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| This is where the playground will go |
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.
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| 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.
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| 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
