After an unusually early rising at 1 a.m, we finally set off on the six-hour drive north from Colombo to our destination at Minhital, following the coast road for 100 kilometres before heading east into the interior of the island. We had the first of many superb lunches of Sri Lankan cuisine at the Hotel Minhital then headed out for our first distribution of 4,000 bedkits at the Walpola School.
The work we had come here to do in Sri Lanka was made immeasurably easier by the preparatory work and planning that had gone on in the weeks and months prior to our arrival. Members of the Rotary Club of Kelaniya, especially Diya, Sarath, Melroy, and Ravi have gone far and above what we had expected of them. Colonel Gamani of the Sri Lankan army personally visited the schools to ensure they were where Sleeping Children could offer most help. He, together with men and women in his command, continued to offer help in every way to make the days run smoothly.
On arriving at Walpola I have never in my life felt so humbled and honoured as I did when a six-year-old student knelt at my feet offering me a friendship gift of betel leaves in her upturned palms.
The school band led a procession of Canadian and Sri Lankan SCAW volunteers into the school past a waiting and welcoming throng of parents and children lining the road. A ceremony of raising the national, regional, and school flags, with the singing of the very moving national anthem preceded the official speeches of welcome from the school principal and local dignitaries inside one of the classrooms. Two older students made speeches, one in Sinhalese and the other in excellent English.
After six young ladies performed a traditional Sri Lankan dance for us, we swung into “full bedkit” mode bringing joy and happiness to students and parents alike as they received their gift of a sleeping-mat, mosquito net, two T-shirts, shorts or skirts, pajamas, school-books, a back-pack, a pillow, pillow cases, towels, sheets and a pair of flip-flops.
I truly hope the photo you receive showing the smiling face of the child you have helped gives you some sense of the gratitude these children feel for the people on the far side of the world who care enough to help them.
Although the photo shows a child proudly wearing their brand new Sleeping Children clothes, please remember that several hours earlier this same child arrived with threadbare clothing, ragged undergarments, and no shoes.
To exemplify how vastly different the way of life here is: at one distribution fifty students received their bedkits early in the day because “They have to return home early before the elephants start crossing the road.”
Team Sri Lanka 2011
