Rosalind Reichard - Journal
Journal Entries: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Tuesday night found us adding recruitment of students for Meredith to our list of activities. A pre-dinner visit to the home of a niece of Tony Andrade included a tour of a very beautiful home, wonderful refreshments, and listening to Tony's very talented grand-niece play several classical pieces on a piano and also on an organ. She is interested in going to college in North Carolina in the fall of 2006 and we talked with her about the high quality of our music program at MC -- Kent and David should be proud.
After our visit with Tony's niece, we explored Colombo in an attempt to find their friends, Nehal and Shrema. Street addresses are not easy to find in Colombo. Our exploration included the group of us riding in what are called Tuk-Tuks or 3-wheelers (what looks like a 3-wheel bicycle with a lawn mower motor) -- we needed 3 of them to transport the group. Nehal and Shrema have a very nice home that is open on all sides to gardens and cool breezes. Sri Lankan hospitality is very special.
Last night I said good bye to our students (Laura, Kelly, Rebecca) and Gail as they are playing tourist today in the hill country -- including the Sinhalese cultural and spiritual center of Kandy and an elephant sanctuary. They are sure to have the opportunity to ride an elephant. Since I will need to leave for the airport this afternoon, I was not able to go with them.
Today, Betty, John and I are going with the law school dean to a nearby community to explore how to set up a 'boat cooperative.' I will leave for the airport in the afternoon -- sad to leave, but glad to be going home. Sri Lanka to the Maldives to Tokyo to Detroit to Raleigh -- the trip has been well worth the time and expense. We have much to share.
We are thankful for our early warning system that generated a phone call to Betty Webb last night at midnight Sri Lanka time. That phone call was our first indication of a possible problem here in connection with the earthquake off the coast of Sri Lanka. We turned on the T.V. and watched with the world. We felt safe and most of us were asleep by 2:00 a.m. Our leader, Betty, stayed up until 3:00 a.m. when the tsunami warning expired here in Sri Lanka. As you know, we are safe. But, we worry so much about the people who live near the coast. They were so afraid of the water because of the December tsunami. This new warning is likely to increase their fear. Or, perhaps, the warning system worked and will help them to feel more safe. We hope for the best as we know how much they have suffered.
Today, we spent the morning at the University of Sri Lanka School of Law where we talked with several students and faculty and the dean of the school. It was very informative for us. We have a more comprehensive understanding of how we can help. And, our students will be going out with the Sri Lankan students they met on Thursday night.
This afternoon we toured Parliament and met the Deputy Speaker of Parliament. He was gracious and very helpful in his comments. He told us the most important thing we can do is report to others on the needs of Sri Lanka and the other countries impacted by the tsunami.
All for now as I must join the others for dinner at a friend of Betty and John's.
I will be departing Sri Lanka tomorrow night -- difficult to leave, but happy to be seeing my family soon.
We have just returned to Columbo after spending 3 days in the Galle and Matara area. I just have a few minutes to send a little information on how we have spent the past few days. We have all had an emotional, but good weekend. Good in that we can see ways to directly help some of the people in the Galle area who were impacted by the tsunami. Betty and John have focused on the community just below our hotel in Galle, the Closenburg hotel. This is where they spent ime before Christmas on the beach talking with the families, especially the children.. Their return to this community was emotionally-wrenching since many of the people they met on Christmas did not survive the tsunami. I will leave descriptions of their activities and our students work with the survivors to Betty and John in their reports.
On Saturday, we visited a school in a community between Galle and Matara -- Weligama -- to observe a ceremony marking the 3 month anniversary of the deaths that were caused by the tsunami. We talked at length with the monk who runs the school. We believe that this school would be an excellent place to connect Meredith. I will tell you more about the ceremony and the school in a later report.
On Saturday, we also went to a well-run refugee camp for military families in Matara and to an orphanage for children 0-5 years of age in Galle. On Sunday, we drove again toward Matara to visit the school in Weligama. We also visited a tsunami relief center near the school in Weligama and an orphanage for disabled children.
Our students have learned a lot and have made great progress on their projects. This has been an exceptional experience for them.
I will file another report later today or tomorrow with additional information.
It is 5:30 p.m in Sri Lanka on Friday, 6:30 a.m. in Raleigh.
This morning four lovely Sri Lankan students joined our entourage -- Dasha from Galle; and Chamilla, Darshee, and Nadee from Colombo. They are helping us as translators and connecting with our students.
We left Colombo for Galle -- a 2-3 hour drive along the coast. As we drove south the devastation increased -- many tents for housing -- broken boats along the shore -- temporary wooden shacks. We stopped to see a housing project funded by the Carolina relief effort led by Tony Andrade. For $3500, a house can be built. We met the new owner of one house -- a young man who was displaced by the tsunami.
We spent several hours at a refugee camp housing around 200 people. We served lunch and met and talked with many of the people staying there. The children are exceptionally beautiful and cheerful. The adults are friendly and want to talk. Many of the children speak English very well. From several, we heard sad stories of family members who were lost in the tsunami.
The most difficult stop for us was at the site of the terrible train disaster. The train cars were there as a memorial. I talked with a representative of the Associated Press who was there to report on the 3 month anniversary. He told me that the 3 month anniversary of a death is very important in Buddhism and there would be many prayers and services in the various areas.
We are staying in an old English hotel on a promontory in Galle. Right now, others are swimming in the pool of a nearby hotel.
We will be in Galle until Monday.
Entry 3 (March 24 EST)
Zurich - Frankfort - Colombo. We arrived at 6:00 a.m. local time (5:00 p.m. on Wed in Raleigh). Met several folks on the plane -- young man from Sri Lanka now living in Toronto and working as a chef and returning for the first time in 10 years -- American medical school student from Philadelphia going to Sri Lanka for a month to help with the medical needs.
The drive south from the airport to our hotel in Mt. Lavinia was interesting -- our driver is Suchile and his assistant is Suri. We have spent the day getting rest, getting oriented, and planning for our trip. Tony [Andrady, a native of Sri Lanka now living in Cary, N.C., who is accompanying the Meredith group] is here with his sister's best friend, Indoneal. Indoneal is a lawyer specializing in international property law and was in Geneva working for the U.N. when the tsunami struck. She is now full-time trying to help with the refugees who need her help. Today, Indoneal took us to a local refugee camp where 17 families are staying as a result of losing their homes during the tsunami. We see many needs.
Later today, we will visit an orphanage and tomorrow we will drive down the coast to Galle where there is considerable damage and devastation.
Raleigh to Atlanta to Zurich. It is early in the morning here, but middle of the night as well. Green fields, cloudy and overcast. We are nearly half-way to Sri Lanka. All of us managed to rest and sleep a little. And, we read our Sri Lankan guidebooks. The modern Zurich airport is a good place to spend a few hours. Our flight leaves for Frankfort and Colombo, Sri Lanka in a few hours.
Many of us were overwhelmed with the enormity of the disaster as it unfolded the day after Christmas. Those of us who were aware of Betty Webb and John Rose's trip to Sri Lanka breathed a sigh of relief when we learned they were safe. Only then could we turn our thoughts more broadly to how we can help – as individuals and as a College. Our students answered this question in many ways – fundraisers, awareness efforts, research projects, etc. Our faculty also responded with contributions to the relief efforts and with providing experiences for our students to help them understand the needs – social work professor focusing on global issues in child welfare, religion professor providing historical information to her classes, geoscience professor explaining the dynamics of a tsunami, and an English professor assigning writing projects on how the disaster affected the students' world view.
As a College we came together in January to coordinate our efforts and the "Tide of Hope" Committee was formed. At the Committee's forum, I learned from Tony Andrady, the President of the Sri Lankan Friendship Association, about the culture of Sri Lanka, the effect of the tsunami, and the many needs resulting from this disaster. A trip to Sri Lanka to find individuals locally who could help us focus our support in the most effective way is one answer to "How we can help?" And, so we decided to take this trip in March to better support the needs of the Sri Lankan community and to provide an exceptional learning experience for our faculty, students, and staff – not only those on the trip, but the entire Meredith community through the information that we would share.
Get booster shots for Hepatitis A and polio, obtain medicine for malaria, pull out summer clothes in the cold days of early spring, finish all those projects that need to be done by April 1 by March 21 instead, read about the history and culture of Sri Lanka, worry about your family finding ways to celebrate Easter without you, convince your tearful mother that you will be safe – and, the list goes on. Preparation for this trip is complex. I know that we are traveling a long distance and will see many difficult situations with lots of needs. But, I focus on Meredith's goal to "make a difference in the world." And, I think about the support we can provide and the incredible learning experience for the students who will be with us.
My personal goals for this trip are to learn about the Sri Lankan culture, connect with a local school or university, and determine effective ways to support relief efforts in the area. When we return, I hope to share our experiences with the Meredith community in multiple ways. As an educational institution and one of the most caring places I have ever experienced, Meredith College and its community will benefit from this trip as it supports so well the mission of the College.
