Blogs from Sri Lanka, Asia - page 123

After breakfast, we wanted to take a stroll along Galle Face Green, so we walked towards the coast. After passing through a security check and walking past the World Trade Centre, we arrived at the coast, only to be turned away by a soldier. We were disappointed, because the victory parade had already ended on the previous day and the Galle Face Green should be reopened by then. But, the soldier refused to let us through, citing security concerns. Do my mum and I look like terrorists who will blow up something on the seaside promenade? (Even if we want to blow something up, there's nothing we can blow up along the promenade, except for a flag-mast...) Since our train to Kandy would only leave at 3:35pm, we still had a lot of time to spare ... read more

We continue to settle into Kurunegala. By the time we leave we will be virtually part of the establishment, and sorry to leave for many reasons (although thrilled to finally quit the house which will definitely pass into family legend!) We have a favourite posh restaurant, Saruketha, and 2 reasonably priced nice bakery/cafés (In and Out and Pereras) one of which we frequent for evening meals and another where the grown ups meet for lunch when the boys are at school, or which we visit for lunches and 11ses together. This week was notable on various fronts. We were given bicycles (second hand) arranged by the ever so grateful hospital committee. This made major changes to the school trip. We have grown to loathe the Colombo Road at school time, a migraineogenic chaotic triple column of ... 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

It rained heavily all day Tuesday, and there were tropical thunderstorms and power cuts through the night. We awoke Wednesday to discover that some things are the same here as at home. It is a (newly declared) public holiday and as sure as day follows night it is raining still. Jake made me laugh - “It really is a holiday today, even the Sun has taken the day off!” Most of town is shut and only Inter-city buses are running. I hope I can find an open internet source both to post this, and especially as we are desperate for contact home to sort the efforts of so many of you to assist in our attempts to support the hospital. The weather is an annoyance for us, but verging on a disaster for the already bursting ... read more

An update on the situation in the Kurunegala hospital. A sincere thank you to those of you who have sent money already and to those of you who are in the process of collecting. It is a relief to us to be able to do something practical to help relieve a little of the suffering. I took a couple of photos at the hospital this morning but it felt intrusive to dwell on the individual suffering. The ward was full beyond capacity after the first few arrivals and patients now cover every available piece of ground, the lucky ones with mats and shade. Today I delivered a large box of medicines and tomorrow I will be going back with a water mattress and bags of baby clothing, feeding bottles, reading books and drawing materials for the ... read more