More last days: Teacher training to Colombo
More Last Days
OceanStars :: Monday 31st October 2011 :: This Story
A pleasant party with and for the teachers of the 13 playgroups whom OST support was held on the Thursday evening, where all kinds of silly games were played and playgroup songs sung. This had brought them to Batti town for the evening (many having travelled several hours to get here) so that they could attend the Teacher Training morning that we had arranged for Friday morning. The evening also allowed us to celebrate Matt's 21st birthday which followed this week.
The teacher training event involved a starter circle-type session, followed by 5 separate group sessions which the teachers all attended carousel-style, and played board games, made model elephants, collage work, worked on children’s heights with a wall-tape, or did “physical games” – running around, balancing bean bags etc.
The morning concluded with speeches, resources gifts, and certificates, and a final group curry. One snag – there was a power cut from about 1100, the fans stopped, and it got rather hot and sweaty in the heat of the midday sun.
The Team left Batticaloa at 2pm. Three vans, one mostly with luggage, left for the 8 hour journey to Colombo. Several of us – particularly those of us who got up for the Dawn Swim from Joseph’s hotel – managed to sleep at least part of the way.
Heavy rains fell again for a lot of the journey, so tribute to the driving skill of Janaka, Suda and Ranga, the latter who still found time to show us the sights including a huge lizard bathing in a stream somewhere along the way.
So just 24 hours from 10.30pm at the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel Colombo to wind down with a flight scheduled at 2am on the Saturday morning. A sobering moment for all of us, observing the comparative tourist boom-led wealth of the capital city against the poverty of the East – there are no hotels like these in Batti, and few Sri Lankans know both parts well – a real divide. All the more pertinent that OST puts so many of its generously donated resources into those areas of the country.
Another great October visit, result of tremendous planning of naturally Ranchan "on the ground", (and others in the country to get us to Vavunia and Trinco) and 6 months or so's work from Dilanee and the 2011 Team. Let us hope that the result is a strengthening of the Ocean Stars Trust’s work in Vavunia, Trinco, and Batti, and even to broaden the scope of the charity’s work in the future.
End of blog for
Dilanee, Dan, John, Carolyn, Matt, Lydia, Maggi, Kate,Helena, Danny, Maureen, Chris, and Janine.
