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
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
Vancouver BC
