Galle - The Wrap Up

I've actually now travelled from the South to the North of the Island, the Jaffna Peninsula.

I have a load to blog already about the North - but I have to wrap up the Galle chapter. Not homesick yet. But these blasted mosquitoes! They seem to think it's happy hour, every hour, at Bar Ramiya. I am going to go on an electrocution rampage one of these days.

So I think the blog followers mostly want to know about the Cook from the Elders' Home - the victim of domestic abuse.

I read all your comments (thank you!) and was quite shocked actually to see that you thought there was no hope. I wish for all of you to realise that is never OK to just accept a situation - there is always scope for change.

I asked to speak to Janaka - the volunteer coordinator. Being a full-time manager for a busy tourist resort in Unawatuna, I am appreciative that he came home early to talk to me. I told him the story of the lady and arranged for him to meet her at the Elders' Home. Both being able to speak Sinhalese, Janaka would be able to scope the issue to its fullest. Speaking to the cook a few days later, with me present, he asked her what exactly she wanted to do. As her eyes turned into pools of water, she said that she would never go back to her husband, that she wants security, and when asked, mentioned she is not happy with her work at the Elders'.

The conclusion we came to: Janaka is going to find work for her at a family home as a domestic servant. She could offer her only skills of cooking and cleaning, and it would benefit her to have more rest and privacy to recooperate from her turmoil. I used to think Sri Lankans had the most holidays in the world - as Poya Day falls every 28 days of the year. However, work for places like the Elders' & the Orphanage must go on 365 days of the year. These workers get NOT A SINGLE DAY OFF throughout the year. Makes me feel bad for recruiting campaigners for a 3-day weekend. Anyway, working for a family in a home environment would give the cook at least 3 days off in a month, and maybe more depending on the family.

I do wish to do more research into what exactly is needed to support abuse victims. I know that it would have been a lot better for a woman to have talked to the cook instead of Janaka - but Janaka has made a pledge to protect her and take hold of the issue now that I am gone. As I left the Elders' on the last day, she teared up - which made me realise how she genuinely has noone. I've been calling her every few days since then. The most important thing is that she is free from her husband.

There was another change at the Elders'. One day, the workers made the other volunteers and I carry close to 150 buckets of water up a slope, only so we could pour it down and brush dirt off in the 2 seconds we had before all the water ran down. Um. I'm sure all of you are thinking - HOSE? It's absolutely inefficient and did I mention back-breaking! I told Janaka and asked for a 30m hose. So now they have one - and don't have to carry stupid buckets that completely immobilize us for the rest of the day. The workers seem very happy about this - however the next time, started carrying buckets again! When I exclaimed "HOSE!" about 5 times - only did they go fetch it. It seems that to implement any change around here, you have to stick around and train those involved thoroughly to ensure its success.

At the Orphanage, I've now given showers to the kids, and changed non-pooey nappies. I got scolded at for pouring water over a 2 year old's head and got chased out of the shower room by the staff lady. Apparently I don't know about children's health - but she's allowed to beat them with a cane and coop them indoors for hours in unchanged nappies. Once when walking around the cribs I saw a 1 year old who was wide awake and crying - so I took her out into the garden. After an hour, another staff member came running to me, chattering away in Sinhala and then pointed to this rash on the kid's head. Now apparently, I've given the kid Scabies from taking her outside. She had not been aware that this baby has had this rash on her head for the past few weeks i've been there. It gets worse. What does she do - in her fit of hysteria, she takes ALL the kids inside. Now, 20 kids who were happily entertaining themselves are now crying in a pen. I really want to learn, "You are SO dumb" in Sinhala.

My other experiences were with the community children and Nurses. I wasn't entirely sure if the "street" kids were actually off the street - but one of the volunteers assured me that he met the father of one them - crackpipe in one hand, baby in the other arm. Work with the Nurses cannot really be called work - but a lot of fun. It was really hard, even after only 3 weeks, to say bye to the orphans. I wonder how many people have briefly entered and exited their lives. Overall, the Galle experience has been a good introduction to voluntary work. I have been given the opportunity to help in some way. Also, I'm really starting to see the trend of my annoyance that runs through most things Sri Lankan - INEFFICIENCY.

Now I'm in Jaffna - I actually feel like I'm in a different country. I will blog soon again about my experiences here. =)