovered through our conversation that he had escaped from an institution in Austria and was not planning to ever go back … not the typically the conversation I have over dinner but very interesting none the less!  While travelling people seem friendlier more willing to accept one another’s differences without judgement.  With broken English in many different accents travellers share a common bond – a choice of destination.  It’s not weird or bothersome when another traveller asks where you are from and wants to join your table.  As a traveller its common practice to want to connect and hear someone else’s story and maybe share a bit of your own (as I'm sure most of you have experienced).  I wonder what would happen if we all made an effort to hear and understand other peoples stories and share more of our own a bit more regularly…maybe there would be more understanding, maybe there would be less judgement and  life might be even more colourful if we all just felt like tourists in our own village.

Thank you for all your emails and notes.  I’m looking forward to sharing more stories with you of our work in the Sahana Children’s Village. 

Thank you for reading.

Eden

New friends and a Thousand Fireflies

Family homes surrounding the Sahana Children's Village

It’s 5:15 am your time… depending if you are reading from Vancouver or not.  It’s 6:45pm my time.  I have not had a chance to check emails or update this blog since I arrived (hence the double post this evening – see below for Feb 15^th’s post) we have been go go go. 

Now let me set the scene…The fan is humming, my room on the 2^nd story of the Unawatuna Beach bungalow looks out towards the ocean.  I can hear the sound of the rolling surf.  It’s a comfortable 30 degrees and I’m surprisingly energetic for only getting 2 hours of sleep last night.  I feel like a Sri Lankan princess sitting in the middle of my crisp white bed sheet cocooned by a white mosquito net draped all around me.  It’s a simple room with tiled floors - it’s clean and safe.   

Yesterday was a whirlwind.  Spent the morning running errands then Lal came to fetch me in the afternoon and we dodged in and out of buses, three wheelers, motorcycles with whole families perched on the singe seat, big rigs, and bicycles all vying for a space on the single lane road to Galle -  3hours of  horns honking and tires screeching.  The whole way down I’m anticipating our arrival at the children’s village praying that we get there before the sun sets.  When we reach Galle we have to make a few house calls to people who are helping coordinate certain details. There is lots of talking in Sinhala and most of the time I sit there with a smile on my face nodding and trying to understand but they are speaking a mile a minute and I am totally lost.  I’m trying to be patient.  It’s hot. I’ve had too much tea and all I want to do is get to the village… the sun has now set. 

As we drive up the lush green hill towards the village I roll down the window to feel the warm clean air breeze on my face a pleasant change from the smog in Colombo.  We pass by the village homes and  I can hear the sounds of dinner being prepared and an orchestra of crickets.  The houses that were built by the Salvation Army for the families who lost their homes in the tsunami are all occupied now.  Each one has become a home to a family and each one of these families will benefit from our work at the Children’s Village. The Village is on 8 acres of rolling hills and surrounding that are the homes. Red and white homes with 2 rooms, warm glowing lights and children's laughter.   We reach the top of the hill and unlock the brightly painted orange gate to the Sahana Children’s Village.  I get out of the car and tears prick my eyes as I see tiny sparkling lights weave in and out of the palm trees and homes – fireflies – hundreds of them dancing.  It’s a magical paradise and it's even more wonderful than I remember.

Later on that evening…

I get to Unawatuna  - the beach town 30 min away from the Children’s Village where we will all be staying for the next 6 weeks.  Due to the end of the war last year there has been a big boom in tourism and there isn’t a vacant room in the town.  Good thing I have a reservation.  I’ve never had to do that before.  It’s quite late by the time I get checked in and get to my room.  Cold shower and collapse.  Apparently the owner of the Lucky Tuna restaurant next door is celebrating his birthday - the music and fireworks go on all night right outside my window.  At 4am I give up trying to sleep and start reading a novel this goes on until 6am!

8am we head back to the village.  The supplies are starting to arrive and work is being organized.  It’s so peaceful here.  I wish we had a house at the village where all the volunteers including myself could stay… sleep here would be so good (you can tell what’s on my mind right at this moment).

The top of the hill has been leveled.  This is where the playground will go that is being shipped from Vancouver a very generous donation by the Westwind elementary school in Richmond BC.  Just below that is the foundation for the medical dental centre and next to that is the nutrition centre… all of this will be completely finished by the end of March.  We have a big job to do but just the right people are coming… the 25 firefighters from Richmond. From my experience building homes with them in 2006 in Sri Lanka with Habitat for Humanity I can attest that they are some  of the hardest working people I have ever met.  I can’t wait for them to see this place.

I meet one of the families.  Saranth, the father, is very proud of his little 5 year old daughter Isunthi his only child.  The little one is so sweet.  She shows me her school books and apparently has decided to be a doctor when she grows up – who knows maybe she’ll end up working at the medical centre!  They excitedly invite me into their home for tea. Saranth has to travel very far for work but since it is the Buddhist full moon holiday ‘Poya’ he is home today.  Renuka is Isunthi’s mother  - she has a beautiful smile.  The three of them also share the small house with Saranth’s parents.   We manage to communicate ok with my horrible Sinhala vocabulary and Saranth’s pretty good English.  I don’t want to leave when it’s time to head back to Galle for a meeting.  Ishuti runs into the other room and I can hear her chattering with her grandpa out she comes with a pair of beautiful little shoes for me!  My big Canadian size 7 feet can barely fit into them but I cram my toes in anyways.  We all giggle and my heart is bursting with gratitude for my new found friends.  I wear my shiny new black shoes the whole ride back to Galle. 

Again I am reminded of how to take joy in life’s simple pleasures.

Thank you all for your emails and encouragement.  I wish you were all here with me.  I wish you could all see the great work that we all are doing.  I hope this brightens your day. 

 Eden

Washing Machines and Frangipani Flowers! (written Feb 15th)

Three Wheelers in Colombo

I’m here!

Did you know that you can purchase a fridge, stove, washer/dryer, microwave, on your way through the Colombo airport? ‘Hello?  Hello Madam?  Come see come see!!’  As I walk down the long hall towards immigration at 11pm I have the option to do some serious shopping.  The airport smells like frangipani flowers its humid and I can’t help but feel a huge smile spread across my face… relief that I am finally back!

The drive into Colombo takes 40 minutes in the middle of the night… during the day it can take up to 3 hours.  I arrive at the hotel that Lal booked for me in Mount Lavania – a quaint beach town area of Colombo that is known for its sprawling white governor’s mansion which sits on the cliff looking out over the Indian Ocean.   The mansion has been completely renovated and is now one of Colombo’s most prestigious and British colonial hotels – the grand terrace on the cliff is garnished with palm trees and tiny sparkly lights is one of my favourite spots in the city to take visitors and share a meal with friends.  I’m staying just down the road for a 2 nights until we finish up our work in the city and head down south to the children’s village tomorrow. 

Mount Lavania Beach in Colombo

Today I met Lal (national director of Global Action AIM’s partner organization)at Global Actions new office in the middle of the city.  Recently funding for their projects has taken a cut due to the economic situation in the states - their main source of funding.  The new office is quite a bit smaller but the tall ceilings, white washed walls and large windows make it a very pleasant place to spend the afternoon.   After a couple hours of planning and organizing we headed to Armour Street to check on the roof sheets that we’ve ordered.  They will be taken by a lorry (truck) tomorrow.  Armour street is Sri Lanka’s answer to Home Depot except its one long narrow road with many little higgly piggly shops.  I have no idea how you’d begin to start sourcing materials and tools for building here but Lal has it completely under control.  He’s calm cool and collected as we duck in and out of trucks and steel rods and busses, piles of coil, bins of metal bits and pieces. Amongst it all I did find a place to get a new sim card so my mobile is all ready to go :011 94 72 262 1321  (call me!) All is ready for our trek to Galle tomorrow.

This evening I took a long walk along the sandy beach watching the sun go down while children play cricket, families picnic and a group of young men push a fishing boat down the beach and into the ocean.  I buy a king coconut for dinner and sip its sweet juice as I burry my toes in the sand and enjoy the last moments of the day.

Tomorrow afternoon we head to Galle to coordinate all the materials and meet with the Buddhist monks that have been helping us with the programs at the Village.  I’m looking forward to the 3 hour drive along the coast  it’s a chaotic journey along Galle Road but the views of the rolling ocean, palms, temples, stilt fishermen and guesthouses make it all worthwhile. 

Hugs,

Eden



Valentine's in Hong Kong and Sri Lanka...

Day 2 – Still on my way to Colombo Sri Lanka.  Flight was delayed so had to overnight in Hong Kong.  Was put up at the Regal Airport Hotel and given a few meal vouchers.  This is the best thing that could have happened.  I was so tired from the 14 hour plane journey (YVR to Hong Kong) that I was ready to cuddle up for a snooze!  With this extra day to adjust to the time difference I’ll be ready to hit the ground running in Sri Lanka.

I love Skype and I love that I can call home with my iPhone on Skype over the free wireless at the airport.  Long gone are the days of trying to figure out IDD phone booths and worrying about getting charged $20 for a call where you can only hear yourself echoing  ‘can you hear me???’ and then nothing on the other end. 

My room at the hotel is cozy and clean and has the familiar rock hard single Asian beds.  White clean cool sheets.  Showered. Passed out.

Wake up to the sound of the AC kicking in and I’ve slept a solid 8 hours.  Lay there debating if I should get up and test out my new travel yoga mat or try to sleep for another couple of hours.  My stiff body wins… doesn’t matter where I am in the world and how wonky I feel, doing those same simple postures over and over feels like home.  Balanced, stretched and ready to search for something to do until my flight to Singapore> Colombo leaves this afternoon.

Breakfast buffets are usually pretty disappointing for someone who only eats plants, avoids oil and processed ‘food’.  To my delight I found a huge mound of pea shoots, arugula and beet greens I then threw on some lemon, chopped tomato and pineapple et voila a yummy breakfast salad chased down with a cup of miso soup and fresh orange juice. Feelin good!

Head back to the airport I remembered there being a Starbucks… or was that just a delirious mirage on my trek to find the airport last night?  I was right - it kinda bugs me that the site of a Starbucks makes me giggle out loud -something so familiar… I’d rather like to think of myself as someone who would prefer an independent local café and maybe try some chinese green tea but nope - familiarity wins this time and I’m ordering my Grande Tazo Soy Chai Tea Latte extra hot with no foam and a sprinkle of cinnamon … oh yummm it’s just as good as if I were at home. 

In less than 12 hours I will be in Sri Lanka…a country that feels like my second home.  I can’t wait to wake up to the sound of tropical birds singing cheerfully and then sink my toes into the coppers sands and warm Indian Ocean.   In 2006 we put the plan into motion to build this Children’s Village and in a few days I will be there in the village getting ready for the firefighters to get here to help us build a medical dental facility and playground.  Surreal.  Dreams do come true and when the wheel was set in motion to build this village I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  It’s been a long hard road but I am learning to let go because every time it gets too tough a miracle happens and propels us on.  So many miracles.  This definitely has been a lesson in faith and letting go of a need to control details and expectations.  I am consistently taught that this is something that was meant to be and I am just one person of the many people that have been recruited to create the village for children where they can be playful and joyous and nourished and taught.  I feel honoured to be a part of this process.  Thank you for the role that you play as well.

I hope you will all enjoy Valentine’s Day.  My heart is full of love for each of you and thank you so much for your support and encouragement.  Thank you for reading. 

With love and hugs,

Eden

May I introduce you to the land of tea and curry?

Less than ONE week until I’m sitting on a 13 ½ hour flight Vancouver BC to Hong Kong and then another 7 ½ hours to Colombo via Bangkok.

Since I know that most of you who will be following AIM on this journey across the world have not been to Sri Lanka I am not going to assume that you know everything that you need to know to make sense of our work there… I'll break it down for you here:

Facts you should know about Sri Lanka:

• It is not in India… it’s a beautiful pearl drop shaped island off the coast of South India (specifically Tamil Nadu) a completely separate country
• Last year was the official end to 3 decades of bloody civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) a group on the UN list of terrorist organizations and the Sri Lankan Government.
• LTTE are known for the invention of suicide bombing and for its use of child soldiers
• December 24th 2004 a deadly tsunami devastated the small island killing 30,000+ people and displacing over 1,000,000.
• Majority of people there speak Sinhala followed by  a minority of Tamil and English

For more info on the politics and demographics check out wiki

Important things that I would like you to know about Sri Lanka:

It is culturally rich and abundantly beautiful.  Each coast has a different beauty… copper, white, grey sand beaches... inland there are mountains to climb and lush tea and spice plantations to roam around.  In some areas communities are surrounded by sand bars and in others army bunkers,  landmines and tanks.  It has a turbulent past having been occupied by the Portuguese, Dutch and English and having it's own internal bloody conflicts. Each culture has left its imprint; large forts looking out over the sea, old cathedrals guarding the street corners, and quaint little British tea shops. 

Everywhere you look you are greeted with authentic smiles and generosity - even when there is little left to smile about.  Resilient.  Innovative.  Hope.

Vibrant hues of oranges, pinks, and blues, long silk sarees, spicy chilies and fresh tree ripened coconuts.  Laughter, beating drums, rasta music, fire dancers.

A spiritually diverse and devote culture: Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Muslims.  One of the largest Buddhas stands on the hill top watching the city.  Ancient wisdom.  thousand year old temples.  Soulful elephants. Peace. Tranquility.

Now that you can understand a little of what Sri Lanka is like I’ll tell you a bit about our project there…

Sahana Children’s Village

Sahana means compassionate help.

In 2006 we were given 8 acres of land to develop a sustainable program that would benefit the families directly affected by the 2004 tsunami.  Global Action Sri Lanka National Director Lal Withanage and myself devised a strategy to develop this land into a village that would educate, nourish and heal the children of Sri Lanka.  Using the wisdom of the Buddhist monks near the village and leaders from the Hindu, Christian, and Muslim faiths in the local community our vision to create a place that embraces all children from all religions and ethnic backgrounds is becoming a reality.  We currently have a nutrition centre, and the land is being cultivated for an organic garden.  The Richmond Firefighters (British Columbia, Canada) have generously donated the last 2 years to fundraising for our project and with their help (and local builders) we will be constructing a Medical Dental facility and playground next month. 

As the years go on we will be adding other facilities to the village.  We will be offering ‘summer’ camps for children effected by the war and tsunami from all over the country.  A beautiful sanctuary to learn, play and be nourished.

We welcome all of you to participate in this project.  For more information and to visit the village yourself please leave a comment and I will be happy to get back to you also check out our website www.aimias.org

Thank you for letting me share a little bit of Sri Lanka with you.  I hope you will keep checking back to my blog for more updates on our progress. 

Ayubowan,

Eden

Founder

AIM INTERNATIONAL AID
Vancouver BC