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| 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 15th’s post) we have been go go go.
Now let me set the scene…The fan is humming, my room on the 2nd 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
