Today we went on a learning journey about Sri Lanka. The first place we visited was Elephant pass.
- Vidya near the monument
- The soldier who was explaining to us about Elephant pass.The Elephant pass was the most crucial location for the war, had the Sri Lankan army lost this location, the LTTE would have won the war.
- The hands signify all the different races, religions lifting Sri Lanka to greater heights.
- One of Sri Lanka's top army personnel hosted us to a tea session.
- What could they be discussing about?
- Firman and Farah posing beside a couple wearing a traditional Sinhalese costume
- We were then shown the the old method of irrigation.
- Si Yin looks so amazed!
We then headed to Kilinochchi where we saw a bombed water tank.The tank was destroyed by the LTTE when they were fleeing from Kilinochchi in December 2008. This tank supplied water to the whole Kilinochchi area, depriving people of the area to water, an already scarce commodity in the region. This forced the community to leave the area with the LTTE soldiers. The LTTE forced the people to form a barrier around them so they could flee safely as the Sri Lankan army could not shoot without risking the lives of the civilians.
- The huge water tank
- How the inside looked like
- Group photo!
- A common sight. Houses destroyed due to the war.
The Sri Lankan government is putting in a lot of effort to bring the people of Sri Lanka together regardless of their race or religion. The have opened up a centre called Harmony Centre. This place brings all the people together as they have a mini zoo, a place where they can talk to the army officers about the problems they are facing. They also have movie screening on Fridays.
- The two receptionists, one is a Sinhalese the other is a Tamil
- Top army personnel explaining to us about the centre
- The ground of harmony centre.Very beautiful and clean place.
- Huda! You are too big for that ride!
- Poor Zheng Long.
- One of the many animals they have in the centre.
After the visiting and learning, it was time to get to work. The first place we went was the Tamil school.
- The outside of the Tamil school
- The students were so excited to meet us.
- How a typical classroom looks like
- Vidya, Zu and Kenneth talking to the students
- Firman connected with the students in another way, SOCCER!
- We then taught them how to play some games
It was not all just fun and mingling around with the students. While some of us were doing that, another group was in a classroom planning to set up that classroom as a computer lab and what was required.We then said our goodbyes and told them will be back again to set up the computer lab.
We then headed to Chen Su Lan a school where Sinhalese and Tamil study together.
- Look at the crowd! They all were there to welcome us!
- Bhante leading a prayer
- Serving people with a smile and hearts filled with love
- No matter what hardship they've been through, they always have a smile on their face
After the prayers, we had a lot of games and performances with the students. It was really fun and all of us enjoyed ourselves. The students there participated with full force, we were taken aback by the amount of energy they had!
- Mr Teoh takes the stage for SP!
- All of us took turns to introduce ourselves to the students.
- Our favourite game, I got peace like a river! Everyone joined us to play this game, even the senior citizens!
- Hi, my name is Zhi Wei. You are?
- The students were so excited to meet us!They were crowding around us. We felt like celebrities!
- Poor Kenny got so scared that we had to carry him.
Today was just getting to know everyone, to get a feel what we were going to do for the next few days.From tomorrow the real work starts!Today's lesson learnt, we all take racial harmony for granted back at home but today we realised how difficult it is for a country to progress if the people are not together as one.
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