Blogs from Kurunegala, North Western Province, Sri Lanka, Asia

Took a bus to Kurunegala, it was a three to four hour journey on a medium sized rickety old government bus which I guess could be 25 years old. It stopped allot and had 30 seats all occupied. Some seats with two occupants when you include mother and child. For parts of the journey there was up to 70 people standing in the isle. The journey was a little uncomfortable, but I insist on travelling the way the locals do. The difference between English urban sprawl and Sri Lankan is more colour, noise, dirt than you can imagine – each small house has a unique touch, some homes double up as a grocery store, or hardware and various unimaginable combinations and it continued for mile after mile along the heavily congested road out of Negombo. Later ... read more

So on Tuesday i paid off £50 of my project and paid another £100 yesterday. Which leaves me £691.12 left to pay and approx £500 for flights and spending money on top of that so still a lot of hard work to put in yet. It is finally seeming real now and I keep reminding myself every day at work that this time next year I will be IN Sri Lanka which is so exciting!! Thanks for reading my blog guys and I would love it if you could all click on the subscibe button so you receive updates every time I post on here. Cheers Gemma... read more

Hey Guys, This is my first blog entry so i thought i would use this as a background info source for those of you who don't know what i am doing. Next September 4th I will be heading out to Sri Lanka for 2 months to teach English in local schools and orphanages. At the moment I am currently trying to fundraise all i can to help pay for the trip, as the project alone is costing me £1099 plus flights, visas, travel in-country, and food costs all to add on. So overall i need to be raising approx £2500. I will be staying in a communtity centre called Sputnik International in Kurunegala with Mr. Eshantha and his family. If anyone wishes to sponsor me, please do get in touch with me either by email: Gemma.Porter@live.co.uk ... read more

January was a month of visitors from England, and we took advantage of this to travel and have something of a holiday. Sri Lanka does have at least 10 UNESCO World Heritage sites and some wonderful coastline, rainforests, mountains and green tropical beauty. A visit to Pinnewela is always a must!! Following the cessation of hostilities, the tourist travel industry is picking up a little. This is of course good for the economy of the country, but there is always the fear of over-development and loss of a more natural unspoilt beauty. Sri Lanka does have firm ecological principles and policies, which are adhered to for the most part. Thank goodness! With my daughter, we travelled south to Galle, a Dutch based town with fort and walls - just missing the Galle Literary Festival. The coastline ... read more

Christmas Eve! We hear that in some parts of England the temperatures are well below freezing. Here it is a little different. However, even in the tropical climate there are Christmas trees with flashing lights, Santa hats - and wonderful Christmas cribs. November saw the close of the four month programme during which time, I was able to visit many churches and parishes in the Kurunegala Diocese. This has been a truly amazing time, both challenging and fruitful - and culminating in the opening of the Kurunegala Diocese Religious Education Resource Centre in the Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe Centre in the Cathedral Compound. This will provide a useful base for future work. November also saw the ordinations of three deacons to the priesthood and two layworkers to the diaconate. The service took place at Trinity College Chapel ... read more

As so often happens just before a departure our work engagements increased, with people realising we are soon leaving cramming in last tasks. There was also a commensurate growth in social invitations as old(ish) friends tried to fit in goodbyes, and others whom we had yet to socialise with tried to squeeze in a visit before we left. On Monday we met with Sandra (Owner of the school I teach at and the school Jake and Elliot attend as well as lawyer and owner of a fair trade weaving business). Sandra was buoyed by having been listed as one of the top 100 Fair Trade companies globally. She also took us to see the site where she is in the process of building a new school. The present site is overcrowded and poorly laid out. She ... read more

The donations and messages of support continue to flood in from our friends and relatives and are extremely gratefully received here. We are treated almost like royalty thanks to your generosity! The people at the hospital here can’t believe that foreigners are doing so much to help when so many local people aren’t doing anything. We have tried to explain that it is the same everywhere but they remain astounded by the compassion of strangers. We are in daily communication with the hospital regarding their immediate priorities and what we can do to assist. Yesterday we delivered 72 pairs of aluminium crutches and today we are waiting for the arrival of 35 pairs of wooden ones. Crutches are in short supply here and we have been scouring the country for the pairs that we need. The ... read more