It is now my third week with SLV in Sri Lanka already, I still don't think I'll ever fully get used to the heat, spices and exhaustion! Some days I have even daydreamed about being back in the cold of England again - that's how unbearable the heat can be!I am living in the town of Maharagama, which is inland from Colombo. It is probably the noisiest place I have ever been, hundreds of tuk tuks and buses race past with engines roaring and horns blaring and streams of pedestrians chattering through the chaos. The air here is quite thick and humid from the traffic, so it has been nice to get away at the weekends for fresher air.
There are nine girls in my homestay; Hannah and Chloe our coordinators, Chrissie and Seona my room mates, then Rachel, Annie, Anastasia and Ieva in the other two rooms. I love that we've got a great mix of nationalities - English, Swiss, Australian, Lithuanian and Scottish! We live in a separate part of the house to our host family, so it is nice to have some privacy but also get to spend the evenings and breakfast with the family. Amma and Thaththa (Mother and Father) are lovely, cook amazing curries and love to make us dance! They have three sons Kavinda, Deminda and Melinda, who have all studied in England.I am adjusting back to life under a mosquito net, never having clean feet and wearing insect repellent as perfume. A new thing for me in Sri Lanka though is eating with my hands, it's a tradition here that requires lots of practice and napkins! The trick is to roll the rice up with the curry and only use two fingers and your thumb. Next time you have curry at home stick your hand in and give it a try!
For the first week with SLV we had our introductory orientation, which included seminars on teaching English to youth groups, working with special needs and lesson planning. It geared us up for what we should expect, ideas for lessons and how to engage and stimulate those at the special needs centres. For the rest of the week we visited some of the projects we'd be working with and attempted to learn the maze of bus routes and tuk tuk journeys. The projects are completely spread out so each morning and afternoon we have to battle our way onto the bus, cling on for our lives, surrounded by a sea of sweaty bodies. All for a fee of about 10p!
Our first weekend was spent in the jungle, where SLV had organised team building activities, white water rafting and a jungle trek. It was a great way to get to know all the other volunteers whilst settling into the country, adjusting to the heat and doing something active and fun! I loved rafting, although our boat decided to capsize on one of the rapids which was slightly scary! The jungle trek included a confidence jump from a high rock into a natural pool (cannot believe I did it!), rock sliding, getting lost and a few unwanted leeches!After our introductory week we dived straight in with our projects. First of all on Monday morning the homestays meet up at the Youth Centre nearby and plan all the lessons for the week, which has proven to be harder work than expected. Then for the rest of the week we have a timetable that varies each morning and afternoon. I have three special needs projects, three teaching projects and two psychology projects. It was a little shocking at first to see some of the places we would be working, so it has been eye-opening. There was one special needs centre that struck me the most, particularly the acute wards for those with the most severe disabilities and illnesses. As with many places in Sri Lanka there are no doors or windows in the wards, but it gives the centre a great feel of openness, freedom and a connection to outside. Each ward has around ten to twenty beds, and it was great to see each had it's own mosquito net and the patients often have bright artwork decorating their space. Some other projects aren't quite so well-equipped, with only bare beds filling the room.
For the special needs projects our role is to provide sensory stimulation and a variety of therapeutic activities to engage the patients and enhance the quality of life being institutionalised. Some patients have really good English so enjoy simply having a conversation or teaching Sinhala, I've been told I am getting tested every Friday morning by one lady!
I am teaching a Grade 2 class in a Primary School, youth teaching for a vocational course and teaching English in a temple to community members. It's been quite a challenge to construct appropriate lesson plans and most of the time they completely go out the window! But it is teaching me to improvise and hopefully the students will still learn a lot!
..x
