The closing ceremony for Project Sri Lanka 2011 seemed to appear out of nowhere! The trip has gone so quickly; I had no idea that we would end up at this day so soon! The morning started off early as all the girls had to be helped into their saris by Lali’s wife and a […]

7:30 am and the morning alarm went off. The day had finally arrived. People were showering, doing make up and hair(and that was just the boys), all waiting to be dressed. It was like going to a very important wedding! Lali’s wife and ladies from the village had come to help all the girls into […]

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 […]

With the Project Sri Lanka 2011 programme drawing to a close, the resident Monk at Gandarawatte invited the whole team for a farewell meal.  Not long after arriving, the pre-school teacher, Daya came over to the Monks house with all of the pre-school children to wish us all the best.  It’s a custom in Sri […]

Aththudawa this week has been wonderful. After being out of action last week I really enjoyed getting back into the classroom. On arriving Monday morning I was astonished by the change in the building, which was full of illustrations from some of the many nursery rhymes, songs and stories that we have taught the children […]

I spent this week staying with Primitha and Jayalath in their home at Moreketiara. I had a fantastic week and it was really good to experience Sri Lankan life in a Sri Lankan home!This week we were continuing the teaching at Ocean University. They were such a nice group of students who were really eager […]

This week Hannah W, Chris, Sabina and I were placed at Siddhartha College to run the afterschool club.Personally this was the best week of the project so far, made by the children of grade 3! As today was the last day of the formal programme we organised a big cricket game on the local field, […]

Today Sarah Phil and I went to the Gandarawatte Preschool, which was built by the project in 2008. It was the first visit here for all of us, and I know we all genuinely enjoyed the day. We began by singing all the usual songs, the “Hello song”, “12345 Once I caught A Fish Alive”, […]

Although at first unprepossessing, Moreketiara is housed next to a beautiful bay dotted with fishing boats. The school itself is one of the 25 built by the Sri Lankan Rotary Club in the wake of the Tsunami. As such, it is modern and provides a functional teaching environment. Although we arrived during the middle of […]

When Georgette, Hannah W and I first arrived at Kirelawela this morning, we were greeted by only two children in the preschool. We were unsure what to expect for the rest of the day but it soon became clear that our lesson plan might not stretch as far as we’d hoped when being applied to […]

I decided to spend an extra at Paratha- a decision I am very glad I made. The girls were as warm and as welcoming as ever. We were woken up every day at half 5 for yummy milk tea and then our first meal of rice and curry. The girls have morning prayers soon after […]

Today we travelled to Weligama to teach the young boys of Siddhartha College, as part of a holiday program we set up. The classes cannot be held at the college itself, owing to exams being taken by the older students at the moment. Instead, we are in some well-equipped spare classrooms not far away. Although […]

Today I returned to our Pre-school in Aththudawa for the first time since the opening ceremony. As we were driven through the paddy fields, towards the village, I was reminded of the warm welcome we had received on our first visit and became very excited to be finally teaching there. The pre-school itself has changed […]

Today, I returned to Gandarawatte after nearly a year. I was very excited to see Dhammissara, the resident Monk. As Hayley and I pulled up outside his home in a tuk-tuk, he came hurrying out to great us and on seeing me he excitedly exclaimed ‘Ah, Laura!’ before hesitating and adding ‘you have been modified’! […]

This week Helen, Abi and I have been in Paratha, a rehabilitation facility for teenage girls that have suffered in their homes. This aspect of the programme has only been added this year, and is optional for any female team members. I will say that anyone that can show compassion and give some support to […]

This week Phil, Emma and I set off to Moreketiara. I was very excited to live with Primitha and her family for the week, to immerse ourselves in the community and that we most certainly did. This was the first week of the holiday programme in which about 25 kids attended each day, ranging in […]

Today Hannah Williams, Alex, Ed and I all went to Aththudawa, where we shall remain for the rest of the week. Hannah, Alex and I are teaching whilst Ed starts with the drawing of the design onto the school for us to paint in the future. We arrived gracefully with four people squeezed into a […]

Well so far, our journey has taken us to new heights, a new climate, new landscapes and new extremes. The journey has definitely not always been easy, what with such a long flight and the infamous Sri Lankan roads, but every day makes the time we spent fundraising worth it. The first significant event which […]

I set off today for the seaside village of Kirelawela by myself this morning, my partner feeling unwell and thus having to take the day off. Where the prospect of teaching a class of small children by oneself might be a little daunting to some, I was looking forward to seeing what could be done […]

Today was mine, Helen and Georgette’s fourth day teaching in Moreketiara. On our initial journey here we got lost on the way, ended up missing our stop, and going to Tangalle.  Thankfully we are staying in the village with Primitha and her husband, and will not be repeating the journey! The bright-side to this is […]

This week Hannah, Sarah and I are working in Project Sri Lanka’s newest preschool, Aththudawa. I visited the preschool last Thursday and Friday, and Sarah visited there on Friday too, so on Monday we felt more than able to pick up where Ed and Sabina had left off. That being said, Monday was a slower […]

Siddhartha. Place of dreams. The children here are just charming: I was greeted with a screwed up piece of paper to the temple. Siddhartha – as we all know, the name of the Buddha – is a magical place. Who knew the passing noise of the trains would provide such a fitting backdrop to a […]

Monday morning again the weeks here are going so fast. Today I was off on a brand new adventure for both myself and the team. Today was the first day if teaching at the Temple school in Mathara. The day began with a bus journey to Mathara town this was fairly uneventful for a change! […]

This week Georgette and I have been teaching at pre-schools and running after school programmes in four different villages – Gandarawatte, Hiththatiya, Palena and Kirelawela. It’s been both enjoyable and challenging finding ourselves teaching a huge range of ages, abilities and numbers in completely different environments. Today we went to last year’s school, Kirelawela. I […]

Today was the penultimate day at Siddhartha College for my group. This week we had planned all our lessons around the theme of animals. It was a really good theme as it enabled us to expand into colours, numbers (“there is one blue elephant”) and sizes (“bigger than” and “smaller than”). The first few days […]

Due to nationwide strikes by University lecturers in Sri Lanka, it has not been possible for this year’s team to visit Colombo Universities Sri Palee campus as originally planned. However, the Rotary club in Colombo have kindly offered to assist in organising a replacement programme in a rural school close to the town of Weligama.  […]

The journey to Aththudawa can be awkward (two buses and a tuk-tuk) but my favourite part is the tuk-tuk ride. Getting off the bus near Aththudawa yesterday, we were greeted by a tuk-tuk that was decorated inside and out with Bob Marley pictures, and it became our goal to ride in ‘Bob Marley tuk-tuk’.  This […]

This weekend we travelled to Nuwara Eliya in the Hill country on Saturday.  The journey was long but the views were beautiful of the mountains, tea plantations and waterfalls. We also spotted a few monkeys on the way which had many of us taking our cameras out for photographs.  When we arrived at our accommodation […]

On this day, we took the bus from Matara to Moreketiara in the morning, to teach a grade 2 class in the afternoon. Once we arrived at Moreketiara, we were welcomed by Primitha’s husband who showed us the way to his home, where we met Primitha and her baby son, Sasindu. Lunch had already been […]

I always enjoy going into the preschool but today was an especially good day… We started the day with prayers and though I have never been particularly religious, I always enjoy this as I think it is a soothing start to the day. I enjoy listening to the chanting and am always impressed at how […]

Today was our last trip to our village for the week; it is safe to say we had become a custom to the bus rides! They were a bit daunting at first as we did not know which ones to get on or where to get off. However I feel I have mastered the art […]

Today was ‘Poya’ day in Sri Lanka which is a religious day in which all the schools are closed for the day to allow the locals to attend the local temple, so today we had no plans within the schools to teach… Helen, Hannah G, Phil and Abi were invited to the temple in Gandarawatte […]

This was our 3rd day at Kirelawela pre-school so well felt much more prepared and knew what to expect when we arrived. We were welcomed warmly by the children and teachers into the preschool… To start the morning the children sang the good morning song. The good morning song consists of the children singing good […]

Today was our first day teaching in a village called Gandarawatte. We were greeted on arrival by the local monk who invited us into his house to look at photos of previous Durham students visiting Gandarawatte. He then took us over to the preschool which also stands at the top of the hill alongside the […]

We first went into Siddhartha College on Friday the 8th. It’s a large school, with about 2000 students from grades 1 to 11 crammed into a small area… The first thing you notice is just how busy the place is, most of the classes are of 30-40 kids and the breaks are at different times […]

Thursday was my fourth day working at Siddhartha College this week. Due to the exams we had to move to a different school down the road as on previous days we had been told off by the school’s principle for making too much noise!! Chris and I arrived there to find 60 kids eagerly waiting […]

This morning was the opening ceremony of our school in Aththudawa. This was very exciting day for the whole team… The day began with a short journey to the village. Once we arrived at the village it felt as though we were celebrities. Some of the villagers came to meet us when we got off […]

So, big day today. I was pretty nervous waking up, but Alex soon assuaged my stress… We all hopped into Lali’s ride for the bumpy trip to the village where we were met by dancing masked men, or women. I couldn’t quite tell. Other villagers gave us flowers but Hayley was promptly stripped of her […]

The first day of the away weekend was hot and sunny, and the afternoon was spent enjoying the weather in the garden… After dinner, we decided to explore the fields nearby and were guided by the farm’s dog who knew exactly where he wanted to take us. We also decided to make a trip to […]

On Friday, just after lunch, we began our ‘away weekend’ adventure: three days sequestered in Northumberland’s picturesque countryside… Hannah, Charlotte, Helen and Sarah, the designated drivers, heroically carried us all to our destination, with Charlotte taking a brief detour through Alnwick on account of some unexpected road changes. Upon arrival at Chatton Park Farm, where […]