OceanStars :: Tuesday 4th November 2008 :: Latest Blog Posts
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…..