We woke up to the sounds of the monsoon rain splashing onto the roof and our hearts sank. We’d planned a family day in Pelena West and it was raining.
We didn’t lose hope however and as we took the bus to Weligama, laden with items for the day’s activities, the skies began to brighten.

We made our way to the pre-school carrying sacks of wood, tissue paper, paints and all manner of exciting things. As we reached the school, there were many families inside already enjoying a touring drama company, who put on plays with funding from Unicef.

Most of the group headed inside to watch the play but Lou and I stayed outside to try and construct a shelter for the wall mural in case there were more showers during the day. We went round the village asking for sheeting, which we could hang off the roof but in the end only came across a sheet with Sinhala script on attached to a wooden frame. We made to take off with it but Chatarika reminded us that we should probably ask the owners of the sign first, as it was the processional sign from the previous poya day. Permission granted we then set about hoisting the sheeting into place above the mural and securing it with all manner of fancy knots.

There was a real sense of camaraderie as the pre-school teachers helped us in our quest – everybody was pulling a piece of rope or holding up the sheet and in the end we had a fine shelter for the mural.

About this time the drama finished so we began to mix the paint. Lou’s design for the mural is a duck with a lotus flower riding on waves made of handprints and the first task of the morning was to get all the pre-school children to stick a handprint to the wall. There were many shades of blue and we’d pick a colour, paint a liberal amount on the child’s hand and then show them where to stick it. As everyone piled out of the school, there was pushing and shoving to get their hands painted and that was just the mothers! It was fantastic to see the children scrunch up their faces in mild bemusement or curiosity when the paint was first applied and then as their hand was removed from the wall, break into an amazed grin because their hand had made that pattern. The mothers were just as bad; giggling when the paint was put on their hands and then pressing the wall so hard just to make sure they made their mark.

As the initial rush died down the other activities were set up. Lou had brought some white t-shirts out with her and we put them on a table for the children to decorate with pens and string. One boy of about three decorated his and then put it on but it came down to his ankles. Of course he then wouldn’t take it off because he was so proud of it.

There was also a table for making bean bags with rice in them and lots of the older girls started off doing that. There was a space for making origami boats and then another one for making lanterns out of wood and tissue paper. Emma, Charlotte and Anna set about making these with great gusto and perfecting their technique.

Halfway through the morning Cameron got his drum out and the older helpers started playing and teaching us dancing. All through the morning the atmosphere was relaxed, everyone was going about their business and chatting like old friends. Now we’d spent 5 weeks there, we’d built these wonderful friendships. We even integrated our uni experience as Nayomi from the International office turned up with her three year old son.

At lunchtime the ladies of the village had laid on a feast for us as usual; the ubiquitous red rice but also dhal, fish curry, beans and popadoms. Delicious. Of course Mark was happy that for dessert there was a massive bowl of curd and also ice-cream.

As we neared the end of lunch more children started arriving until there was a snake of pairs reaching all the way round the building. As we processed off to the beach, each carrying a piece of equipment, holding onto a small child and laughing away we must have collected waifs and strays along the way, as there were well over 150 people at the beach.

We started by giving out headbands of material in four different colours and got the teams to line up behind a line. The hardest part was keeping the mums back and in the end we had to draw lines for the mums as well. We got the kids to do various races including hopping, wheelbarrow, and bean bag races after we’d demonstrated them. By far and away the best race was the sack race using sacks we’d got from the Love Shack near the campus. The kids were hilarious trying to jump to the far line and many ended up falling over or tripping over someone else. Even the tiny pre-schoolers were put into the sacks and carrying by the older children back and forth.

After the races were over, everyone split up into different activities. Some played volleyball, some played cricket, whilst others still were content to sit and dig in the sand. Quite a few played in the shallows, jumping over the waves whilst holding onto the hands of one of our group. One of the defining moments of the trip for me has to be Caroline standing in a circle of children doing ‘Singing in the Rain’ (a favourite song and dance), jumping around like a lunatic and all the kids in hysterics around her.

The older helpers, who had been reserved at the beginning of our trip, had started opening up to us over the past few weeks and we now saw their mischievious side. Without warning I was grabbed by a number of them and frog-marched to the sea where I was splashed and shoved until I was completely immersed in the water. Well, I couldn’t stand for that and a huge water fight ensued, with the children more often than not getting the better of us.

As the day drew on a few people left slowly to take pre-school children home but many stayed talking on the beach, collecting shells and playing in the water. We decided it was time to set the boats off and gave everyone a colourful origami boat to set afloat on the ocean. As well as the boats we decided to light the lanterns but of course it was too windy and they didn’t float too well so we settled for flinging them into the sea. Finally the sun settled lower and lower and the remaining villagers, about 60 or so, gathered in a circle to sing a few final songs and ‘Singing in the Rain’ before dispersing. There were many representatives from Sarvodaya there as well who all enjoyed the day and thought it was a great way to spend it with the village.

All in all I would say it was fantastic. The weather held off, the joy on the faces of the children (and parents) was evident and judging by the sandy clothes and coloured headbands being worn with pride the children had a great time.
As far as I’m concerned many of our aims for this trip had been accomplished on this day. I believe our role is to provide emotional support and create a lasting relationship with the village and the family day was a perfect chance to cement the friendships we’d made and let the children have fun. As for me, it’ll be a day I’ll treasure for many years to come and I’m so glad to have taken part in it.