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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| Great friends made along the way! |
Thank you SL volunteers.
Lots of love and some Sri Lankan sunshine sunshine,
Meg x
