6th July 2013

Today started at 3am as we left for AB. It was pitch dark and the middle of the night but there was a fair amount of traffic on the roads. Lots of buses. Minerva explained that buses run at night to get people to where they want to go for first thing in the morning. They didn’t think anything of a 3am departure! We stopped at 5am at a roadside shop for egg roti and tea, which was being made on a an open fire. I went to find the loo afterwards – I know, but I had to go – the driver lent me the torch on his phone and I was terrified that I would drop it down the hole!! We got to Pottuvil by 7.30am and stopped for breakfast in the main drag. Pottuvil looks so much smarter now there is a tarmacked road running through it. This little restaurant had tiled floor. Then we went to meet Thasleem and this is when things came slightly unraveled! Minerva called and we agreed to meet at the Stardust just over the bridge. We pulled over and there was ‘Thaseem’ – but not our ‘Thasleem’. Minerva and I had been talking at cross-purposes for the last few days about this person. I was surprised that she had been in touch with our Thasleem but when I said that she said that the director at Minhath knew him and I just assumed that it was the same person. I had been in touch with our Thasleem and told him when I was coming but had not communicated so much as Minerva was always on the phone to him. So it was her Thaseem, (no L). that had organized a parent meeting – but of course at another school. My heart sank at this muddle. Credit to Minerva she was really positive, said lets go and find my Thasleem and talk and then come back for the parent meeting. So I called Thasleem and no answer so we drove down to his shop and I wandered in the at the back as I was not quite sure which was his house. I met his wife’s sister I think (I recognized her) and asked for T. She took me to his house and I saw his wife and someone was dispatched to get T. He turned up a few minutes later. He seemed a bit put out and would not make eye contact. I explained the mistake and asked him if he would like to accompany us to the parent meeting, which he did. The meeting was at Al Aqsha school – the big school which is almost opposite the Stardust. It was washed away in the tsunami and I think you visited it originally Alex. There is a memorial to the children who died just inside the gate. Anyway there is a private preschool at the back. Up until very recently it was funded by World Vision who paid the teachers salaries, utilities, uniforms, stationary supplies etc. World Vision have now pulled out of this arrangement and this has meant that the parents have had to not only pay the teachers (they pay 500 rupees a month = £2.50) but also run the school – electricity, gas, school meal, uniforms, supplies etc. As a result about half of the normal 52 children have been removed from the school. The parents were gathered for the meeting and there were about 17 – 20 of them with their children and they expressed their worries which all revolved around finding enough money to keep their child in school. They valued the school and wanted their children to come. There were some tearful moments from mothers who had had to remove their child. I listened but did not make any promises. We had some juice together and then we left to go and see the school premises near Al Ishraq. The building is in need of some repair – but not extensive and I will get a quote for the repair. There are two drawbacks – one, it is not that big and two, there is no outside area. As we left and returned to the van I saw some vacant land about 100 yds from the school. I asked T. about it and he said it belonged to his grandmother! It would be ideal for a playground area if we were able to lease it from her. That cheered me up a bit as I figured the school building was a non starter without an outside area. We then went to meet with Principal Rafeek as I wanted to see the school and wanted to make sure it was okay with him to open a possible preschool on his doorstep. Al Ishraq was …. a mess. The gardens were lovely and so there was lots of greenery but the buildings are in a sorry state of repair. The roof on the assembly hall is way worse than the last time Alex and I were there. It’s a real danger – but kids were playing in the space anyway ☹. The classrooms were very shabby, the roof we put on 2 years ago could do with some help, but will probably last another year and there were an additional three outside classrooms to accommodate the increase in students – now 650. The additional classrooms are lean to’s and are made out of corrugated iron and leant against the main buildings with some corrugated iron around the edge to form the ‘walls’. They look pretty messy and the whole space is so cramped. The main problem for us was the preschool, which has been moved to the old ‘staff room’. Honestly the room is probably 10’ x 12’ and DARK and there are 52 children enrolled in the preschool. It is simply not possible to fit them all in there – I have no idea how they do it. Presumably not all of them come each day. But even if only half came you would be hard pressed to get them in. There are two ‘teachers’ who have both been through the diploma in preschool education (which T was quite dismissive about saying it was Saturdays for 6 month period and taught by someone from Accrupatu). His daughter had been attending the school but he pulled her out as he said she was doing nothing each day. The teachers are not paid either. It is difficult to tell if Principal Rafeek is incompetent or just worn down by no response to his pleas for help from the government. The government owes him a half way decent school but no help has been forthcoming. From our last experience here I would not say he is incompetent and that he does care – but somehow he doesn’t have the authority to demand what he needs really urgently. I think the poorer the area the less you get – counter intuitive isn’t it – but seems to happen the whole world over. We discussed the school down the road and I asked if we could take his preschool children to that school. He said 'no' unless the building had been given by the community (who currently own it) to the school. Thasleem is checking that out this evening. I must say I was quite depressed after I left the school, they are so in need and seem to have no way of getting what must be owed to them by the government. Do we know ANYONE who could intervene on their behalf.?? They are not asking for extra – they are just asking for what is their due. They don’t have a parent body who either have the time (they are all trying to earn just a basic living and have to work incredibly hard to do that) or the know how to make a petition or demands. These are my thoughts this evening. 1. We could easily support Al Aqsha school. Two teachers salaries of LKR9,500 would do it (LKR 19,000 = £100)each month. The school is in good repair, it has two reasonable teachers and parents who are interested. There are additional costs of utilities, uniforms, supplies, food but I think the parents could fund this themselves with, say, a fee of LKR100 per month (50p). 2. I will get a quote on how much it will cost to fix up the community preschool building. 3. If we could get that building given to the school then we could at least provide a better space to the preschool kids at Al Ishraq. The trouble is that there are over 50 kids enrolled and that is too many for the building. Perhaps we could split them into three groups – two at the new school and one at Al Ishraq?