Following the excitement of the cultural show at the University we were all looking forward to our last evening at the village. Three wonderful ladies from Sarvodaya came to help us put on our saris. It was wonderful to wear smart clothes and to show our admiration for the Sri Lankan style of dress.
We arrived at Pelena in late afternoon with plenty of time to spare, time is a very flexible concept in Sri Lanka and the village was already buzzing with activity. Some of the villagers were putting together a wooden structure and the children were running around in beautiful costumes. They were difficult to recognize under their face paint and head dresses and all the small children from the pre-school were in their best clothes. We had assumed that our final event in the village would take place in the temple hall where we had been welcomed on our first day, but it was held in the heart of the village, outside, on what is the equivalent of the village green.
Towers of plastic garden chairs were un-stacked and all the villagers crowded around to hear the speeches and jostled for spaces. Caroline gave her thank you speech in Sinhalese which was greatly appreciated. I have found that using even my very limited range of Sinhalese vocabulary surprises the Sri Lankan people. They are always delighted that we have made an effort. There were speeches from a range of villagers and Bianca from Sarvodaya translated for us. It was lovely that other members of the village, not only the village elders spoke. One of the girls, Rasika, who works in the after-school club spoke about our time in Pelena and was extremely emotional at our departure. All the pre-school children gave a little dance which we had learnt during our time working at the pre-school so we could all sing along.

After speeches everyone turned their chairs around to face the wooden structure. It was now dusk and we and all the villagers stood in a circle. We were each given a white candle and one was lit and the flame was passed around. I find it fascinating how across the world and among different cultures, candles play such a similar and emotive role. We all stood in silence, it was such a powerful symbol of unity as the flames all flickered in the warm breeze. There were four posts cornering the wooden pile and Marc was given a torch to light a coconut shell which travelled down a wire and with a crack set fire to the pile. An envelope was passed around where we deposited our bad thoughts, once it had gone around the whole circle it was burned in the fire. Once this sombre moment was over, the dancing began.

There was hill and low country dancing. The costumes were absolutely breathtaking, the men wear headdresses and enormous metal chest plates. Unlike in western culture male dancing is particularly prized here. The girls dance with very graceful movements with lots of languid hand gestures. Male dancing is much more athletic with lots of jumps and twists. The dancers were accompanied by a drummer and usually someone singing.

We sang “The Rhythm of Life” and the medley that we had prepared for the cultural show the previous day at Ruhuna. The villagers seemed to enjoy the songs immensely but they were especially enraptured when Caroline, Laura, Ros, Kate R, Emma performed a Sri Lankan “pot dance”. Hannah with her beautiful voice sang the accompaniment and the villagers were entranced. There was an amazing atmosphere against a dark background with dancing around the fire under the shadows of the palm trees. We interspersed our acts amongst the Sri Lankan performances. We had a quick change and we all wore blue and black and we danced to a Basement Jaxx song which Laura had choreographed. Laura did a fantastic job teaching us the steps and I do not think the villagers had seen anything like it before.

Kate H, Ros, Louise, Laura performed the Mad Hatter’s tea party scene from Alice in Wonderland much to the bewilderment of the audience. They loved Ros’ crazy hat and exaggerated movements and the flickering firelight added to the scene by casting peculiar shadows of the actors.

Finally a series of free dances were performed around the fire which we all joined in with. There was an almost carnival-like atmosphere as we danced for the final time with all the children. The evening finished with the Sri Lankan national anthem. All the villagers crowded round to shake our hands and the children although it was way passed their bedtimes continued to chat to us. There were some tears as we said goodbye and it was extremely sad leaving our adopted community. Someone said as we drove out of Pelena, we should not be sad to say goodbye but be happy because of the part we have played in the village and the enormous benefits we have taken on from the interaction with the wonderful people here. All the villagers have been extremely welcoming, friendly and interested in our project and it has been a real privilege to be part of a local community. I felt as we drove away how wonderful these six weeks have been and although in the grand scheme of things it is only a short period of time I think for both us and the Pelena villagers our connection will continue for a long time.