Chenkalady 1 - Amy and Sophie S - 25/10/16

Today’s journey was much quicker and more straight-forward as we arrived at a pre-school in Chenkalady; a much larger town than the remote village we visited yesterday. Again we were greeted with beaming smiles and flower garlands to wear. The school was nicely decorated in crafty bits and learning resources that the children had made. The walls were a bright colour, yet the room felt slightly small and dark inside.

The children joined in with more fun activities with the end of the session being the parachute. The children were all very excited and enthusiastic, joining in with full participation.

We were very fortunate to be joined by Dilanee and Rev Rohita who watched and clapped along whilst we did some samba dancing led by Sophie. The children also performed Tamil dances for us. This has to be our highlight of the morning. They really were incredible and it was so lovely to watch some of their own dancing that they practice in their school.

As we left the children shook our hands and said ‘thank you’. They were so happy and grateful for all the fun that they had today. It was rewarding and heartfelt to see the children walk away with such big smiles and excitement.

Maureen – catalogue gift giving - 24/10/16

Our gift catalogue afternoon turned out to be a really enjoyable time. We met with local families to give them gifts which have been purchased by supporters in the UK through our gift catalogue.  For two boys it meant they received a badly needed pair of shoes each.  For a number of families it was a small box containing about six ten day old chicks who cheeped away quite happily when presented to their new owners.  The chicks will in time produce eggs which the families will sell at market for about 15 Rupees each (8p)!!  Much needed income for all of them. A teacher from one of our pre schools received a water purifier and a fan both badly needed in the school. But it was the final gift presented which firstly really impressed us but which also ended up causing the greatest fuss.

A local girl who is a very good seamstress was given a large Singer sewing machine with which to begin her own clothing business.  Her delight at the gift was obvious. Our delight at the antics of the tuk tuk driver trying to load the whole thing into the back of his tuk tuk will last a while. He huffed and puffed, tried putting it in backwards, sideways, each and every way.  Finally he got a screw driver and separated the machine from the pedals before squeezing it and the seamstress lady into the back of his three wheeler. Finally they drove off with about one third of the sewing machine hanging out the side of the tuk tuk and the seamstress lady clinging to it.  I think they got home safely. I certainly hope so.

Another busy challenging eventful day  there’s never a dull moment.

Mandur 1 – Howard – 24/10/16

This morning we visited the small pre-school, Madur 1. After quite a long journey by tuk tuk, we were made very welcome by the staff, greeted with flower garlands. Here we worked with 26 children. At first we introduced ourselves and had a group session, including a story, song and dance and doing the famous OST hokey cokey! We then divided into three groups, with Maureen and Baba taking a group inside, whilst I took a group outside for some sporting activities (running, jumping and throwing). After 15 minutes we rotated around each group. Maureen then read them all the story via an interpreter. After that, all the children were given a fish hat to decorate. This went down very well, with most the children being very engaged.

What struck me was how happy most of the children seemed despite their obvious lack of facilities. They had no chairs, tables, cupboards or resources! So all lessons have to be done sitting on the concrete floor. About 4 or 5 (20%) of the children had obvious eye problems which distressed me. After the outside fence between the pre-school yard and the road was a barbed wire fence, which also worried me. We were told these are to keep animals out, but hopefully these things brought to light during our trip are things Ocean Stars can help to resolve.

On the way back in the tuk tuk there was a terrific downpour of rain and I go soaked which was actually very refreshing and enjoyable in the humid weather!

I hope and think our visit made a difference to the school!

Our interesting journey to Mandur 2 – Sophie O - 24/10/16

After an early start we began our journey to the pre-school, Mandur 2, by tuk tuk. It was a bit of a bumby ride at first but once we reached the main roads it was smooth. However we encountered other problems, the number of near misses between cars and the tuk tuk, was extremely scary. On our journey, we began to go down a road which all we could see, was that it led to the sea! We continued down this road getting more and more worried where we were actually going. Suddenly the tuk tuk’s stopped and we had reached the end of our road. All that was before us was the sea. We managed to work out from the drivers (through our tamal skills) that we had gone the wrong way and the pre-school was on the other side of the sea. Although the other side was in sight we were never going to be able to drive around there in time. Luckily we noticed a boat coming towards us and realised it was a ferry. When the ferry reached us, we then had the struggle of getting the tuk tuks on. Men stood on the edge of the boat and sticks were laid to fill the gaps between the land and the boat, finally the two tuk tuk’s managed to get on. So after an unexpected boat trip we reached the other side of land and were greeted by the priest of the church, next to the pre-school, we were going to. The priest then jumped on his motorbike and we followed him to the pre-school where we were greeted by the little children. Garlands were then put around our neck and we were given a very warm welcome. We had finally arrived.

Dilanee's visit to Navalady school with CPS students

We were greeted by the whole school waiting for us at the entrance of the school. There was a large banner welcoming us with photographs of all the Calthorpe Park (CPS) Students. The students were all given garlands and they walked from the school gate to the entrance following the school band. Then it was time for whole school Hindu and Christian prayers, which was followed by a whole school exercise to music. The CPS students and teachers joined in with the exercises. This was something new for the local students and teachers and they commented that they were very touched by this.

The students then divided into groups and went into different classrooms, and started doing the activities that they have been planning since January.

I spent some time talking to some of the teachers. The school used to be located in Navalady village, which was situated by the sea, with the whole school being destroyed by the Tsunami. The new school has been built 20 km inland by the Swiss government. One teacher I spoke to had lost her whole class of 24 students, aged 6, and their parents. There are several orphan students at the school, many still suffering from the trauma. I was very moved when the teacher told me that she was unable to talk for two years after the tsunami and she thanked Ocean Stars for allowing her to tell her story. 

Our feelings after arriving in Batticaloa – 23/10/16

Sophie: It was unexpectedly overwhelming when we pulled into Riviera Resort in Batticaloa on Sunday evening. Coming back for the second year, I was suddenly flooded with memories and felt as though I had returned ‘home’. Being remembered and greeted in such a friendly way by all the team from last year was heart warming! Looking forward to the week ahead!

Amy: I was pleasantly surprised by the incredibly warm welcome that we received today and the generosity from everyone that we met. It was a very emotional moment being greeting by so many happy, excited and intrigued faces. I had also not fully realised how many people support Ocean Stars until today. The team are extremely hard-working and friendly it is an honour to be a part of that team. 

Lorna: As soon as we arrived we had a meeting.  Wow!  It was so amazing how everyone had arrived in the same place and at the same time!  The organization of this trip is fantastic, not only was it our team and the Calthorpe Park School team there but also Diana and her management team, translators, helpers, a photographer and the assistant Director of Planning from the Divisional Secretariat in Batticaloa (a very important man whom we need to keep sweet).  I don’t think I realised how much organisation goes into this charity in Sri Lanka. This all started from one inspirational woman – Dilanee!

Trincomalee – Karumalaiyouthu Pre-School 23/10/16 – Lorna and Sophie O

When we arrived we walked up the hill to the Pre-School with children waiting to greeting us with their handmade flags. Sophie and I read the story of the Rainbow Fish and after made Rainbow Fish Hats with the children, pictures for the sponsors and then we had great fun with the children playing parachute games and blowing bubbles.  The children then did their own show for us.  They showed us what they had learnt in English telling us all about their families, best friends, and then named different animals, fruit, vegetables etc. in English by showing us a picture of each item and then telling us its name.

I don’t think I can really explain how I felt today.  It was so emotional seeing these little 4 and 5 year olds.  Their behaviour was exemplary, the smiles on their faces was magical.  Although they were worried at first soon they were coming up to us and holding our hands as we sang the Hokey Cokey.  The hardest part for me was handing out the Milo (chocolate drink) and biscuit to the sponsored children, but not having enough for all the other children that had turned up who were not the preschool.

Today was a great priviledge and for me I gained more than I gave; and I thank everyone at the Pre-school for allowing us to visit them and be part of their team.

After our time at the schools we were welcomed into the home of the Headmaster and his family for lunch.  We were treated like Royalty!  Whilst there his daughter also decorated all of our hands with the most beautiful and decorative henna.  Thank you to Janapdeen and his family.