Pens & Pencils

A really big thank you to every one who donated pens & pencils especially all the school children. On my travels around the schools these have been received with a great deal of interest and the children have been really excited. Thank you.

So Lucky to be alive

I spoke to a family who lost 3 children. Two boys and 1 girl. They showed me photos of the after effects of the Tsunami. One of the photos showed a young girl wearing a pretty pink flowered dress face down in the water. Thats how we found our daughter the next day! I then spoke to the son & he explained how when the first wave hit he was on the top of the house with his brother and sister. Then the second wave hit and they were all swept off. That was the last he saw of them. He was carried for over a mile into the forest. He has started making wooden model boats to sell to tourists and the detail was fantastic. He desperately required some tools to get the business off the ground. We helped to purchase an electric drill, grinder, drill bits, saw, sanding sheets & chisels. He expalined that this would make an enormous difference to his whole family and he was extremely grateful to everyone who had donated. Thank you.

£100 for childrens shoes

I have visited many schools while in Sri Lanka and have been very impressed at how well most of the children turn out in the all white school uniforms despite the fact that many parents can ill afford to cloth their children in this way. However there are some families who cannot afford the shoes and these kids come to school in flip flops or no shoes at all. We have donated one hundred pounds to put shoes on these childrens feet. thank you.

£200 donation to the Feeding programme

We donated $200 to the feeding programme in the refugee camps. At 6 am every morning the children are given milk and a bun before they go off to school. They leave for school at 6.30am. Prior to this many children were staying away from school as they were hungry and unable to concentrate at school. This has been a massive boost to the children and their families

More Children's Equipment - Thank you

Today I purchased a quantity of Baby's pillows, childrens lunch boxes and childrens drinking flasks. Thses will be given to the Fantastic Aid workers at T.A.B. to distribute at the camps. Thanks

The long train to Galle

When you travel on the trains in Sri Lanka you have 1st, 2nd, & 3rd class. The train to Galle didn't have any first class seats so we travelled in style in 2nd class. When I sat down in a seat & looked around I couldn't help wondering what 3rd class was like? Some of the seats were ripped, there was some rubbish on the floor and the smell of urine on a very hot & humid afternoon eminated from the toilet which happened to be opposite where I was sitting.Deep joy! For a moment I thought I was on British Rail! - Despite all this I would thoroughly recommend this train journey. As you pull out of Colombo City you start to see all the people who live next to the railway line, & I mean next to it! I remember the washing hanging on fences to dry and the "railway children" playing. As the train journey gets going very soon you experience some of the devastation caused by the Tsunami. Whole houses completely flattened close to the sea. Many of them have been cleared and all you can see is the concrete slab, foundations of where there homes used to stand.
Well it all seems to be pretty well sorted I thought.Some people had said to me before I left that with all the aid money that's been raised there can't be a lot left to do. Well, I can tell you that sadly that's far from the case. Can't be that bad surely, this was part of what I had come to experience! All this time I was looking out of the right hand window out to sea. The train track runs about 200 yards from the waters edge.There was enough room to get about 4 houses deep on the beach & it was what was left of these that you could see. You can imagine this giant wave just smashing into these homes and totally flattening them. It was then that I glanced to my left & looked out of the window on the other side. I could not believe it, it was then that I really experienced the devastating effects of the Tsunami. I'd read about it, seen the papers & the news but this was for real. This was Mother Nature at her worst.

Communication, its a wonderful thing!

Since I have been here I have met 6 English speaking people. A couple from Manchester, a Guy from Poland living in London & 3 girls from Canada, that is it! The rest of the time its a very, very broken English. I have to admit they don't understand me & I really don't have a clue what they are saying, but we get by with a lot of hand and finger jestures?!
So how do you communicate with all these refugees when you go about the camps? Easy, carry a camera.Once the kids know you have one they are queing up. Mums & Dads too! You get invited into their "hut" to take a photo of them together, the parents are so proud of their children, just as we are, thats what makes you realise they are no different to us. They all pose happily with these huge white smiles & are are so excited when you show them the photo on the back of the camera. Time to move on, they smile again & I can't help thinking what pain & humiliation they hold back behind those milky eyes & pure white smiles.Today I had about a hundred photo's printed to give out to these people. Such a simple thing that we all take for granted.

More equipment for the refugees

Today, thanks to your donations we purchased & supplied 15 cooker / burners. Without these the refugees have no means of cooking etc it will make a real difference to 15 family's & at least 40 children. Thank you.

More of the Fishing Village Children

Repairing the fishing nets

Drying the fish in the mid day sun

Its clean its fresh, but not pre packed here!

So Sad

Every person in the camp is assessed for short term and long term needs. This very proud lady is 81 years old. Her eyes weld up when she told us that she has no bed, no mattress and sleeps on the floor of her tent. How can this be when all this money was pledged to help these people?

The Tsunami Fishing Children

These children lost their house on the beach in Negombo when the Tsunami hit. They now live in a wooden hut. Despite all the hardship the children were laughing, having fun and appeared very happy. I visited them again with copies of the photo's I had taken, some sweets and some provisions for Mum & Dad. They were very grateful and I was offered a cup of Ceylon tea. What a lovely family!

Service with a smile

Ok so its not Sainsburys, but its good fresh produce every day

Running water in the kitchen, you must be joking

The most basic of comodities that we all take for granted.Water has to be carried in buckets from this giant tank that gets filled twice a week.

Its unbelievable that people are still having to live like this 7 months after the Tsunami hit!

If it wasn't for the volanteer projects and charities like T.A.B things would be an aweful lot worse. The next step for these people is temporary housing, in the same field.

The Brothers.

These two boys are deaf and dumb. They can't go to school as they can't integrate and join in. All they need is a hearing aid each to change their lives!

7 months after the Tsunami - still living in tents

Well sort of, most of its plastic sheeting.

Abi - how can a four year old talk so much

This is Abi from Botswana, South Africa. Aged 4 years. Sat next to me on my flight from Gatwick to Dubai - 6 hours. She never stopped talking, reading or drawing. No sleep for me.

Sunday - Day of Rest

Arrived at the Sunday market approx 4 miles away and looked around the clothes Etc but soon got bored... Its a guy thing... then moved on to the fruit, veg and spices market, that was a lot more interesting. Got some good Photos too. It was here that I was befriended by a Sri Lankan. He took me to the fish area on the beach where they process the fish and dry them out ready to be sold. I saw the fishing boats they used and saw several fishermen repairing nets. A number of Children ran up to me & wanted their picture taking.Well it turned into a bit of a party. Several Kids appeared from no where then Mum and Dad and a few friends. Took the photos and then got invited to their house on the beach. They lost their house in the Tsunami and are now living in a wooden hut /shack. I looked inside. There was a push bike against the wall, 2 plastic patio chairs and a mattress on the floor. That was it! There was Mum Dad and I think 4 kids. They cooked outside in an old pot.Despite all of this they are all smiling & appear happy. The parents just wanted me to meet their children.They asked if they could have a copy of the Photo's & they gave me their name & address for me to post it to them. I'm going to see if I can get the Prints done in town and I will visit them again this time with Some Pens and pencils and a few basic provisions.We then Walked around the corner into this lake area with fishing boats and again took Some Photos and got Invited into another house. Not once was I asked for money by the adults despite them having very little. walked back to the town got a tut tut back home. All in all a very productive day. regards, Malcolm.

The First Two Camps I Visit.

Friday 8th July.
Up at 6am, breakfast, then taxi to Colombo to meet my contact who I've never met before, only emailed twice. Took just under 2 hours. Traffic was horrendous. Arrived at hotel and was met by Sadeesh who then took me to their office around the corner. Had a meeting. Great group of people. Very focused ,very committed and pasionate about what they are doing. Met the following people; Lalinda,[Lali], national co ordinator, Johaan, project manager/admin. Saddeesh, IT manager/projects. Shiromi,finance manager, Sharmala, project co ordinator, Sandy, project co ordinator, Helen, the secretary & Uncle the driver. Went to two camps. One housing 180 families and the other 120 families. Well I've been to some poor places in Africa and the like but the back streets of Colombo are as bad as the worst I've seen. The tourists would never see it, you just would not find it. Its worse than I imagined, I wasn't aware that there was a need for camps in the capitol. In the first camp the project have built temp accomodation, rows & rows of wooden rooms approx. 10ft x 8ft. All these people are supposed to get meal tickets from the government for things like rice, lentils, spices and other things. The only thing they are getting at this time is flour, nothing else is available. They are very limited to what they can do with it.To cook flour dishes takes a lot more gas. Some Mothers and Children appear under nourished. Some children are being kept off school because they are lethargic & tired, unable to concentrate due to lack of the right food. Some of them are still cooking on open fires with logs because they have run out of gas or have yet to be issued with a camping stove. Remember, all of the equipment, utensils, housing etc has come from donations, has been built & is being run by volunteers. None of this is Government or Tsunami Aid money! These People (TAB) are doing a fantastic job. We start a feed programme on Monday to help the Mums and Kids.The idea is to give milk to the under 3's and extra food for the Mum's. There was a problem while I was there because they have had no electricity during the day only at night. Apparently the electricity bills are too high so they have been cut off. Not sure who by or for how long? This is a problem as the accommodation they are living in heats up like an oven & they become too hot for the Mothers and their babies as the fans don't operate without power. So the insects, caterpillars and other bugs then crawl into the house because its hot and the kids are eating them & they are getting into the bedding etc! The second camp was even worse. They are all living in tents. Some made out of plastic sheets etc. The Tsunami happened some seven months ago, you wouldn't think so if you could see the living conditions. A lady came up to me and showed me her husbands medical records & copies of paid hospital bills. He has been diagnosed with very serious throat cancer and cannot afford to have the operation or purchase drugs required to slow it down. What can you say to someone in this situation, "don't worry I'm sure everything will be ok"-, theres nothing you can say, but it leaves a lump in your throat knowing what the end result is most likely to be and all the guy needs is some money for an operation. Non of them speak English so communication is a problem, however when you smile and shake their hands their faces light up and this huge white smile appears. I think they are pleased to see me. I think they hope that maybe as a westerner i can make a difference, but I fear they have a long road ahead. Met a young lad about nine years old, cheeky little chap especially considering he is deaf & dumb. His brothers the same. They are hoping for a hearing aid each, so they can go to school. Its just a question of money. He just wanted his photo taken, several times and to hold my hand while we walked around the camp, pretty basic stuff really.
The people housed in the camps in Colombo are displaced as a result of the Tsunami. I was not aware that they were effected as far up as that. Fortunately, nobody died in this region. I fear things will get much worse when I move down the coast towards Galle & Hikkaduwa..

Hello from Sri Lanka

At long last we have arrived. 24 hours- door to door! Left Bournemouth @ 8am on Tuesday morning and arrived in Negombo, Colombo at 2pm (9am, GMT) on Weds. Sat next to a young girl on the plane, she came from Botswana, South Africa & never stopped talking & asking questions during the whole flight. Good experience I guess for what's to come. The jet lag hit me late yesterday afternoon & I couldn't stay awake. Been ok most of today until this evening, another early night & i'll be fine tomorrow. In the morning I meet my contact in Colombo. Been a good day today - spoke to several people who are staying in Sri Lanka for up to 6 months. Got some good tips & ways to save money.
Sri Lanka Information...........
SL is 270 miles long & 140 miles wide.
Became independent from Britain in 1948
Main language is Sinhalese
19 million population, 72% sinhalese, 20% Tamil, 8 % Malays & less than 1% other religions Sri Lanka used to be connected to main land india by a natural land bridge 20 miles long. This is now several metres underwater & is called "Adams Bridge".
Sri Lanka used to grow Cinamon. In 1824 the British introduced coffee growing hoping for a more lucrative crop. By 1840 coffee was king. In 1869 disaster struck & "coffee rust" destroyed all the plantations over the next 20 years. There attention then turned to growing what is now recognised as some of the worlds finest Ceylon teas.
Well thati s it for today! I'm posting this from my mobile pda phone- so I hope it works ok. Can't check my email on screen for a couple of days. regards, Malcolm.

Final Total - what a result!

£1,000 - what a result. well that's it the final total. Amazing, thank you to every single person who donated money, pens, pencils and equipment. My bags are packed and I leave for the airport in the morning at 8am. The next update comes from Sri Lanka..............watch this space!

Thanks to Yellow Buses & Gary Corrie Engineering Director

2nd meeting with Gary Corrie today. Thanks Gary for your time, support, valuable contact details & your inspiration. Gary was out in Sri Lanka in May and built up a number of contacts that I may well be able to use. To see what Gary and his team got up to hit the link above.