Sri Lanka - October 2017

Twenty-one students from Calthorpe Park worked with us throughout the year to prepare and fundraise for our annual visit to Sri Lanka in October.  The students managed to raise an incredible total of £12,224.12 to support the work of Ocean Stars. This fundraising benefits the schools in which we work in Batticaloa, and also benefits a network of pre-schools and schools for deaf students throughout Sri Lanka.

For the first part of the trip we saw the elephants of Sri Lanka, both in an elephant orphanage and on a jeep safari into a national park. We were astounded by the beauty of Buddhist temples, and had fun picking tea in the hills of Geragama.  We climbed ancient steps to see the Rock Temple of Dambulla, saw snakes in a wildlife park, and watched as spices at a spice garden were collected and prepared for cooking.

The main part of our stay was focussed on two schools, Amirthakli Sri Siththy Vinyagar, and Navalady School, both of which were rebuilt after the tsunami.  All the students at these school were in some way affected by the tsunami, having lost parents and, in many cases, the main earner of the family.  Out students delivered a range of sport, craft, drama and music lessons in the schools but learnt equally as much from the Sri Lankan students about life in their part of the world.

On our visit to the tsunami affected areas near the lagoon, we were astonished to find that this long deserted area had been repopulated, with the original inhabitants living in the most basic accommodation made from palm leaves and reclaimed wood.  Our students knew immediately that the people would benefit greatly from our help and set about purchasing basic provisions from the local supermarket.  With the help of the local police we organised a delivery of resources to these families before our departure.  The local police were amazed at our response to the situation and wrote to us to thank the students for taking action.

All of us have amazing memories to take away with us from this trip, and we look forward to working with a new group of students now, as we prepare for our next visit.