Hello from Colombo

My laptop stopped working several days ago and this is the first opportunity to get online. Such a lot to say but little time to say it. There was a service in the church at Talawa on Ash Wednesday and I was asked to preach. All of the girls were there and it was a real privilege to share my faith with them.

We travelled from Talawa yesterday on the train after a tearful evening saying goodbye to the girls. We leave behind a bit of our hearts. The hotel here is in stark contrast to the orphanage and feel a bit guilty surrounded by every type of food for breakfast when the girls at the House of Joy eat rice for every meal.

 I have just completed a course of antibiotics which worked a treat. Although I acquired nine new mosquito bites on the train ride!

Steph and I are visiting the cathedral today and have been invited to lunch with the Bishop. We have had such a good time and are enjoying this unique experience. 

We dashed to church this morning to make sure that we were there on time for 08:30. The bell rang but things are a bit more relaxed here! The service was late starting and most people sauntered in afterwards! The service structure was just the same as back home. The priest who was preaching very kindly gave us an English transcript of his sermon. I was invited to introduce myself to the congregation at the end of the service. All of the children here are expected to attend the church service and they followed the service word for word. Some of them led the intercessions (with no notes), another one read the NT reading and another child took the collection. After the service followed an hour’s Sunday school. In their free time this afternoon they wanted to make more loom bands!

This morning Steph and I did a bit of washing. The girls do their own washing at the well but there is an old twin tub with a broken spinner that Chris and Alf (the English couple who are staying here) use. So we give it a go and were really pleased with ourselves!

We had a look around the train station this morning which is right opposite the House of Joy. It is like going back to Victorian times! The station master (who lives in a room on the station platform) was very friendly and there was a photograph of Evelyn Karney on the wall as benefactor of the station.

 

This afternoon I went to the hospital which is next door to the House of Joy (built by………..yes, you’ve guessed it ……….Evelyn Karney). My mosquito bites have become infected on my legs and so I went to see a doctor. He gave me four prescription items for the price of 300 Sri Lankan Rupees, which is approx. £1.50. I’ve got to go back tomorrow evening to make sure the swelling goes down and that the redness is fading.

One of the Priests who lives on the site had an accident this afternoon when his motorbike went into a dog. He has injured his leg and been ordered to bed to rest. The girls were all very upset and they chose a bible reading and asked if they could see him. He agreed, and children, staff and English visitors included all trooped into his bedroom. The girls prayed for him, read the bible reading and then sang him a song. It was very moving.

I've got into the pattern of getting up at 7am and saying my morning prayer at the entrance of the building where I am staying. This morning I was greeted by two of the girls who were busy sweeping the path. There is no school on a Saturday but the girls still have to be up early to do their chores. I was shown their rota and it is 'full', mostly of study, even on a Saturday! We did, however, get to spend a lot of time with them this afternoon. Let's just say, they LOVED making loom bands. Even the warden made some.

They also had great fun playing with the parachute that we brought with us, thanks to the generosity of my lovely colleagues. These girls haven't had a lot of joy in their lives and although we would consider their lives here to be difficult, they feel very privileged to be here. Today I lost count of how many girls came to say "I am happy, Aunty"

Tomorrow we are going to church. The full service will be in Sinhali, which will be interesting. My mosquito bites go from bad to worse and I've lost count of the new ones today. I even have four bites on the tops of my toes which are particularly sore. Prayers for them to be less itchy would be appreciated!

Lazy days.....

This morning we walked to the hardware shop to buy some paint and equipment to do some painting. I don’t think they expected two white, European women to be out alone and buying such things and we amassed quite an audience. We also went into a shop to buy some biscuits. It is hard to describe what some of the shops are like but let’s just say that the droppings on the shelf were bigger than a mouse’s!

There was no visiting today and so we did a lot of reading in the sunshine and watched the birds. We saw a kingfisher and also saw a peacock fly up into a tree. I’m told that they often land on the roof of the building where we are staying.

The grounds of the House of Joy has lots of huge palm trees and today and a man came round to climb the trees and cut off a lot of the coconuts. We were brought coconut water from the king coconuts; very refreshing.  This afternoon it rained and rained. The mosquitoes have been out in force again and we both have several new bites.

  

The home has a strict regime that starts at 5am for morning prayers followed by exercise. Then its breakfast before going to school at 7.30am. There is an English lesson 4-5pm which we have been helping with. The girls lead evening prayers at 6.30pm and then spend the next hour or so doing homework. The bell lets them know that its dinner time and then afterwards its back to the homework until 10pm. In addition, all of the children have their chores to do. Step and I attend the evening prayer and then spend time with the girls helping them with their homework. Although we brought a lot of ‘crafty’ things to do, we haven’t had a chance because all of the girl’s time is taken up with their regular routine. They also have a pretty full day on Saturday but have some free time in the afternoon. So we will be making loom bands with them. The girls are very affectionate and they all seem so happy which is surprising because the majority of them have had so much suffering and abuse in their short lives. They call us Aunty and some of them are a bit cheeky to us but in a good way.

Visits, visits and more visits!

We have had a busy day today and visited three people in their homes. The purpose of my visits was to learn more about the House of Joy and the development of Christian faith in the area which is predominantly Buddhist. The House of Joy was opened by an English missionary, Evelyn Karney in 1912. The first lady that we visited was an ex-girl at the orphanage and left to get married 20 years ago. The next lady was the matron at the home for 39 years and the last lady was also an ex-girl at the home, is nearly 90 years old and remembers Evelyn Karney well.

Evelyn Karney was a lady of means and sold everything she had and lived out the rest of her life in Sri Lanka, mostly in Talawa. It was a wild, jungle area at the time and bit by bit she established the village, building a boy’s home, an old people’s home, a hospital and a railway station. Evelyn Karney is a legend in the region and they even mark 20 January as ‘Evelyn Karney Day’.

We were invited out for lunch with the Priest and then had to dash back to meet two people who had agreed to visit us to chat about Evelyn Karney. The lady’s father had been Evelyn Karney’s chauffeur and our other visitor’s mother had been the first child that Evelyn Karney had adopted. We heard so many stories. We also ate and drank lots due to the very generous hospitality of our hosts.

The weather today has been very hot. The water went off this morning and we were all set to have a wash at the well (which the girls use all of the time) when the water came back on. The cold shower was refreshing but within minutes I was needing another one!

Ancient Temples

No visiting today so we took the opportunity to go sightseeing. We had quite an epic adventure and went on the bus to Anuradhapura. We then negotiated a price for a tuk-tuk and driver for the morning and set off to see the Ancient temples. Being holy places we had to walk barefoot. This is not something that I do well! I was the typical soft, English tourist! Swollen ankles, white legs covered with at least 60 mosquito bites and tentatively stepping to avoid hurting my poor feet! A kind tourist guide then told me that I could wear my sandals apart from inside the temple which helped tremendously. The weather has been really hot and sunny today. I can’t get used to the cold shower first thing in the morning but value it greatly in the heat of the day.

When the children get home from school, after lunch they have an English lesson and Steph and I have been helping out. The girls are doing really well and they try hard.

Tomorrow I am going to visit some ‘old’ girls from the orphanage. They live even further out in the country so I think I had better use extra mosquito spray. I’ve heard a rumour that my transport is in the back of an old truck!

There was only second and third class available so we ‘went posh’ and paid the equivalent of £2 each for the 5-hour train journey. The train was packed but we managed to get a seat. There’s no windows and all doors are wide open and people sit at the open doorway. The ‘House of Joy’, the orphanage where we are staying is in a tiny town in the country. We went out on the main street earlier and being ‘white’, we attract a lot of attention. Everyone is very friendly and everyone smiles at us and waves. Children are very curious! It is very hot and humid here and today it rained. The earth is very red and it soon turns to mud and makes a real mess. The flies and insects are everywhere and there’s no escape. We are being well looked after and we have mosquito nets above our beds. Having mosquito bites is a new experience for me and I have quite a few!

 

The food here is very basic and the expectation is that everything is eaten with your right hand. We are eating a lot of rice and meat is only eaten on special occasions. We were very privileged upon our arrival and were given chicken. There are now 21 girls who live at the orphanage and they are very excited to have us here and they call us ‘Aunty’. They consider themselves to be very lucky to live at the orphanage because they are well treated, they get three meals a day AND they get to drink clean water!

Tomorrow I am being taken out to meet someone who was brought up at the orphanage. I’m hoping to meet several ‘ex-girls’ over the next few days. I’ve been asked to speak in Church next Sunday about our trip and why we are here.

An English couple, Alf and Christine have been spending time at the House of Joy for the past three months. They have another three months left and have been sponsored by US (USPG). They’re doing a great job here and they are teaching the children English. They’re also looking after Steph and myself and ‘showing us the ropes’. We’ll be mucking in and helping to paint the utility area, so watch this space! They’ve already done an amazing job with the dining room and have lots of plans for the next three months.  They’ve also been sharing their tea and coffee with us but alas – no milk!