Wednesday in Sri Lanka

Still no elephants, but I have seen a 10-foot python and six monkeys! We saw the python Tuesday. We were driving down the road and saw a group of people gathered around a tree. Find out, there was a HUGE python tied to the tree with a blue rope. They caught it across the road. There were men, women and school children gathered around to see it (and our group as well). It’s still the only photo my president has taken on this trip! Of course, we have a professional photographer and videographer traveling with us, so I think she’s covered! We saw the monkeys today while visiting a program area inland. There were six monkeys watching the kids do their activity. I was at another activity, so I only saw them run across a rooftop. Supposedly, there are monkeys at this hotel, so I plan to rise early to see them before checking out! Still holding out for an elephant!
The hotel we are staying at definitely is past its prime. It was heavily damaged by the tsunami and is still struggling to recover. Nonetheless of the of government ministers, who is also the president’s brother, stayed here for an evening.
We visited a program this morning where the kids had dropped out of school. They ranged in age from 6 – 16 years. Many left because they were being bullied; many are Tamil and aren’t Muslim. They were attending a Muslim school and teased for that reason. One boy, 13 year old, lost his right leg when he was 5. He was going to town to buy bread and was hit by a van. He uses almost crutch-like braces to move around. He hasn’t gone to school since the tsunami because he was being teased.
We also visited the home of 15-year-old Jayanthimala. She dropped out of school because of family problems. Her father left the family. She is the oldest of five kids. Two brothers had previously dropped out as well and were in the class with her. One of her sisters was attending a preschool and her other sister is living elsewhere with an uncle. Her mother is preparing to travel to Saudi Arabi to work as a domestic. Her aunts and deaf grandmother will watch after them. But it is well known that if she drops out again, that will be it. Her house was a one-room thatch hut, no bigger than 12x12 and definitely smaller than the smallest room in my house. She has a friend in her class who also wanted to show off her house. It was somewhat bigger, but not much. That girl’s father is obviously suffering from TB and doesn’t work. This area had been completely destroyed by the tsunami and you could hear the waves crashing in the background as you walked on the sand through these homes.
The tsunami still has a major impact here. People are still recovering from it’s destruction. While visiting the town library that was built by CF France, we could see a Food City. It opened the day of the tsunami. That day was an auspicious day, a lucky day. Everyone who worked at the store was killed. I guess the day really wasn’t so lucky after all. Many of our staff in this area carried the dead bodies. They said it was just something they had to do. They didn’t think about it at all. Another staff member had his birth charts read just before the tsunami struck. He was told he and his family would live a long time. They were taking a holiday in the East on the day of the tsunami and only he and his son left as the rest of his family was killed. We have met several kids who lost one or both parents. That is actually our target group in this region of the country.
Other Notes: We haven’t had Diet Coke since we left Colombo! We found out that Diet Coke is double the price of regular Coke as the regular is bottled in Sri Lanka and served in bottles. Diet is bottled in Singapore, imported and served in cans. So I think fewer places serve it. … I can hear the waves crashing from inside my hotel room. I thought it would bother me while I slept, but I was OK. But you can’t help but think how close you are to the sea that took so many lives. The manager at the hotel where we are staying was killed by the tsunami. … As in many developing countries, there are cows wandering everywhere. I wonder if cows in the USA know how restrained they are? … There are also dogs everywhere, many not in the best of health at all. … A traditional greeting in Sri Lanka is to hand the visitor beetle leaves. We have been greeted in this manner at many different venues.