There are six of us in Sri Lanka with the delightful task of personally delivering bedkits to 4,500 needy children in the Puttalam area north of the capital city of Colombo. We arrived in Colombo on July 5th after a long series of flights (Toronto to Alaska to Hong Kong to Singapore to Colombo) and were very thankful that we had a day to adjust our body clocks to Sri Lanka time.
The Rotary Club of Kelaniya has done a wonderful job of organizing this distribution. We left on July 7th by 6 am and headed three hours north to our first distribution site where we were met by some lovely young girls who ceremoniously presented each of us with a handful of leaves. The distribution of the first 650 bedkits went extremely smoothly, and we knew that our "team" was going to do well. Since then we have completed two more very successful distributions each of 650 bedkits. At the second site we were greeted by an eastern girls' band, who played their instruments so well. The third day we were also greeted by a wonderful girls' band. Each day has been a thrilling experience.
The success of each of these three distributions has been supported by the members of the Rotary Club who have attended to all the details: the prior registration of the neediest children; the purchasing, packing and delivery of the bedkits to each distribution site; and the preparation of volunteers to assist with every step. The Sri Lankan military has been extremely helpful at each site, providing security and also a team of friendly soldiers to provide more helpful hands. This has made each distribution extremely smooth, with lots of fun for the children and their parents.
Each distribution site has included a diverse group of children speaking Sinhalese, Tamil, and English and practicing the religions of Buddhism, Christianity, Hindu and Muslim. Everyone has been so welcoming and friendly. What has been most delightful is the warmth and ease of the children, who have been smiling from the beginning of each distribution day.
We have four more days of distribution in the area, and anticipate that everything will continue to go smoothly.
The bedkits are lovely, and have been most appreciated by all the families who have received them.
We are unable to send pictures from this rural site, as there is not high speed internet, but hope that they can follow later.
Report submitted by Lois Wey
for the 2007 SCAW Sri Lanka travelling team
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