Homeward Bound...

        As the weeks pass I felt it necessary to bring my Sri Lankan adventure blog to an end. Though in the wise yet cheesy words of Maria (one of many beautiful friends made during my five weeks over there) ‘It really hasn't ended it’s only just started’. The things that I was able to experience have certainly left their mark and have hopefully given me the best start I could have hoped for in my desired future career as a play therapist. Alongside an understanding of the importance of communication that far exceeds just the spoken. I have left completely inspired and hope I’ll be able to return in the not too distant future!

On route to projects! 

  When I think back to all the projects, among my favorites is definitely the children’s home. Though challenging I loved every moment we got to spend at one particular home with particularly naughty children. I loved seeing the children eventually responding to our games more and more joining in to play as a group with less and less thumping and hitting whilst we all grew a little more confident with keeping the games going. It’s a shame that as soon as I felt like I was getting the hang of things, it was time to go home but hey-ho whenever I left I would have felt like there was more to be learnt. Along with many of the volunteers I was also a particular fan of the mens special needs project. It is hard to believe that when SL volunteers first went in the men were pretty unresponsive. A far cry from the smiles and high fives we were always greeted with before being lead to a little room to run activities. One particular character liked to boss me around during our invented game of dance ball (turning, pointing and reaching and killer dance moves after catching the ball), demanding that I went to get the ball if it was more than five steps from him. It's hard not to leave that place on a high, particularly when you end (after high demand) with the Okie Cokie. My last week there the requests were coming in for the Okie Cokie so early that to my delight we had a bit of a dance party. Complete with the mackarena  the conga and some wack out your best moves in a circle time. Definitely  haven't got those spellings right but I'm sure you know what I mean.

Hoping I have inherited some of Dad's football skills! 

    One lesson I learnt that will most certainly remain with me is how lucky we are with our (though far from perfect), mental health services and Britain’s general attitude towards mental health. One of the most memorable experiences I had in SL was a field trip which involved going out with a psychiatrist on one of his daily rounds to a community in the slums. This, he slogs through tirelessly every day seven days a week in a desperate attempt to treat some of his 2000 patients, many of whom do not want to be treated. Mental health illnesses are very much stigmatised in SL and this became so evident to me on this trip. The doctor explained to me that it was good to have us white people with him on his rounds as it gave people an excuse to approach him and take us to their relatives needing his care. This makes people a lot easier to find than hunting for the often fake addresses he has on record. It became clear how hard pushed this doctor was. Sri Lanka has only 30 psychiatrists across the whole country, and no psychologists or trained mental health staff. This, for a country suffering the effects of a civil war spanning 27 years and killing 80,000–100,000 people is far from enough! Not to mention the devastating effects of the Tsunami. But, as the Doctor kept pointing out-many of the psychiatrists travel to England to work over here. Though his friends have tried to tempt him over to UK soil the Dr thankfully has remained committed to his patients in Sri Lanka. He kept exclaiming that it was his duty to try and change things over there. whether its his personal duty or not I think most would agree that his passion was inspiring. 

Our home stay family...

Being able to experience all the different projects and see Psychology in a whole different light was an absolute privilege. As was being totally immersed in Sri Lankan culture. I learnt to love spicey food, communicate without words, think on my feet when things didn't go quite to plan, cross roads where cars don't stop, paint nails at lightening speed (nail painting went down a treat in the half way home). I realised how important and enriching it is to be open minded and embrace everything sent my way. To open my mind beyond the British way of seeing things (especially when personal space on buses is not an option), was so refreshing. I saw some amazing sights and had multiple incredible experiences and, as well as all this,  I was lucky enough to make some great and hopefully life long friends meeting wonderful people along the way! 

Great friends made along the way!

Thank you SL volunteers.                                                                        

Lots of love and some Sri Lankan sunshine sunshine, 

Meg   x 

All good things must come to an end...

I can't believe it. 

 I've just finished my last project here in Sri Lanka. 

 

The time has gone so fast and I have loved every second. It has been an amazing privileged to have seen and experienced all that I have over the past five weeks. This morning was a particularly sad morning in the home stay as many of the volunteers are leaving, some of whom who have been around as long as three months! Rhi and I got up at 6 o clock to ensure we could say a goodbye to the children that live in our homestay and see them off to school. I think I mentioned this in my last blog but It is so great how at home I have felt in a place so far from home. 

My last project was Youth Teaching. This involves teaching a class of around 15 boys a similar age to us. Our class are training to be electrical engineers and it's hoped the project can broaden there horizons by enabling them to understand English job adverts etc. The class are great we have had so much fun particularly as they are so cheeky. The first time we taught them we made them use English to introduce each other. It became clear that one boy was particularly good with English when he managed to manipulate those introducing him to describe him as there hero (haha). For our final lesson we got them to 'direct a London taxi driver' in order to understand instructions and directions before setting up a bit of a treasure hunt around campuswriting up there own directions,  it was so much

fun and boys being boys means that there English seems to remarkably improve when there is a competition involved.  One of the projects I will be most sad to leave is a mixed childrens home. Although there cheeky ways have made for particularly stressful and exhausting Thursday afternoons I had begun to get a lot more confident with them distracting them with larger games and lots of running around. One cheeky young boy took it upon himself to draw my attention to fidgety expressions when explaining games imitating my every move. Fidgety expressions aside I have loved the experience of having to communicate in different ways due to language barriers. I have also appreciated how much of our communication is non-verbal but I don't think I quite understood to what extent. This hasn't just been true of working with kids but also the adults in NIMH and other special needs projects. It's amazing the conversations you can have without words.

I think my favorite project experience has to have been working on the male forensics ward here. We decided to run large group activities and to our amazement it worked. I'll never forget running up and down the hall with the nurses between two rows of approximately 60 men  shouting OVER, UNDER, OVER, as they battled to be the first to complete the ball race. Nor will I forget singing 'Down by the River' 60 times to accompany the clapping game while the men that were out accompanied my strained and tired voice the the shakers I had brought with me.

as I sit here waiting for my final weekend to begin I realise that I cannot possible write all the things I intended to write in this blog post. I haven't even told you about the incredible field trip we went on assisting a clinical psychiatrist on his daily errands around some of the poorest parts of Sri Lanka including the areas affected by the Tsunami. Nor have I told you about our incredible weekend trekking through Liptons tea plantations and swimming in water falls. With so much more I need to say I think I'm going to have to write the entries when I get home. However, I do just want to express (whilst on such a high about my time here) how thankful I am for those that contributed to my fundraising efforts. I can't wait to tell you in person all about the amazing work that goes on out here. And also, whilst all the goodbyes continue, how lucky I am to have meet so many great people over these five weeks.

p's I thought I'd leave you with a quote from a conference last night that makes a pretty good life motto...

"The happiest people in life are not those that have the best of everything, but those that make the most of everything they do have"-pretty sure it was worded better than this but I don't have my notepad with me!

Update!

Oh hey!

So i finally found some time to sit at a computer remember my password and update this blog!. Waaahooooo. Sorry I have been pretty rubbish at keeping it update.

Where to even begin...

In some ways I cannot believe I have been here three weeks already but in other ways I feel like I have been here forever. It's amazing how quickly you can feel at home somewhere so very different to home. Staying with a host family has meant we have been totally immersed  in Sri Lankan culture; eating with our hands and hunting down spiders in the shower from day one. However, despite doing our best to fit in, we certainly can't avoid standing out when making our way around. Sri Lankans are so friendly and curious when they see groups of white people strolling around. This means that everywhere we go we're greeted by many smiling faces  asking 'where are you going' 'what are you doing?' 'why are you here?'  'where are you from?' etc etc. My favorite bit about this is when the buses containing loads of school children shouting 'what is your name' drive passed who when you respond think it's the funniest thing ever. In fact a lot of people over here seem to think we're particularly funny. At first I couldn't understand why untill the other day we were on the bus and two of the volunteers jumped on in a fluster sweating buckets and looking particularly bewildered and exactly how I feel every-time I board a bus packed to the max. Then I saw why we are so entertaining haha.

The projects I have been working on here are amazing. Wednesday is the day I get to volunteer at NIMH the huge psychiatric hospital. So far I have worked with women on a forensics ward plating bracelets and   communicating as best we could and then last week I was in the Occupational Therapy room where people go to do some exercise and arts and crafts. It's very very different from anything in England as the cultural differences means that they take a totally different stance on mental health.  As a psych student I am so lucky to be able to experience this. The other days in the week are split between childrens homes, special needs homes and teaching a class of engineers English. The children are sooooo energetic and the first time we visited the childrens home all greeted us singing who let the dogs out. They also LOVE Gangnam style which I realised during a game of simon says when 'simon says gangnam style' seemed to be the most popular command.
(I've sent out a longer email with more info about all the projects and psychologyish stuff for those interested and those who so kindly donated to my various fundraising attempts so let me know if you'd like it!)






This weekend was particularly adventurous including a trek up Sigiyia rock, a visit to the temple and riding elephants. Sri-Lanka is such a beautiful county and I can't wait to experience more of it! The elephant ride was amazing and bizzare. Clinging on for dear life on top of a massive animal in the midday sunshine. The view from the top of the rock was INCREDIBLE. And it was so great to experience it all with new  and lovely people. I also need to tell you about our ineteresting (to say the least) accommodation but I will save that for another day as I'm off to buy a
Saree before going to work at a boys home.

Lots of Love,
and some Sri Lankan sunshine
MEG xxx

The Boys sporting the best of Sri Lankan mens fashion 

Pre-departure

So... 

Bags are packed (well nearly), and only the little last minute jobs to be done before heading to Sri Lanka.I decided to be super organised and  set up this blog as an efficient method of keeping up with  anyone who wants to be kept up to date with my adventure! Particularly for those who kindly donated to my various fundraising attempts in order to get me there. Hopefully you'll be able to witness the positive consequences of your kind donations. I hope my terrible texting and typing, frequently pointed out to me by friends, won't prove  burdensome. Apologies in advance!

After 2 clothes swaps, a bit of M&S bag packing and kind donations from family, friends, church family and Felixstowe Rotary Club I managed to just about hit my target of £750  covering project costs. I have been totally overwhelmed by everyone's generosity particularly as I had such a short amount of time to get the money together and the added complication of being split between Felixstowe and Exeter. So thank you all very much. 

Tomorrow the adventure begins. I'll be heading to the airport suitcase packed full (though I did promise Dad i'd TRY and pack light) along with every medical supply my mother could lay her hands on inc tea tree oil wipes for my feet and sunglasses cleaner (whoever said there is such a thing as over prepared...) 

I'll update this as often as I can and even try to upload some photos from my new snazzy complete with WiFi camera (don't hold out to much hope, ha!).