Christmas at the Village School

Term time at the Village School has now ended for the Christmas holidays, but before they finished, the held a Christmas party. The school band kicked off the morning followed by some entertainment provided by the children and ending with a surprise visit by Santa Claus himself!

Caroline's Guest Blog

I was a newcomer to FODAD’s work 3 weeks ago when I arrived in Sri Lanka for a 2-week trip, but having seen Lucy’s pictures, read the blogs and the website, I thought I knew to expect from the experience. But I had no idea just how much significance the work that FODAD carries out has, not just for the community of Ratmalana, but for many other projects spreading further into the island.

It’s hard to get across the importance online of schemes such as visiting the children’s home or girl’s orphanage, and purchasing a sewing machine, for a family who can then support many other families with their stitching. Each bit of support the charity gives holds incredible meaning with the people here, and they give back as much as they are given with love! At a performance from the school, we witnessed dancing, singing and music played by the band, in thanks to Della and Don, with almost 120 in the audience, and received an incredible welcome from the Girls' Orphanage with singing, music, jokes and games!!

One of the most moving experiences for me was visiting the school and teaching the children, who were enthusiastic beyond belief. Many of the children come from disadvantaged homes and felt unclear about the difference education could make in their lives, and seeing how willing they were to share their talents and prove themselves emphasized the difference FODAD has made to the school’s focus.

It was so touching to see that the charity itself is more like a family, where every gesture, no matter how small, makes a difference. This couldn’t be accomplished without the support of amazing individuals: Colin, the comical yet heroic fisherman that saved Della’s life in the tsunami and is now Don’s big son, Udaya, the protector of the village, Mrs. Mohammed, an inspirational teacher and kind woman, the monk, and many others who make up this large family.

I was amazed at how quickly each individual tugged at our hearts, and has made me all the more determined to do all I can to aid FODAD’s admirable work, and spread the word. I left Sri Lanka only a week and a half ago, and I already can’t wait to go back!! To echo Mary’s words ‘it has been the journey of a lifetime’, and the more people that make this journey and become dedicated to this cause, the more this charity can do to give hope to those that are in need of it!
Caroline de Groot

Cricket on the beach

At the girls' orphanage

Visiting the sewing machine ladies

Children's Day Out

Yesterday afternoon the 23 children who live in the children's home with the two brothers from our village (Sanjaya and Sanjeewa) visited us in Mount Lavinia to spend the afternoon on the beach.  Having visited the children at the home (A Children's Home that's a Family Home) earlier in the trip, it was nice to see them all again.  It was great to hear the children laughing and having a good time, especially since all of them have very tragic backgrounds.  It was a wonderful afternoon and we hope that we will be able to run a similar afternoon next time.  

Sanjeewa (right) and friends 

At the turtle sanctuary on the beach 

Sunset 

Dinner time

Back in Action

After a few days of no blogging, we are back in action and ready to report on the latest updates.  Unfortunately Don was unwell over the weekend so we decided that it was best not to go travelling as we had planned, but to stay here and use the time to finish off some bits and pieces. 

On Saturday we visited the boatyard and we were delighted to see that our fishing boat was in good condition and had caught 75kg of Calamari the night before. 

Our fishing boat

The next morning we visited the fish market to see the final stages of the fishing process. 

Colin explaining the process to Della 

    

Yesterday afternoon Udaya and I went to the port in Colombo to buy 5 new fishing nets.  During the storms at the beginning of June, in which there were many deaths, our fishermen were forced to cut their nets in order to survive and get back to shore safely. 

Udaya and one of the new nets

Today we witnessed the dyeing of the nets from white to green, in order to prepare them for use on the boats tomorrow. 

Boiling the water to dye the nets

The dye

Drying the nets

....and here are a couple of photos of yesterday evening's stunning night sky! 

Your donations distributed!

Thank you to everyone who donated lots of lovely children’s clothes, shoes and toys!  As usual, the pictures really do speak for themselves, and convey the chaos that is the clothes distribution.  Every one of the 100kg of donated items went to a deserving home.  

Due to the extreme, rural poverty in the area surrounding the Jungle Nursery, we decided to give the donated toys to the children there, which worked out perfectly with each child receiving one toy.   

Handing out the toys 

Successful Stitching

We hadn't had an opportunity to visit the Sewing Machine Ladies since our visit two years ago when we bought them a second sewing machine.  We were delighted to see them again, and thrilled to see that the machines were supporting 10 families in total.  Nonetheless they still have no electricity, so the time they can work on the machines is limited to daylight hours.  In order to increase productivity and maximise benefit, we decided to purchase another sewing machine, enabling the women to produce more garments, such as the lovely saris that you can see in the photos.  We are looking into the reason why no electricity, sanitation or running water has been provided to their village, which was rebuilt by an NGO following the tsunami in 2004. 

Observations on my First Visit to Sri Lanka - Mary Fugle

Eight and a half years have passed since I anxiously waited for a message that Della and Don were safe after the Tsunami in Sri Lanka.  I have been delighted to be a small part of FODAD from the start, collecting the U.S. donations before there were options other than cash or personal checks that I could hand off to Della when she made a business trip to New York.

After each trip back to Sri Lanka, I heard all the stories, successes and disappointments from Della, Don, and all the many others who have visited on behalf of
 FODAD.  I felt as if I would immediately recognize Colin, the fisherman who saved Della's life, Udaya, FODAD's "boots on the ground," the Village School Principal, and many of the children as soon as I met them - and I did!  Now, I am here for nearly two weeks, meeting all of the above as well as other special volunteers who work so hard to make FODAD a success and make a difference in people's lives, no matter or big or small.

Last week at the U.N., Malala made a speech on her 16th birthday that echos the FODAD vision - education is the only option to make real changes in peoples lives. As Malala noted, one student, one teacher, one pen, one tablet, one laptop can make a difference.  I would add after these past several days, one sewing machine, one Monk, and one "Dad" can also make all the difference as well.  Most importantly, one FODAD school uniform can make a difference in a child's life.  We met a young boy in the Jungle Nursery School who refused to take off his first uniform and book bag when he went to bed.  Many of my friends' children refused to remove their Superman shirt or Princess dress to go to bed, so just imagine the concept that a school uniform can have Super Powers!!!!!

I knew this would be the journey of a lifetime and it has been. as we've realized this past several days, we are humbled by so many here who are part of the FODAD projects and we all must continue to do whatever we can to ensure Malala's birthday message is fulfilled.

Greetings from the Jungle Nursery! 

A Children's Home that's a Family Home

As our regular readers will know, we have a special connection and interest in a children's home just outside Colombo as two boys from our village were sent there last year.  It was great to see the two brothers again, and to give each of them a Cambridge t-shirt.  We spent a happy couple of hours playing cricket and speaking to the wonderful man whom the children see as their father.  The photos say it all...

Lack of Conversation Class

The children at our school are really disadvantaged in that they rarely have the opportunity to hear and practice spoken English.  During one of our visits, we took a class of 8 grade 6 students who were without a teacher that day, and tested their conversation abilities.  We realised immediately that they have not been taught to speak even the most basic English, as questions such as 'How are you?' and 'How old are you?' were met with blank faces.  It was clear to us that the children were eager to learn, and this is something that FODAD needs to address urgently, since the children will become even more deprived as the new curriculum will also be testing spoken English. 

A Morning at the Orphanage

A personal highlight of any trip to Sri Lanka is visiting the girls at the Orphanage.  This project is particularly important to me as I’ve known many of the girls for a long time now, and I cannot wait to see them every time I come here.   On my past two visits we have taken all of the girls on a day out, however as it is currently Ramadan and the girls fast during the day, we were invited to visit the orphanage for a morning of games and activities.  It was great to see them all smiling and enjoying themselves so much, and it was lovely to chat to the several girls whom I keep in contact with throughout the year via email or letters.   We had a hilarious morning full of songs, games, jokes and dancing and as usual, saying goodbye to everyone was terribly sad as we wished we could have stayed for longer.

 Lucy

A few words from Mary and Caroline…

Caroline:

Visiting the girls at the orphanage was a particularly moving experience for me, as this is my first time coming out to see the projects of FODAD in Sri Lanka.  I saw just how much the charity affects the lives of these wonderful people, supporting their many talents through education and giving a home to some who might not otherwise have had one.  Being the same age as some of the girls and seeing how they cope, always keeping a smile on their faces, was eye-opening. They are amazing people, and I thank them so much for immediately befriending me.

Mary:

As with all the people I’ve met since arriving for my first visit, I’ve been so impressed at the joy the girls expressed despite coming from the dire situations they experienced before coming to the loving care of the Mrs. Mohammed, the Principal, and her teaching staff.  The girls were delighted with their Eid gifts  of costume necklaces and earrings for the smaller girls and watches for the older ones, that Della and Don presented to them.  What touched my heart most of all was that the girls kept asking me if I remembered their names.  The desired to be acknowledged is universal.

Caroline (left) and Lucy (right) with the girls 

Mary playing a game 

Annual Medical Camp

We've been running the medical clinic for 7 years and although we visit every time we come here, we've never had the opportunity to see the free medical camp that takes place once a year.  Today we were lucky enough to see it in action and together with Mary (Della's friend from New York) and Caroline (my friend from Cambridge), both of whom are with us in Sri Lanka for the first time, we were able to witness the amazing health-care opportunities on offer to the community free of charge.  The camp opened at 9am and by 9.45am 129 people had already arrived to have free blood tests.  In an adjacent room there was a general health doctor and a skin specialist attending to patients, as well as a full dispensary of drugs donated by pharmacists.  FODAD together with Neighbours in Christ hope to continue the running of the camp in future years as it is an invaluable service for the local community. Della, Lucy and Don will visit the clinic on August 2nd when they will see the results of the tests.