When we arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the ship went into drydock. This is a special shipping yard where it's possible to drain all the water, leaving the ship accessible for repair and maintenance.
As the ship had to close during these 5 weeks, those not involved in the drydock work were put into 25 teams and sent all over Sri Lanka for 2 and a half weeks. Some teams would be involved in practical work, helping to repair buildings and clean wells damaged from the floods while others went to YMCA's and orphanages to teach, connect with and do whatever else necessary.
In Madampe, a small village about 2hrs away from Colombo is Aroma Children's Homes. This is a ministry that my church co-runs, doing the administration and many people providing support for the children. As well as seeing Dilan again (he'd lived next door to my church while studying at bible college), I got to meet his family, the children and see everyone and everything that I'd been praying for over the last few years as well as the possibility of seeing the little girl I supported.
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| The ship in dry dock |
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| One example of the well's the teams were cleaning |
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| Ancient Sri Lankan ruins... of a lavatory! |
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| With 2 of my team-mates - Pete (UK) and Aronu (India) |
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| With Malki! |
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| Buddhist site of worship |
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| Beautiful palm trees were everywhere! |
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Everyday, as well as playing and teaching with the kids, we would
sing songs and play games - this is at the girls' home. |
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| Playing games with the girls |
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A Sri Lankan squirrel!
A joke I have with a friend is from the Disney movie 'Up' where
the dog is constantly distracted and points his nose randomly
at squirrels, and we do that as a sign of random distraction.
Upon introducing myself and talking in front of all the girls, I
saw this squirrel, pointed and said "Squirrel!" before realising...
Naomi, I thought of you! |
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| A boring moment with the kids... |
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The girls loved dancing! One afternoon, we had a massive thunderstorm
and a big power outage, so no lights or anything. The girls just started
beating on the tables for a rhythm and singing while dancing
and we spent about 4 consecutive hours as they taught us some
traditional Sri Lankan dances! |
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Dilan and Malki - a great pair. Together they run the boys home
and have just recently started overseeing the girls' home also. |
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| me leading a Bible study with the younger boys |
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| The Fernando's dog and I became best friends! |
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On a hot day, we decided to make a surprise for the boys and
we put together a waterslide! |
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| They really had fun... |
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| and so did Jenny the puppy! |
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| This is the older boy's house. |
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Playing a game with the boys - it was extra special as the sponsor
parents of one of these boys had given me a message and a hug
to pass on to him! |
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| The older boys were amazing at volleyball |
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We did a slide for the girls as well, but with the lack of a hill
it became just a fun slippery surface to play games over! |
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| Our team with all the girls |
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| Our team with all the boys |
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The boys grow and maintain these gardens themselves - they took
these photos, so proud of the work they'd done! |
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| A beautiful sunset at Aroma Homes |
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| I had fun playing mini volleyball with some of the younger boys |
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The Aroma church that Ps Rodney runs is attached to the house
(right of frame) |
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L-R: Ps Rodney, Sister Jacintha, Dilan and Malki
(Dilan is Rodney & Jacintha's son) |
