HEADING EAST: PART 1

Recently we made a weekend trip to the Eastern side of the island. The Eastern Province has long been a front in the conflict in Sri Lanka, which has had it's toll on the people, socially and economically. However, of late it has been becoming increasingly stable, so it was deemed safe enough for us to go and visit. This was quite a trip though - requiring several hours driving and the most stringent security checks we've experienced so far.

Our visit was a research trip. We were to visit three pre-schools out there - to meet their staff and children, to have a look at their resources and to get a feel for their needs. The first pre-school we visited was held in a simple room attached to a house. It can have up to 15 children but today it had 5. The communities we visited were in rural areas and we were told that when the parents needed to be in the fields they often had to take the children with them for the day, so the children did not go to school. A couple of the children here found our camera a bit too scary!

The second pre-school we visited was held in a small, mud hut. This school had no budget to work with so all they had to use with the children were a few sheets of paper, a few pairs of scissors and some glue. Still, the classroom walls, adorned with colourful pictures, were testament to their ability to make do with very little.

The third pre-school was the biggest and best equipped of the three. This pre-school educates about forty 4 and 5 year olds. We were lucky enough to arrive in time to witness the rice-and-onions lunch meal that the school provides before the children are sent home.

When we arrived there were many parents waiting outside the school building for their children to be dismissed. I was intrigued to notice that there were also several older children. I was told that this village lies in the corner of it's region so there is no nearby school for the older children. Most can not afford the daily bus fare nor can they cope with walking home for hours in the heat of the day without having had lunch, so they do not go to school. They go to the fields with their parents or they stay home to take care of the younger children while the parents work. I took some photos and chatted with these lovely children, to learn that some of them did not even know how old they are. These children really are growing up a whole world away from so many of the rest of us.