Trips to Sri Lanka by Ocean Stars Trust to catch up on projects there
Video

Here is a link to a video summary of the trip to Sri Lanka with Ocean Stars Trust.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ho7YTVMKd0

By Chris Booth - Published: 2009-11-12 04:13
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Trips to Sri Lanka by Ocean Stars Trust to catch up on projects there
A week on... from Ruth

Well, it's almost seven days ago we said goodbye to Sri Lanka but I can still visualise and hear Janika, Sudha and Ranga our drivers, standing at the table at The Green Cabin restaurant singing their national anthem at the end of our meal. It was very moving and unforgettable.

We have so much to ponder -all the awesome things we saw and experienced. Not least the incredible way we got to Grace children's home. No one could have imagined a more miraculous working out of a series of events that led us there !
The boys were so caring towards each other but at the same time just normal boys when it came to playing games!

Those children in the playgroups, once the novelty of these strange people had worn off, were just like those at home .There's always one who wants to do their own thing and has to be 'guided' back to conform for the good of the rest!

We cried silent tears of sadness and frustration at times when we felt overwhelmed by the unjustice we saw around us-but we had many more times of joy and laughter when we saw what a difference a few small things could do especially the look on the face of the small boy who had his own new shoes for probably the first time.

Then there was the sheer hilarity of the parachute games and Dilanee and Bron giving yet another rendition of 'The wheels on the bus' on the inset morning! The playgroup ladies though were so eager to devour any new ideas that would give their charges a good start in their young lives.We heard later that the afternoon session was delayed as they were crying after we had left---we were quite shaken by that news .

It goes without saying that this charity is making a difference to these folk.A big thankyou must be given to those who supported this venture by giving gifts and finance I saw where it went and I can assure you every penny went straight to those who needed it most.

Perhaps my most abiding memory will be the people who live in such poverty and yet have the ability to give and share their all with strangers . They were so generous to us their hospitality was overwhelming at times and made me feel how mean I am and how much I need to be reminded of the countless undeserved blessings I take for granted each day.
May God bless you Dilanee.

Ruth

By Chris Booth - Published: 2009-11-09 13:47
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Trips to Sri Lanka by Ocean Stars Trust to catch up on projects there
Some more final words...

The biggest thing that has struck me since getting back to England is the enthusiasm with which people listen to my stories. Although it is sometimes difficult to talk about the things we saw and experienced during our time in Sri Lanka, people are so keen to hear, and more often than not they are very quick to grasp the concept of what Ocean Stars does. People are so impressed with the personal touch Ocean Stars maintains with each project and each individual, it feels as if our trip helps people relate more directly to the concept of giving. Although it is unrealistic to think that all the people I speak to will feel compelled to donate to Ocean Stars, I feel that it will encourage them to look more for avenues of charity that share the same principles.

Despite these positives, it is still very hard to get back in to my English life with the same passion I found in Sri Lanka – I feel that a lot of this drive will be put to use in organise my 6-8 week trip which looks as though it will almost certainly be happening around March/April. This only gives me a very short time to get the details sorted, so it looks like I might be making phone calls to Ranga very soon.

Matt

It’s been a week now since our return from Sri Lanka. A week of what constitutes normality for us. For me it has been a time of reflection. I’ve tried and am still trying to come to terms with all that I have seen and experienced with OST ’09. As I returned to teach in school my thoughts constantly ran to the children in the pre-schools in Batti. As my children here in Fleet played with toys, painted pictures, rode bicycles and read umpteen books I thought about those dusty floors, the plastic chairs, the empty cupboards. As I walked around my own home I remembered the family of six we visited last Thursday who live together in one room the size of my garage and who sleep on a concrete floor. They appear to have so little and yet they have so much. So much warmth, so much kindness and real courage. They humble me completely. I feel truly grateful for the experience they have shared with me. I’m challenged and encouraged to do all I can to support them and to fight the injustice of their situation. In all it has been a privilege. A privilege to have lived and worked with Dame Dilanee and each member of the team and a privilege to have had time with some very special people. The memories live on…

Maureen

By Chris Booth - Published: 2009-11-09 11:50
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Trips to Sri Lanka by Ocean Stars Trust to catch up on projects there
Final words from Ruth...

Amazing sounds sights and smells!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  What a mad whirl of activity. How do you choose which vendor you will buy from ? Sri Lanka must now earn the name of a nation of shopkeepers!

What a contrast to the other world we left yesterday.I wonder what the children from the playgroup would make of this.  I wish I had a video in my head to replay all we’ve seen. I shall never be able to articulate or adequately tell everyone what it has been like for me.  We talk about life being a journey this has been a marathon one for me.

At the start of this trip I said I had thought I would be taken out of my comfort zone - now I feel like James Bond’s martini - shaken and stirred.

I hope I won’t become complacent—but I fear I will.

My life has been touched and I feel truly fortunate and privileged to have been here.

Ruth

By Chris Booth - Published: 2009-11-09 11:47
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Trips to Sri Lanka by Ocean Stars Trust to catch up on projects there
Day 9 - Kate and Bron go to Galle

Saturday. 5.20am. UGH! But Ranga was calling for us (Kate & Bron) at 6 to go down south to a project in Galle. The rest of the team had been quite sorry for us to be ‘working’ on the last day when they were shopping, but actually it turned out to be a very interesting and varied day. We stopped off for a coffee break then travelled on to meet Rev Dareeju, a Methodist minister in Galle. We struggled with his name – practising to get it right when we met him, only to find that he greeted us with ‘Hello, I am Leslie’! Oh, well! J He took us to see a small village who were living in new housing about 15k inland. They had all lost their homes in the tsunami, and all the 50 families had been given lovely new homes. All good, you may think. But these were FISHERMEN! 15k from the sea. A bus runs twice each day, but to fish at night, there was no transport. One of the temporarily unoccupied houses was being used as a school run by 3 lovely young teachers – as additional lessons for the children. They were asking for help with the school, which was being ‘repossessed’ last night and given to a family. But this wasn’t an existing community – just a collection of families who didn’t know each other before, thrown together in this isolated village. So they also asked for help with building a temporary community centre with many uses – not just the school but also a possible playgroup and for meetings of the community. We left feeling sad at the situation but inspired by the teachers and the efforts of the community leaded to try to help everyone. On the way back to Galle we saw rubber trees, each with its own little cup, a small tea plantation a cinnamon bush and rice plants, none of which I had seen before other than in pictures. Having dropped Leslie back at his home, we set off back to Columbo. We had a paddle on the glorious beach along the way, visited a turtle research station – tiny, two day old turtles up to old gentlemen turtles. We saw a memorial to the lives lost in a train in the Tsunami – a terrible, graphic depiction of the train and the people. We arrived back at the hotel in a torrential thunderstorm – Yasmin took a brilliant a picture of the lightening, and the thunder was so loud.

A day of contrasts – but I preferred it to shopping and returned in time to get ready for our final meal in Colombo – a party of the English and Sri Lankan members of the team. A good time was had by all – it was a lovely evening.

By Chris Booth - Published: 2009-11-09 11:45
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Trips to Sri Lanka by Ocean Stars Trust to catch up on projects there
Videos!

The videos are gradually going to be uploaded for everyone to see! There is a little video for each day.

By Chris Booth - Published: 2009-11-04 13:47
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Trips to Sri Lanka by Ocean Stars Trust to catch up on projects there
Final thoughts from Kate.

I have been back in Fleet for a couple of days now and it is a struggle to return to normal life – packed lunches, dark and damp weather, layers of clothes and busy people.

For me the recent trip to Sri Lanka bombarded my senses and I have come away with images and sounds that will live with me forever…………

The sound of laughter at the Grace Children’s Home as I played ‘bean bags’ with the boys…

The dark room lit by one small oil lamp in the home of one of the sponsored children...

The fear of a small child when seeing two soldiers passing the playgroup on a motorbike…

The sound of the drums as Harshana, Ranga and Sudah played and sang for us on our last evening in Colombo…

The contrast between the tsunami damaged buildings on one side of the road and the calm Indian Ocean on the other…

The numerous shelled out buildings we saw as we drove across to the east towards Batticaloa…

Armed soldiers every few hundred yards; youngsters carrying guns, sometimes with their faces hidden; most with fear in their eyes. What have they witnessed?

Buffaloes wallowing up to their necks in a water lily covered lagoon – their idea of heaven I expect…

The voices of the five girls who sang and danced for us in the chapel at Wesley College as we waited to leave for Colombo…

The exhaustion induced hysterical laughter as various members of the Ocean Stars Team related some tale…

The smiling faces of the mothers who watched their children having fun running around wearing paper crowns, laughing…

The generosity of the people who have so little to give but give so much…

The wide eyes of the children when given a teddy bear to take home with them; something of their very own to love and cuddle…

The rising sun over the Indian Ocean – surely a sign of hope for better things to come; a new beginning…


I could carry on with this list for ever as sounds and images are continually flooding back to me at random whenever I get the chance to sit and daydream for a moment. It was a journey of contrasts and one I have had the privilege to share with eleven others including the three drivers. It will take a while to settle back into life here in Fleet and I ask for patience and understanding as I gradually process the experience and slowly settle back into reality.

Finally a big thank you to everyone for the parts they have played in my ‘adventure’, however big or small…..

By Chris Booth - Published: 2008-11-04 08:57
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Trips to Sri Lanka by Ocean Stars Trust to catch up on projects there
Bron - A day later...

And so we have returned, and I am truly happy to be back home with my family. Life here has gone on whilst I have been away, yet I am changed in some way. I have seen so many things and learned so much over the last 11 days that my life can never be the same again, and helping those around me to understand this will take time, patience, love and understanding on both sides.

So what have I learned? Well…

I have learned that Korma is not the only curry…

I have learned that it is not always impolite to eat with ones fingers – indeed, it is sometimes essential…

I have learned that ‘night bus moments’ are not necessarily fatal…

I have learned that the ability to count does not extend to hairpin bends…

I have learned that sharing mosquito repellent and after bite cream can help to build a team…

I have re-learned that money cannot buy happiness…

I have learned that communication crosses the boundaries of language…

I have learned that civil conflicts do not necessarily extend to individuals…

I have learned that the abuse of power causes fear among the innocent…

I have re-learned that people are people the world over – God’s children regardless of race,
religion or culture…

I have learned that rebuilding houses is not the same as rebuilding lives and livelihoods…

I have learned that I can learn so much from people…

I have learned humility from those facing poverty on a scale I can barely imagine, yet who shared so much from what they didn’t have…

I have learned that the Sri Lankan people – the ordinary people – have a warmth and openness and gift of hospitality second to none…


I would like to thank and pay tribute to OST 2008 – Amali (the ‘baby’), Helen (the Scot), Jan (the finance), Jo (the includer), Kate (the tireless), Maureen (the teacher), Sharon (the listener), and in particular Dilanee (the enabler and powerhouse). You have been great! I am so grateful to you all for our time together, and I look forward to meeting up again soon.

I would also like to remember with thanks the extended team, our trio of intrepid drivers – Ranga the good shepherd, (who had this title explained to him in terms of a herd of buffalo, which I wasn't quite sure about!), Harshana and Sudha (daaarling!!), without whose hard work, support, care and willingness to be so much part of the team this trip would have been a great deal harder. They are two Buddhists and a Hindu, one Tamil and two Sinhalese, but these differences made no difference to them that I could see, as they looked out for each other and us. Their words at our final debrief session confirmed that the work we had done, and which Ocean Stars will continue to do, was of great value to their people, and they said they were proud to have been part of the team, which reduced some of us to tired tears.

Then the other people I have met and got to know a little in Sri Lanka – Rangini, Joseph, Ranchen, Gita, Yasmin, Rohan, Gauri, Jacthi, Rev Jothini, Kumar and his family, and others I’m sure I have missed out, and for that I apologise. Thank you for your generosity of time, and for giving a greater understanding of the situation in Sri Lanka. And I also apologise for the mis-spelling of names…

And the many people I have met whose names I don’t know, and therefore cant mis-spell! The teachers in the playgroups we have visited, the parents whose generosity with what little material possessions they have has been a lesson in itself, and especially to the children with whom we have worked. Their faces as we played with them, making things for them to take home with them, and their laughter as we threw beanbags and sang the interminable ‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes’. The invitation into homes in the Batti area which were just tiny shacks built of pieces of wood and corrugated iron, and being surrounded by small people still wearing the paper crowns we had made earlier in the day.

I have left a part of my heart back there in Sri Lanka, and I look forward to returning in the future...maybe next year?

And Team 2008…I’m FINE!!!

Bron

By Chris Booth - Published: 2008-11-03 07:41
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Trips to Sri Lanka by Ocean Stars Trust to catch up on projects there
Some images from the week...

Sorry, but they take quite a while to upload - I will put some more on when there is a bit more time!

Jo with her sponsor family

Amali and Jan on elephant

Sharon with a snake

Amali with playgroup children

OST team 2008!

Elephant orphanage :)

By Chris Booth - Published: 2008-11-01 13:44
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Trips to Sri Lanka by Ocean Stars Trust to catch up on projects there
Final group blog on the ground...

Friday 31st October/Saturday 1st November

The morning began, for some of us, with a very early morning swim – 5.15am – to see the sunrise! The sea was calm, and full of leaping fish and swimming crabs! Jan overslept and finally arrived on the back of a bicycle having missed the minibus! We were going to walk, but Ranga (our good shepherd) would not allow us to! The sunrise over the sea was beautiful and a sad reminder of all we are going to miss when we are back in Britain.

When everyone was up and about, it was time to get sorted for our last morning at the playgroups. Our schedule did not run to time (so what’s new!?) as Harshana had problems getting an exit pass out of Batticaloa from the police. Most of the group eventually left for their respective playgroups while Dilanee, Janaki and Jo spent the morning meeting with project leaders/ministers to discuss funding and proposed projects.

Our morning playgroup sessions went well and once again it was just a joy to see the children laugh and enjoy themselves. For all of us it was a wrench to leave them – they have truly left a mark in each of our lives just as we hope we have in theirs.

Our departure from Batticaloa was 2 hours later than scheduled due to endless exit paperwork, which was not ideal with a 10 hour journey ahead of us!! Meanwhile....... Maureen and Helen spent a happy hour playing dress up at the home of Nilanthe, their playgroup teacher!

The rest of the group met up with Reverend Jothini at Wesley High School and were treated to an impromptu concert by girls who boarded at the college which was a really special parting memory.

We finally set off at 3pm and slowly wended our way towards Colombo. The journey was tedious at times, but the scenery was stunning – until it got dark! Due to the fact that we were too late to take the road across the dam for fear of people driving over the edge in the dark (!), we had to take a longer route up the mountain pass which the drivers assured us involved 18 hairpin bends, but we counted many more!! This route was even more precarious than the original with precipitous drops on each side. At one point we thought we would be spending the night there as an accident involving a lorry was blocking the road and emergency access would have been impossible. Luckily there were enough capable ‘men’ to lift the lorry back onto the road and the blockage quickly cleared (not the only one of the week!)

So we continued on our way bouncing along from pothole to pothole thus ensuring that sleep was not possible for most. Sudha told us that the road would finish soon, but we all felt that it had been finished for a while which caused a bout of exhausted hysteria! We finally arrived at Colombo at 1am to be greeted with orange juice and piped hotel lobby music. The opulence was in stark contrast to much of what we had seen. The realisation that some of the families we had met this week were living in a space not much bigger than one of our beds struck home!

After a good night’s sleep, an early morning swim (For Jo and DIlanee it was a nostalgic reminder of their first meeting in a swimming pool 17 years ago!) a hearty breakfast and a trip to the police station to report a lost camera, it was off for a little sightseeing around Colombo and a return for Dilanee and Janaki to their childhood with a visit to their 100 year old great aunt. An opportunity,too, for Helen to share in a part of Jan’s childhood. This was followed by trips to a Buddhist temple and a little retail therapy!!!

This evening we have spent a wonderful time at the home of Yasmin where we thanked our fantastic trio of drivers – our ‘daahlings’!!! This was followed by the Sri Lankan version of fish and chips – Lumprais – curry and rice wrapped in banana leaves, which was delicious!! Kate brought along her newly purchased drums and we prevailed on Ranga, Harshana and Sudha to sing some traditional songs. We responded with a pathetic rendering of ‘She’ll be coming round the mountain’ – with adapted words!!

It was then back to the hotel for cocktails, blogging and packing and this is our last group entry. And so..... the end is near!!! Some of us may add to this when we get home and we hope you will too. Thank you for reading this blog and for all your support and encouragement before and throughout this trip which has been a real help to us. If you are picking us up from the airport or are waiting at home for us please be warned we are all shattered!

Mika Nandri/Bohomo isthuthi/Thank you very much!!!!

Dilanee, Janaki, Maureen, Bron, Jo, Sharon, Helen, Amali, Kate

PS: Helen wanting to know at 2.00am.......Is it time for our showers yet..............!!

By Chris Booth - Published: 2008-11-01 13:42
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