The group visiting the small village of Hitataya was comprised of Laura, Liam, Becky, Alice, and myself- Abi. Lali gave us a lift their in his lovely cool air-conditioned van, the trip was short and on arrival the heat outside hit us like an oven!The building was lovely with beautiful paintings on the outside- a huge sun and a palm tree with the trunk made up of the hand-prints of children were both equally striking. The building was spacious and airy, the children, aged 4 and 5, were very active and were inquisitive when we unexpectedly arrived. The teaching was mainly done by two older women however there was also input from one of the woman’s daughters who spoke some English and who was hoping on attending university in Kandy next year. A very friendly man also seemed to be helping out and observing. The children wore their own clothes, one was even in a princess dress and was very proud of her pink bangles which she repeatedly compared with my bracelets!
After our arrival at about 9am the class of about twenty-five children sung some songs, making use of the traditional Yak Bera drum, played by one of the teachers, and various tambourines and cymbals. They then sat down and we helped out with sticking coloured circles on a large ‘J’ drawn into their exercise books. They seemed to be working through the English alphabet, learning the shape of the letters and then on the following page learning some simple words which began with the letter being studied. They had some time after that playing in their small playground which had some equipment donated from the Sri Lanka project which also built the school building. I did some throwing and catching activities with a bean-bag, although the heat was pretty unbearable after long periods in the sun and so we had to have short breaks in the shade. A giant ant attack on Becky was definitely a highlight of one of these breaks! Late morning consisted of a snack break where the children were given protein supplement handed out by the government. It was a powder made up into balls after the addition of a small amount of water and some salt. The children seemed to like it. Clearing up afterwards was made easier by the children’s co-operation; they seemed extremely well behaved, and, like all Sri Lankans, very eager to help and don’t easily shy away from hard work.
 Further activities included drawing pictures of elephants and further singing, including a goodbye song. At 11.30am school finished for the day and I was surprised when all the children went round and bent down at the feet of all the teachers, us included, one after the other. I was informed afterwards that this was normal behaviour. Their parents came to collect them soon after and the children left one by one with their rucksacks and water flasks. They had, by this stage, become accustomed to our presence, wanting to hold our hands and said goodbye repeatedly. I look forward to visiting again!