Visiting the Hill Country

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The Hill Country is the name given to the central part of the Diocese, which are part of the agricultural areas of Sri Lanka. The main agricultural areas can be divided into two main sections. Firstly, the paddy and other crops cultivation rural areas and secondly the tea plantation areas introduced by the British Empire in the 19th century. The tea plantations are in the Hill Country - areas of breathtaking beauty where many live well below the poverty line. In the tea plantation areas many of the workers live in educational and economic poverty.
My journey from Kurunagala to Nawalpitya and then to Pussillawa took two buses, from Kurunagala to Kandy and then onto my destinations. Travelling by bus is exhilerating in some ways, as the buses are usually crowded so you get to see much of local life and also some great views from the windows. Someone from the local area usually meets me at the bus stop and then takes me to the place where I will be staying for the night. The hospitality is as always very generous.
The project here is mainly to increase educational opportunities in a broad sense for the children and young people here. Some of the Churches have set up Social Services Pre-School groups, and all try to support in any way they can the youth in their education and employment. It is the only way of opening up a life for them.
When we visited these areas in 2003, alongside the school programmes, we were able to visit both the 'lines' where the plantation workers live, and also a tea factory. As I mentioned earlier, there has recently , August/September 2009,been a strike of non-co-operation by the estate workers. The workers were asking for an increase of wages from Rs.370 per day to Rs.500. A settlement has been made, although the exact agreement is a little unclear at the moment.
This week has been the wettest week so far. Monsoons have set in with heavy rain every day.I''m told that this lasts from October to December. Everything is decidedly wet! Actually I am very glad for a roof over my head. This weather must be very hard on the homeless, and also those still living in the IDP camps. I expect the story of these 250,000 people is much in the news still as the resettlement is seen as very slow. The local newspapers however have been running articles about similar groups of people in other parts of the world where resettlement has still to be accomplished after many years of displacement. Again there are many projects running to allieviate some of the difficulties.
Next week, I am back in Kandy for the whole week. The work here is very varied - and of course the programmes and policies
in education need to touch on the needs of all.

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