Welcoming

Wow! Another amazing visit to a village community just outside of Kurunegala. I’ve been coming to this particular village since 2015 and the experience is always so warm, welcoming and colourful. It’s lovely to see the same faces again, to see the children having grown and to witness the development of the pre-school and rock temple areas.

Traditions

As it’s the Sinhalese New Year this week there is much excitement in the air amongst the village people and across Sri Lanka generally. Everyone dresses up, traditional foods are made and shared amongst the community, drums are beaten, young girls display their dancing skills, gifts are exchanged and blessings are given to celebrate a new beginning.

Eating, beating, distributing and carrying

Tasty simple lunch of rice, bananas and chilli with Rev. Ragama sitting outside the new accommodation he hopes to open for visitors very soon. Lunch was preceded by distributing some of the donations received from the UK – exercise books and pens that we bought in Sri Lanka as well as medicines. Hundreds of pairs of used spectacle frames have also now been shipped from the UK in two large boxes – just too many to carry in my suitcase. Thank you to Dona Mannaperuma for covering the shipping costs for these and to everyone at the College of North East London who donated their used glasses so the prescriptions can be assessed by a local optician and then recycled for the local community members who need them.

Cave temple development

Since my visit last year, Rev. Ragama has been making huge progress developing village accommodation so he can receive tourists who are seeking an authentic and sustainable Sri Lankan experience. A local village carpenter and a mason have cleared a large overgrown area and built cool meditation spaces under the rock caves.

Summary video of the day courtesy of Kiran who’s back in the UK

This may be my final blog for a while. We’ve completed Stage 2 of our trek across Sri Lanka to raise funds for women and families in need in Sri Lanka. I’m also seeking to really raise awareness of what an incredible destination Sri Lanka is. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about some of what this island has to offer and how we’re helping to build some capacity here. Thank you for following us along the way, commenting on our adventures in the blogs, and supporting us in so many ways. Kiran returned home a couple of days ago and I’m flying back this Wednesday. I’ll commence planning for Leg 3 (Trincomolee to the Jaffna Peninsular) soon.

If you missed the last blog about Kiran’s and my visit to the Temple of the Tooth Relic then scroll below.

Further sponsorship – if you’d like to help me to help those in need in Sri Lanka at this difficult time, whilst being assured every penny will go to those who need it, then please donate by clicking on this link. I just need to raise a further 4% to reach my target of £20,000. Don’t forget that if you’re a tax payer to declare gift aid when doing so which will increase your donation by 25% at no cost to you. Alternatively, if you know of anyone or any organisation who may have an interest in this cause please share this blog link with them.