Trip to Sri Lanka - April 2011

Dilanee Bunter reflects on her return to Sri Lanka with Shona 5 years after their initial visit together

OceanStars :: Wednesday 29th June 2011 :: This Story

Dilanee and Shona distribute t-shirts to playgroup teachers. These t-shirts were bought through donations received from the gift catalogue.

I was so please to be able to take Shona to the East of Sri Lanka and show her all the projects we talk about regularly at our meetings in the UK. Being able to put names to faces makes it that more personal and real. One of the highlights was the distribution of our Gift Catalogue donations. People had come from afar to receive their gifts. The smiles on the children’s faces as they received their first pair of shoes will stay with me for a long time. Trying to get a sewing machine and boxes of chickens into a tuk- tuk was no easy task.

It is hear warming to see how much part of the community Ocean Stars is. Playgroups are on a waiting list to come under Ocean Stars so that teachers can be paid and children benefit from all the resources provided by Ocean Stars.

People in Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Batticaloa all said how much they valued our team visits and the personal nature of the work we do.

It was a pleasure to share the magic of Ocean Stars with Shona. It was great to be able to show her first hand all the places, people and projects we always talk about.

Dilanee