We went today to the village of Hithathiya, having been invited by the teacher for a ceremony of tree planting in memory of Ashera Sheik and a meal afterwards.

As we arrived at the preschool we were welcomed by the teacher and several other members of her family. I immediately noticed the shrine that had been built in memeory of Ashera, as well as the new swing and cupboard donated by her family. I was informed there is also a water tank that had been added.

We made our preparations to plant the tree in the designated spot, burying the sapling in the hole while Laura took some pictures of the team. We scooped up the earth using the ubiquitous painted coconut shells, flattened it out and held a minute’s silence of respects, in company of the teacher but also of Lali, who came especially for this ceremony.

Having completed this, we made our way to the teachers home, where I’d already once been on my week teaching in Hithathiya at the beginning of the program. I suspect that this first whole week of teaching spent there is why the school and its sadly absent children is one of the fondest memories I have had here in Sri Lanka. It was thus a pleasure to give my gift to the teacher, a mug with Durham Cathedral printed on it. She has been a great host to us all today, and we all left feeling a little sad…