Two Weeks Turns Into Four
I'd like to say that I plan on making my entries somewhat smoother when I return because there's so much info to give at each update it's a bit of a shotgun approach. I'm trying to hit several marks with each shot here so please forgive the rambling nature. It is 11:30 Wednesday morning our last day of work was yesterday and my official two weeks off has come to an end. The past 5 days have been tough but we made tremendous progress. It's been 100-115 F each day with high high humidity. A few of the locals actually went home. They said it was unusually hot. ouch.
We've had several mini celebrations at the work site this week. The first family to move into one of our houses came to bring bananas, rice balls, and a spicy dish for us. Nuns came to bless the house. One day the Minister of the Interior came with a translator and Buddhist monk to present the first house on that site from GC to the people. There were banners hung and cameras everywhere. A TV camera recorded everything for them to send to the states and try and raise money for land. The money promised by the world isn't finding it's way to the people who need it. America says they've sent it and Sri Lanka says they haven't received it. The truth, and the money, is somewhere in between. I can only fight one battle at a time and can't think too much about that. I'm here and feel my efforts are best spent moving forward instead of sideways.
The ministers presentation seemed a bit odd. We just hear sooo many stories of misappropriated funds that you cannot help but think for a minute you are part of a propaganda film. It was a bit surreal eating your rice lunch in the dirt caked in sweat and mud while watching well dressed men fuss over how to properly hang the banners and arrange potted flowers for 30 minutes in the middle of our construction site. Them wanting us to move a rock pile 20 feet over for the presentation didn't help matters either. Anyway, there's more thoughts on all that but now isn't the time.
On Sunday I was working with the roofers who are a family of 3 brothers and a father. They are skilled workers and use templates to jigsaw patterns into wood beams for the roof. I helped them saw these for a while until I bent their saw. I felt bad but after 20 minutes of them beating it between two rocks everything seemed to be ok. You have to be careful with tools here. Nothing is expendable. It must not have been too big a deal though because 30 minutes later I was asked to dinner at their home the following evening. Fast forward to Monday night.
Two brothers picked me up on one motorcycle. I was second on the seat with my backpack held in one hand and the drivers shoulder with the other. His brother sat behind me. It was an experience! It's not unusual to see a family of 5 on one bike here but a few of those are usually children. Anyway, it was 30 minutes from Tiny and into the countryside to his house. Crickets, frogs, birds singing the whole way under a beautiful moon filled sky which reflected of the rice paddies on either side of us. What a way to travel! It was a wonderful summer night for a ride. It was all so new and alive to me I had the feeling of being 16 again and riding around with friends in a car on a perfectly warm summer night. The ride back was just two of us and even more enjoyable.
We had to walk a few hundred yards up a trail to his house through tea trees and lush forest. It was a lovely setup. Green grass, vegetable garden and about a 6-7 room home. There was a constant flow of guests and family coming in to see the strange new face. We sat in the living room and they put on Discovery channel so that I may watch in English. I didn't watch much (haven't even seen a TV in 2 weeks) but is was appreciated. A pound-like cake and marshmallows were brought out as well as a fruit juice for me and Bandula to enjoy. He is the oldest brother and the only one who can speak some English. He just returned from Qatar after working as an office-boy for two years. I got the feeling he was the man of the house as everything was centered around us. Dinner of rice, potatoes, chicken, curry, and other dishes was served only to the two of us at a table. We ate with our hands and mashed everything together to form a ball of food. I brought bottled water with me and boy did I need it. It was spicy! After dinner we dipped our hands in a water bowl, toweled them off and were brought a yogurt dish and a bottle of honey. We mixed to two together and ate it with a spoon. It was more sour than sweet but I ate it all. After we finished two of Bandulas friends joined us at the table and began to eat. They waited until I was done and no one else in the family ate. I never understood when or if they ate but it was late and we left soon after finishing. That was great night that I'll not soon forget. I was offered a monkey to take home but explained it just wasn't possible. Darn it.
Today is New Years Eve in Sri Lanka and no work will be done for a few days all over the country. All the kids are out of school for two weeks now so this is like their Christmas break. It's a nice time to be in Sri Lanka.
My two week commitment may have come to an end but my journey continues. I will be staying here until the end of the month. My flight isn't set yet but I will leave around April 25th. We have accomplished quite a lot in our two weeks and Paul and Michael, the local coordinators, have been extremely pleased with our progress. Jesper and I are staying on for a few extra GC work days to help transition the new group and teach them what we've learned so their learning curve will be quicker and so all of our group's combined experience isn't lost when we leave. Plus, I want to leave on my own terms and I haven't felt that I am finished here. I've had several conversations with people who are now contemplating what to do with themselves upon returning home. We all know what we mean but we have to work it out for ourselves. My life in Tennessee is no longer my own and I'm just not ready to go home and sit in front of a computer.
Plus, there's lots of work to do here and I am continually blessed with warm feelings from the locals. Jasper and I are riding to Colombo tomorrow on the GC van and then we'll take a car or train to Kandy. Most people are making their way to Colombo tomorrow for flights out that evening or Friday. About 7-8 people seem to be making their way to Kandy as well and we hope to meet up with some of them. After a few days there we will return to Galle and a new hotel with GC. The Tiny House Hotel we were staying at has had some problems with repeated requests from GC and the degree of problems really depends upon who you talk to. So, we will be staying at Janaka House for a the following few days while working with the new group. Our last week or so here will be spent trying to join with some general relief work.
There are a lot of organizational problems in Sri Lanka but its not due to any one issue. The Global Crossroad team is doing the best they can given the situation. Things just work differently in Sri Lanka and you have to take the good with the bad. They don't organize like westerners but they don't complain like them either so you do the math. As a volunteer here you can either choose to help them reconstruct their lives or try to reconstruct their culture. One way is frustrating but rewarding the other is beating your head against a wall. So, it's all good work but with some western grass-roots organized efforts the work is more efficiently used. I can't tell you how much time we could save at the work site with just a cement mixer or one Bobcat. Anyway, the physical work is tough but we'd like to help in other ways as well so we're looking forward to spending more time directly with the camps and shelters.
Last night we had a certificate presentation at Janaka and Paul said a few very nice words to our group and it was just a neat private celebration for us. Afterwards we went down to the beach club in Unawatuna for drinks and a bonfire just yards from the breaking surf. Beautiful starry night next to the Indian Ocean with all the volunteers and quite a few of the local workers. Most of the locals danced (women don't really go dancing at clubs here so the males dance together quite strangely) and we hung about the club and surrounding beach until about 1:30. John, Lottie and I grabbed a tuk-tuk back to Tiny and that was interesting. It was a long drive but the driver kept driving as if it were only the next turn up. It was a long confusing ride but very fun for me.
It's hard saying goodbye to some of these people and I can't believe this part is over. In a way I am relieved as this has been in my foremost thoughts for a while. I will miss a few tremendously and hope to see them again either in the states of abroad. The world is much smaller to me now.
Jesper is patiently waiting for me to finish so we can grab lunch and hit the beach for one afternoon. I have a wicked farmers tan. I have finally posted a few Sri Lanka pics so check out the album. I have many more but can only do one at a time from here so it's just the highlights. Take care and I'll write in a few days from Kandy hopefully. I hope everyone is doing well and I can't wait to see you all. I wish you could be here and hope you can someday.
We've had several mini celebrations at the work site this week. The first family to move into one of our houses came to bring bananas, rice balls, and a spicy dish for us. Nuns came to bless the house. One day the Minister of the Interior came with a translator and Buddhist monk to present the first house on that site from GC to the people. There were banners hung and cameras everywhere. A TV camera recorded everything for them to send to the states and try and raise money for land. The money promised by the world isn't finding it's way to the people who need it. America says they've sent it and Sri Lanka says they haven't received it. The truth, and the money, is somewhere in between. I can only fight one battle at a time and can't think too much about that. I'm here and feel my efforts are best spent moving forward instead of sideways.
The ministers presentation seemed a bit odd. We just hear sooo many stories of misappropriated funds that you cannot help but think for a minute you are part of a propaganda film. It was a bit surreal eating your rice lunch in the dirt caked in sweat and mud while watching well dressed men fuss over how to properly hang the banners and arrange potted flowers for 30 minutes in the middle of our construction site. Them wanting us to move a rock pile 20 feet over for the presentation didn't help matters either. Anyway, there's more thoughts on all that but now isn't the time.
On Sunday I was working with the roofers who are a family of 3 brothers and a father. They are skilled workers and use templates to jigsaw patterns into wood beams for the roof. I helped them saw these for a while until I bent their saw. I felt bad but after 20 minutes of them beating it between two rocks everything seemed to be ok. You have to be careful with tools here. Nothing is expendable. It must not have been too big a deal though because 30 minutes later I was asked to dinner at their home the following evening. Fast forward to Monday night.
Two brothers picked me up on one motorcycle. I was second on the seat with my backpack held in one hand and the drivers shoulder with the other. His brother sat behind me. It was an experience! It's not unusual to see a family of 5 on one bike here but a few of those are usually children. Anyway, it was 30 minutes from Tiny and into the countryside to his house. Crickets, frogs, birds singing the whole way under a beautiful moon filled sky which reflected of the rice paddies on either side of us. What a way to travel! It was a wonderful summer night for a ride. It was all so new and alive to me I had the feeling of being 16 again and riding around with friends in a car on a perfectly warm summer night. The ride back was just two of us and even more enjoyable.
We had to walk a few hundred yards up a trail to his house through tea trees and lush forest. It was a lovely setup. Green grass, vegetable garden and about a 6-7 room home. There was a constant flow of guests and family coming in to see the strange new face. We sat in the living room and they put on Discovery channel so that I may watch in English. I didn't watch much (haven't even seen a TV in 2 weeks) but is was appreciated. A pound-like cake and marshmallows were brought out as well as a fruit juice for me and Bandula to enjoy. He is the oldest brother and the only one who can speak some English. He just returned from Qatar after working as an office-boy for two years. I got the feeling he was the man of the house as everything was centered around us. Dinner of rice, potatoes, chicken, curry, and other dishes was served only to the two of us at a table. We ate with our hands and mashed everything together to form a ball of food. I brought bottled water with me and boy did I need it. It was spicy! After dinner we dipped our hands in a water bowl, toweled them off and were brought a yogurt dish and a bottle of honey. We mixed to two together and ate it with a spoon. It was more sour than sweet but I ate it all. After we finished two of Bandulas friends joined us at the table and began to eat. They waited until I was done and no one else in the family ate. I never understood when or if they ate but it was late and we left soon after finishing. That was great night that I'll not soon forget. I was offered a monkey to take home but explained it just wasn't possible. Darn it.
Today is New Years Eve in Sri Lanka and no work will be done for a few days all over the country. All the kids are out of school for two weeks now so this is like their Christmas break. It's a nice time to be in Sri Lanka.
My two week commitment may have come to an end but my journey continues. I will be staying here until the end of the month. My flight isn't set yet but I will leave around April 25th. We have accomplished quite a lot in our two weeks and Paul and Michael, the local coordinators, have been extremely pleased with our progress. Jesper and I are staying on for a few extra GC work days to help transition the new group and teach them what we've learned so their learning curve will be quicker and so all of our group's combined experience isn't lost when we leave. Plus, I want to leave on my own terms and I haven't felt that I am finished here. I've had several conversations with people who are now contemplating what to do with themselves upon returning home. We all know what we mean but we have to work it out for ourselves. My life in Tennessee is no longer my own and I'm just not ready to go home and sit in front of a computer.
Plus, there's lots of work to do here and I am continually blessed with warm feelings from the locals. Jasper and I are riding to Colombo tomorrow on the GC van and then we'll take a car or train to Kandy. Most people are making their way to Colombo tomorrow for flights out that evening or Friday. About 7-8 people seem to be making their way to Kandy as well and we hope to meet up with some of them. After a few days there we will return to Galle and a new hotel with GC. The Tiny House Hotel we were staying at has had some problems with repeated requests from GC and the degree of problems really depends upon who you talk to. So, we will be staying at Janaka House for a the following few days while working with the new group. Our last week or so here will be spent trying to join with some general relief work.
There are a lot of organizational problems in Sri Lanka but its not due to any one issue. The Global Crossroad team is doing the best they can given the situation. Things just work differently in Sri Lanka and you have to take the good with the bad. They don't organize like westerners but they don't complain like them either so you do the math. As a volunteer here you can either choose to help them reconstruct their lives or try to reconstruct their culture. One way is frustrating but rewarding the other is beating your head against a wall. So, it's all good work but with some western grass-roots organized efforts the work is more efficiently used. I can't tell you how much time we could save at the work site with just a cement mixer or one Bobcat. Anyway, the physical work is tough but we'd like to help in other ways as well so we're looking forward to spending more time directly with the camps and shelters.
Last night we had a certificate presentation at Janaka and Paul said a few very nice words to our group and it was just a neat private celebration for us. Afterwards we went down to the beach club in Unawatuna for drinks and a bonfire just yards from the breaking surf. Beautiful starry night next to the Indian Ocean with all the volunteers and quite a few of the local workers. Most of the locals danced (women don't really go dancing at clubs here so the males dance together quite strangely) and we hung about the club and surrounding beach until about 1:30. John, Lottie and I grabbed a tuk-tuk back to Tiny and that was interesting. It was a long drive but the driver kept driving as if it were only the next turn up. It was a long confusing ride but very fun for me.
It's hard saying goodbye to some of these people and I can't believe this part is over. In a way I am relieved as this has been in my foremost thoughts for a while. I will miss a few tremendously and hope to see them again either in the states of abroad. The world is much smaller to me now.
Jesper is patiently waiting for me to finish so we can grab lunch and hit the beach for one afternoon. I have a wicked farmers tan. I have finally posted a few Sri Lanka pics so check out the album. I have many more but can only do one at a time from here so it's just the highlights. Take care and I'll write in a few days from Kandy hopefully. I hope everyone is doing well and I can't wait to see you all. I wish you could be here and hope you can someday.
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