Outreach Coordinator Priyanka has been working hard to bridge connections with local schools around Nilaveli. Upon visiting Kaileshwara College, we spoke to a couple of teachers who kindly introduced us to the school and told us about their subjects. They seemed very enthusiastic for us to come back and help teach English to the children.
Priyanka and rotating team members have come to the school each day this week to teach the kids a variety of vocabulary. Being a Scottish based expedition team, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to introduce the students to haggis, kilts, and some banging Scottish tunes. In return for teaching them Auld Lang Syne our team got to stretch their own vocal chords on some local Tamil songs.
It is an incredibly rewarding and insightful experience for all of us and we are extremely grateful for the ongoing opportunity to be involved with the local community!
After a week of school outreach and data collection, our day off took us on a tour around some of the must see locations in Sri Lanka!
The date; 4th July, the time; 0600 hours, status of team; sleep deprived, motivation to see elephants 120%, mission green light, advance on alpha.
Our first stop was Sigiriya. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it homes an ancient citadel sitting atop a giant gneiss rock rising some 200m above the surrounding countryside. What most stood out during our visit were the incredibly well preserved 5th Century AD Frescoes. It is most imperative however, not to become too immersed in the fascinating history; as one would then forget about the all too confident monkeys which will happily take your precious biscuit reserves.
After the tasty visit to Sigiriya, we cleaned our cultural pallets for the next entree; some moreish buddhist caves. The Dambulla cave temple is the largest and best preserved of its kind in Sri Lanka, inside the caves are hundreds of paintings and buddha statues.
Our final stop of the day was Minneriya National park!
The park was a beautiful gem of natural Sri Lankan jungle. Amongst the sightings of Storks, Ibis, and buffalo, seeing huge herds of Asian Elephants remained the highlight. One female on heat attracted the attention of some bulls, leading to some Jeremy Kyle family drama amongst the elephants!
And what could be better way to round the day than celebrating Esther’s birthday with a bonfire, fireworks, and some improvised cake.
Stay tuned for future updates!