Our day started with
the soothing sounds of the hotel receptionist, kindly asking us to wake up…at
5am!! Today Team 2 spent the morning in Yatiyantota, working with St. Peter’s
pre-school, one of OST’s most recent pre-school projects.
Located 40 minutes
from Colombo Airport, St. Peter’s is a newly formed Tamil Pre-School situated
in a majority Sinhalese area. Families living in this area In the last two
years, the number of children attending the pre-school has increased from 5 to
40 children! Meaning there were many young faces waiting to greet us this
morning.
The team split up,
with two groups doing activities and the other interviewing the parents for the
OST Communities and Livelihoods Study.
At midday we left for
Killinochi (an 8 hour drive) and arrived at Mahadeva Children’s Home at 8pm
where we are planning our activities for the children in the next couple of
days.
Here are some photos
and reflections from today:
Zeddy
This was my first visit to St.Peter’s pre-school. I was
delighted to work with the sewing project which is newly established for
parents of pre-school children to learn new skills and pass the time whilst
their child attends pre-school. OST has provided funds for the building and 5
sewing machines. My impression is that the project has a lot of potential. The women
had learnt to make serviettes and today I taught them how to make pillow cases
and they were very delighted. They said that they can see the potential for customers
for pillow cases in the local area and are motivated to make them.
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| Zeddy showing some parents how to make pillow cases |
Akshaya
Wow what a tiring day! Today we went all the way up
mountains to a preschool, it was really amazing interviewing the children’s parents.
We learnt a lot of stuff and how hard to was for them to come to school. Some people
even had to travel an hour to get to the school! As the parents came in they
were really nervous but after we got to know each other and as the end came the
parents really opened up. As for the children, well, they were amazing and so
excited to do all the tasks that they were given. Seeing all their adorable
smiles just goes to show how greatful they were and how excited they were to
see us. It’s one of the best feelings ever!
 |
| Interviewing parents of pre-school children |
Sandra
I woke up this morning 99% sure I had everything prepared
for today, there is always some doubt! St. Peter’s pre-school is a new
pre-school for me, therefore I was very excited to work with the children. Even
though both Dan’s explained where the pre-school was located, I was still
confused about the location. On arrival we seemed to park-up in the middle of a
market! Once Sister Mary greeted us, I felt instantly reassured and she looked
after us so well throughout the morning. Planning, what planning? Our original
ideas changed within 30 seconds of us arriving!! Not to worry. The children
(all 36 of them) greeted us all garlands and gifts. I had forgotten how special
it is to see so many young smiles in unison. I worked with Rev. Dan and Gishen
for the morning. The children were fantastic, I was seriously impressed by the
standard of the children’s work. A remarkable effort considering the lack of
resources and the infancy of this pre-school. I left feeling very happy,
reassured and excited by the next few weeks. On to Killinochi!
In other news…
Debbie and Steve arrived in Sri Lanka today to join the Ocean
Stars team of volunteers. 11 more volunteers are due on Friday, making a total
of 23! Please take a look at the Ocean Stars Trust website for more information on the
various projects that OST is currently engaged with.
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