REBUILDING SRI LANKA - February 2005


After the tsunami which affected so many countries bordering the Indian Ocean, I began investigating how I might be able to help in the relief efforts. I read an article in USA Today about Global Crossroads, an organization which was seeking volunteers to travel to Sri Lanka to work on various reconstruction projects. I was already planning to be in Thailand for ten days in February and so I applied to Global Crossroads to join their 2-week program starting on the 20^th. Global Crossroads is one of scores of Non-Government Organizations participating in relief efforts in countries affected by the Boxing Day tsunami. I have been assigned to a project to build houses for people who lost their homes in a small village near Galle on the southern coast. Every two weeks, a new group of volunteers arrives to participate in the next phase of the construction. For the last six weeks, groups have concentrated on clearing rubble, but our group is scheduled to dig trenches, pour concrete and start the construction process. Each participant pays their own way to Sri Lanka, plus a fee of about $400 for room & board for two weeks and another $500 to be used to buy materials.　 I left Buriraya Resort on Saumi Island, Thailand where I had been vacationing with my parents, sister & Cindy in the early afternoon of the 17^th and spent the next twelve hours getting to Sri Lanka. The flight was only 4 hours, but during the 8 hours of layovers, I was able to squeeze in two massages and a grand Thai banquet in Bangkok. I arrived in Colombo just before midnight and found a car which took me to the Hilton in the city center where I checked-in and immediately went to sleep. Colombo is about 40 km south of the airport. The city is quite large, but quickly becomes ‘third world’ as I wander away from the hotel. A truce was signed two years ago, which at least for the moment has ended the civil war, but there remain roadblocks everywhere manned with soldiers carrying AK47’s. Yet everyone is very friendly. I expect the hotel staff, taxi drivers, shopkeepers & beggars to smile, but regular people I pass on the street also smile and greet me pleasantly. I phoned the local representative of Global Crossroads and arranged that they would pick me up on Sunday when the rest of the group arrives. This gives me two days to explore Colombo and learn more about the country. I bought several newspapers, magazines and an Insight Guide to Sri Lanka. The editorials in the newspapers are very critical of the government’s handling of the tsunami relief program. Over eighty percent of Sri Lankans polled believe that financial aid pledged by foreign governments will end up in the pockets of government officials. Sunday former Presidents Bush & Clinton arrive for a meeting with the Sri Lankan President and a one-day tour of Matara, a southern coastal city about 40 km east of where I will be working in Galle. The Insight Guide to Sri Lanka is fascinating and there seems to be quite a lot to do here. It is no longer permissible to climb to the top of the country’s highest mountain because the television antennas are deemed a high security risk. Another peak however, Mt. Adam (of Adam & Eve fame) is a popular climb for pilgrims of several religions who make the 4-hour climb to pray at the temple which houses the footprint of Adam or Buddha, depending on your faith. I may try to arrange an organized tour of Sri Lanka’s highlights after my two weeks in Galle. The guidebook’s section on fauna tells of wildlife sanctuaries with 100-head herds of wild elephants, leopards which occasionally creep into villages to kill dogs, 25-foot saltwater crocodiles, 30-foot rock pythons and monitor lizards which tie-up traffic as they cross roads. While it would be exciting to see some of this wildlife, I’d want to make sure I was with a group or a guide rather than on my own. I had made arrangements with Bernard, Global Crossroads driver, to be in the lobby of the Hilton at 12:30 PM Sunday when he would pick me up and then go to the airport to pick up other people. When I had not heard from him by 1:30 PM, I called his cell phone to learn that he was running late and would not arrive until 2:30 PM. There was a lot of activity in the lobby as I waited. I saw half a dozen Americans with earpieces and one with a dog on a leash. When I finally asked the concierge what was going on, he said that the former American presidents were expected at 4:00 PM. At 4:15 PM Bush & Clinton had still not shown up, but Bernard and the rest of my group did. I took the last seat in an 8-passanger van already crowded with luggage and then we went next door to pick up two more people before starting our 3-hour drive south to Galle. The traffic thinned somewhat when we got about 35 km from Colombo, but there is only one small 2-lane road which serves as highway, Main Street, sidewalk and often parking lot. We passed an elephant with a long line of cars behind it, but fortunately it was headed in the opposite direction.

Monday morning during breakfast, a troop of monkeys leaped through the trees only a few feet from the porch where we were eating. This was to be an orientation day so after breakfast, Lisa took us out to the road where we boarded a public bus and rode 6 km into town. The city is frequently sprayed for mosquitoes in an attempt to prevent malaria. The bus station in Galle was one of the hardest hit areas with over 400 people drowning inside the busses. Overall, this city of 100,000 lost one out of every 25 residents. After our walking tour of the town, we returned to Tiny House for lunch. In the afternoon, we took a van to some of the more remote sections of town where we disembarked to walk through several refugee camps and observe the vast amount of damage inflicted on the whole area. At the port, there is a 200’ ship which has been lifted up onto the shore where it remains. We also visited a couple of the worksites where we may be building homes starting tomorrow.

There seems to be an awful lot of red-tape involved with the reconstruction effort. It is hard to know where to place the blame but we are all feeling that the volunteer labor force is not working to optimum capacity. Global Crossroads initial mission was to rebuild schools, but after signing up a couple hundred people and bring them to the country to work on such projects, the government decided that they wanted to rebuild schools and the NGO’s could not do that. The volunteers were then redirected to rebuilding homes for poor fishermen who lost not only their homes but their means of earning a living when their boats were destroyed. But then the government ordered that no residence shall be reconstructed within 100 meters of the sea. All fishermen live within 100 meters of the sea. It seems that many of the volunteers have given up on Global Crossroads and gone out into the town on their own to find projects. There is certainly no lack of work to be done. Some volunteers found a place where handicapped and Downs Syndrome people are kept. Forty-eight of fifty-four patients drowned when the waves came because there were tied to their beds and no one cut them free. Aside from the administrator, these people must care for themselves and there has been no evidence of clean-up other than what the volunteers have been able to provide.

Tuesday after breakfast, we were driven to our first worksite up on a hill where strings had been stretched to show us where to dig trenches for the foundation of a three room house. Using rudimentary tools, it took us all day to dig a 12-inch deep trench in the hard soil. Had we not insisted that we go to the hardware store to buy two picks, at a cost of $5.00 each, we might still be there digging. We also received a truckload of rock which will be mortared into place to form the foundation for the block walls.

At 5:00 PM we went back to Tiny House where we showered and then went to a local resort for dinner. The Lighthouse sits up on a bluff above the sea and has a fantastic view of the sunset over the Indian Ocean

Lyn was attacked by a foot-long centipede Tuesday night which Angela bravely killed. I slept through the commotion but the remains of the serpent were still in the trash where they had been discarded at 3:00 AM.

Buddha achieved enlightenment on the full-moon so Buddhists take that day as a holiday. Wednesday is the full-moon so we, too, will take the day off. Our leaders have arranged a boat trip and we are to be ready to be transported to the boat at 8:00 AM. The van showed up at 9:00 AM and took us to another guesthouse where several groups of Global Crossroads volunteers were congregating. Since so many people were assembled in one place it was determined that we should take a group photo. A large banner touting Global Crossroads relief efforts in Sri Lanka was conveniently at hand so we took photos for a while.

At 10:30 AM several of us got tired of waiting for the boat tour and decided we would go to town on our own. I went to an Internet café for a while and then walked over to the fort. The fort was built by the Portuguese and is a self-contained town jutting out into the bay. Imposing walls probably protected it from the brunt of the tsunami. The damage I saw inside the walls could have been caused by water but could have just as easily been caused by centuries of wear and tear.

It was very hot as I walked along the ramparts. I continued west to see if I could find Lyn & Connie who had said they were going to the beach, but never saw them. I walked about a kilometer and every structure I passed had suffered damage – many beyond repair. Finally I decided I would go back to The Lighthouse for a late lunch.

Wednesday night we had a long talk with Lisa expressing our disappointment at the lack of organization that seems to surround Global Crossroads activities here in Sri Lanka. To our surprise, things started getting better Thursday morning.

The van picked us up earlier and we were at our worksite by 8:15 AM. We had received more rock and sand and spent the morning moving the rock up into the trenches we had dug on Tuesday. At lunchtime, we went down to the beach and cooled off after we ate. It is amazing to see such a beautiful beach with no one swimming except us. Many people here are very afraid of the water.

The afternoon was very hot and we, along with our two local masons, built about half of the foundation. At 5:00 we quit for the day and returned to the guesthouse to shower before going out to dinner.

Rich had found a restaurant way up on a hill overlooking Galle and the harbor where we went for drinks and then dinner. I was not feeling well by the time we sat down to eat so I left early and returned to the guesthouse.

The house we are building is for K. Hihal Perera, his wife M. Ramya Jayasekera and their two teenage daughters, Thilani & Iranga, age 17 & 19. They had lived near the sea when the tsunami smashed their house and the small 3-room guesthouse which was their means of support. The waves also took the life of their youngest; a fourteen year old boy, whose body they found 100 meters deep in the jungle on December 27^th. Although the family currently lives in a tent a few kilometers from their new house, the parents are at the worksite everyday before we arrive and after we leave.

Friday morning I went to the site with the others, but left in the late morning because the sun was making me dizzy. The rest of the group finished the foundation and received a truckload of cement blocks for the walls. Concrete block is so scarce here now that what was delivered to us today was made yesterday, and has not cured properly.

Beatrice and Joanne were scheduled to leave today after lunch so I said good-bye to them when I returned to the guesthouse in late morning. James & Shannon’s last day is tomorrow so our workforce will only be five as Angela, Sandy Connie and Caroline are working on non-construction projects. Friday night I returned to The Lighthouse to eat dinner and use their internet to type my journal.

Saturday we were back working at 9:00 AM. By noon we had the first course of block up and the place is starting to look like a real house. At lunchtime, we went to the beach again where I met a guy named Dineesh whose home used to be where we now picnic. He told us in detail what happened the day of the tsunami. Most of his family had gone to Colombo for the day and only he and his sister were home. He heard the waves crashing towards his house but did not have time enough to get his 22 year-old sister who was washing dishes in the kitchen. The wave came through his house sweeping him over the road. He never saw his sister again.

Dineesh is typical of the people we have met here in Sri Lanka; friendly & hospitable. He noticed we eat lunch each day before swimming and has invited us to have a barbecue at his beach on Tuesday which he will prepare for us.

Saturday afternoon we laid two more courses of block before leaving at 4:30 PM. In the evening we all went to The Lighthouse for a grand barbecue. We ran into Martin, whom we work with occasionally, who was taking his Sri Lankan hosts out to dinner and we formed a party of 20 for dinner.

When we arrived at work on Sunday, we found that the masons had erected a fourth row of block after we left on Saturday. We started leaving spaces for the windows as we worked and Ramya’s two beautiful daughters and a niece came to inspect our work. One of her nephews who seems to be about ten has been working with us and is very helpful.

We took our usual break at the beach for lunch, but no sooner had we arrived than a woman came up looking for volunteers to work at the orphanage that afternoon. Lyn and I figured to escape the afternoon sun and spend a leisurely afternoon playing with the children. After a quick shower and change of clothes, we went to The Ruhunu State Children’s Receiving Home (RSRH) aka The Orphanage.

RSRH, based in Galle, is a government home for orphaned children operating for almost 70 years. Children are between the ages of newborn to five. Currently there are 54 children although this number can range from 40-80. Twelve staff members work four six-hour shifts with four on during the day and two on at night. The building is falling apart.

An American couple took over the orphanage with the governments blessing about a month ago. Although they have achieved quite a bit in the last few weeks, there is a huge amount of construction and removal of debris that still needs to be done. Work is in full swing, as the children live & play all around.

We arrived at nap time. This meant that the 11 children under the age of one and six of the children between the ages of one and five were in their cribs or asleep. That left about 40 (I probably should have counted them when I got there) who were not interested in napping for Lyn, I and a Sri Lankan woman to care for. We were immediately overwhelmed. I had brought a bag of balloons, but every time I blew one up, I created one happy child and thirty-nine unhappy ones. After a couple of hours, we got something of a break at snack-time, but that only lasted ten minutes. More volunteers came in the afternoon and it became a little easier when we only had to hold a couple children at a time.

I spent some time late in the day talking to Michelle & Dan Curry, the Directors. Michelle gave me a copy of their proposed program & budget and I pledged to support their efforts. I also met the Project Manager, Kent DeWitt from Seattle. Kent was familiar with ChinaCares and is in the process of working with them to facilitate an operation for a young Chinese girl he met last year.

At the end of the day, Lyn & I agreed that building houses was much easier than working at the orphanage, although the orphanage experience was more rewarding.

Monday, February 28^th, work on the house continued and we finished most of the block work. It was a very hot day and when we ran out of materials in the afternoon, I returned to the guesthouse to shower and head over to The Lighthouse early. I caught up with my journal and had a great dinner.

Tuesday we built a wooden frame around the top course of blocks where a steel reinforcing rod was placed. Dineesh, our friend at the beach, had prepared a barbecue at lunchtime with fresh grilled tuna and beer. Lynn scampered up a coconut tree to get us some nuts. Before returning to work in the afternoon, Bob and I headed into town where I picked-up some pictures I had dropped off earlier for developing. While in the photo lab, I stood next to a local man who was also picking up pictures. His photos were taken the day of the tsunami and showed the town inundated with water. Although I had seen a lot of news coverage of the event, it was quite different to see photos of places I have come to know awash in so much water. He also had photos of bodies which were too gruesome to show on television.

Tuesday night, Bob, Rich, Lyn and I were invited to Michael’s house for dinner. Michael is one of the local coordinators for Global Crossroads and is the brother of Paul, who seems to run the show. Paul is a community leader in Galle and runs a garment factory employing 400 people.

Michael’s house is across the street from the beach and had seven feet of water in it during the tsunami. He lost all of his furnishings, but his family was able to escape. Neighbors pulled his two young nephews to the safety of the roof moments before the second wave crashed through.

We ate a wonderful dinner with his extended family. Pradeep and Krishna, two Global Crossroads people from Nepal also joined us. While at dinner, I was able to make arrangements through Paul to get a driver to take me around the country later this week when our construction project is finished.

Wednesday we started digging a hole for the septic tank. The hole needed to be six feet deep, 3 ½ feet in diameter, through the hard clay that had given us so much trouble the first day when we dug the trenches for the foundation. Luck was on our side though because no sooner than we started digging on this 2-day project, four new volunteers showed up anxious to get to work. We turned our picks and shovels over to them and let them dig the hole. I busied myself moving the forms for the concrete and we were able to finish pouring the lentil in the afternoon. I was also careful to make sure the people digging the septic tank hole drank plenty of water so they would not tire too quickly – least we get stuck with finishing it.

Wednesday night we had arranged to take the new homeowners out to The Lighthouse for a farewell dinner. We met at 7:30 PM and spent three hours eating and talking about our experiences together. We gave them a set of photos taken during the construction process and an 8 X 10 photo of their construction team, which they can hang on their new wall. They, in turn, presented us each with a souvenir of Sri Lanka with a personal message hand written on the back. It was a very nice evening.

Thursday, March 3^rd, I went to the site along with Rich, Lyn & Bob from our original group and a whole new group of Global Crossroads people who had just arrived. The hole for the septic tank got finished and a large area in from of the house was excavated for a porch. At noon, after a very emotional good-bye, I returned to the guesthouse to pack.

After confirming my 6-day tour of the country twice, the driver/guide I had hired through Paul failed to show. He did send someone in his place but the replacement did not speak English and was therefore no use to me. Kingsley, the owner of Tiny House, helped me find an alternative driver and I was still able to leave at 2:00 PM.

I headed east along the coast. We passed through Matara, where Clinton & Bush visited a couple weeks ago. Beyond Matara, the towns got smaller. The coastline turns north here and, unlike Galle, this area felt the full brunt of the tsunami. A couple of these towns were completely wiped-out.

Late in the afternoon, Lasantha, my driver/guide suggested we detour a few kilometers north to visit the temple at Wewurukannla. One of the most striking features of this temple is a hallway over 100 meters long with a couple hundred murals on the walls. Each mural depicts people engaged in a sin, and below the mural is a specific torture the sinners will receive for committing that sin. Impaling people on swords, boiling them in oil and holding them upside down while sawing them in half were a few of the tortures.

We arrived in a town near Yala just after dark where I checked-in to a comfortable hotel recommended by Lasantha. I ate dinner and went to bed early as Lasantha had arranged a 5:30 AM safari tour of Yala National Park.

My safari driver and 4-wheel drive vehicle was waiting for me as I exited the hotel and we drove 30 minutes to the park which opens at 6:00 AM. After paying my entrance fee, we were joined by a park ranger who would be my guide for the park. Yala is huge and we only covered a small section during the 3-½ hour tour.

Although leopards had been spotted the day before, I did not see any on my trip. I did see a large variety of wildlife including mongoose, crocodiles, monkeys, wild boar, elephants, iguanas, monitors, badgers and dozens of types of birds. Parts of the park are not many feet above sea level and damage from the tsunami is evident in many places. Strangely, no animals were drowned although the forest was littered with fish & turtles after the water receded. There is a nice area on the beach where the 3-½ hour tour ends. The sixty tourists and four park rangers were standing there at 9:30 AM December 26 when the wave killed them all.

At 10:00 AM, I went back to my hotel, ate breakfast and checked-out of my room. Lasantha picked me up and we headed northwest up into the mountains. I am very happy that I found Lasantha, as he is an experienced guide and will often drive me off the beaten path to see places that are not even in the guidebook. Today we stopped at Burduruwagala, Diyaluma Falls and Dowa Cave Temple. We climbed up through the bustling towns of Ella and Bandarawela, where buildings are precariously perched on stilts alongside the narrow roadway. We arrived at Nuwara Eliya around 5:00 PM where I took a room at The Hill Club. After checking in, I was told that I needed a coat & tie to dine in their restaurant (even though I was likely to be their only customer) and although they would lend me the proper attire, I decided to eat one of the two pineapples given to me as a parting gift from the family in Galle.

Saturday, I ate breakfast in the Hill Club’s dining room (formal dress is not required before 7:00 PM), and then went for a walk around town. I found the Sri Lanka Hunt Club and the horse track for which Nuwara Eliya is famous. This area is known as ‘Little England’ because of the British influence. At 9:00 AM, Lasantha picked me up and we drove to see the vegetable market and check email. Next, he took me to The Pedro Tea Factory where I got a personal tour of this 125-year old facility which processes tea leaves 24 hours a day.

All of the mountainsides in this area are covered with tea bushes, which can grow for 50 years. Only the top two leaves and sprout are harvested by the ‘tea pickers’, most of whom are Tamil women. They are required to pick 15 kilos of leaves each day and receive a bonus for anything over that amount. As only the top growth is picked, each plant can be harvested every 5-6 days. It is hard to imagine that there are enough people to do all the picking. After my tea tour, I went to the botanical gardens, but having recently been to Bouchard Gardens in Vancouver, anything else seems disappointing.

Around noon, we left Nuwara Eliya and drive three hours through one tea plantation after another to the base of Adams Peak, which I am planning to climb tomorrow. People traditionally climb the sacred mountain at night so as to see the sunrise, so I will do the same. I checked into the Wathsala Guesthouse where Lasantha brought me and went for dinner in the dining area. A huge thunderstorm passed through during dinner and I was concerned that the rain would prevent me from climbing, but I was assured that the rain would stop by midnight.

I went to bed early, but could not sleep. The rain stopped and when I awoke at 10:00 PM I could not get back to sleep for fear that I would sleep through my 1:30 AM start time. At 1:00 AM, I dressed and walked the half-mile to the base of the mountain.

Adams Peak has a monastery at the summit build around the footprint of Adam. It is a sacred place for many faithful including Buddhists, who flock here in droves. Saturday and Sunday are the most popular nights to climb and this is the height of the season. Last night, I heard someone say 50,000 people climbed this mountain!

The route to the start is crowded with hundreds of stalls selling food, souvenirs and religious relics. All are open 24 hours a day. I started climbing at 1:30 AM. The first two hours was an easy pace through commercial stalls on both sides of the path. The entire way is lit and I would guess that people climb the mountain at night not only to see the sunrise, but also to avoid the heat of the day. I passed hundreds of people; young, old and sick. I could count the number of westerners on one hand. Everyone was in a good mood, but of course, no one was speaking English so I have no idea what they were saying.

At 3:30 AM I reached the main staircase – the start of 6,000 concrete steps wide enough for six people, and came to a complete halt. Thousands of people, as far as I could see up the mountain, were on the stairs and they were hardly moving. I would often spend five minutes in a single place waiting for the throng ahead of me to move up one step. It took five hours and extraordinary patience to climb the final mile of steps.

When I reached the top, I removed my hat and shoes and passed into the temple to see Adams footprint. To my dismay, the alleged footprint was covered with money offered by the pilgrims and all I could see was a big pile of cash. I resisted the urge to ask one of the monks to brush the money aside so I could see the footprint, and headed down.

By 10:30 AM I was back at my guesthouse where I ate the other pineapple Nihal had given me, showered and checked-out. Lasantha drove me three hours north to the ancient city of Kandy where I checked into The Swiss Hotel. Lasantha made several suggestions as to what I could do tonight in Kandy but I was too tired from the climb and decided to stay indoors.

Monday after breakfast Lasantha gave me a tour of Kandy. We started at ‘The Temple of the Tooth’. This is where a tooth of Lord Buddha is kept sealed away under seven sarcophaguses of gold and silver. Although there is much evidence that the original tooth has been destroyed several times, it clearly has tremendous statue amongst Buddhists; akin to the Christian ‘Shroud of Turin’. The temple was recently bombed in 1998 by Tamil Tigers seeking to destroy the tooth because they do not believe it is real. Every August, Kandy becomes a Mecca for Buddhists and tourists alike who come to witness ten nights of festivities during which a replica of the tooth is paraded around the town in an elaborate elephant caravan.

After the temple, I went to a gem factory, which had an interesting account of how gems are mined and jewelry is made. Then I went to the Royal Botanical Gardens, which feature over 4,000 varieties of trees, as well as orchids, flowers and other plants. By noon I had returned to the hotel, checked out, and then went to type my journal. This afternoon I will go to Sigiriya.

Along the way we stopped in Matale at a Herb & Spice Garden. Although clearly for tourists, the tour and demonstration proved to be quite interesting. It is sad that many of the businesses like this and the jewelry showroom, which are set-up to accommodate bus loads of people at a time, each only had one visitor today.

Late in the day we reached Dambulla in the center of The Cultural Triangle. It was too late to visit The Cave Temple and Lasantha suggested we return in the morning. One of the best things about having a devout Buddhist as a guide is that he knows the location of all the important temples in the country. The down side, however, is that he knows the location of all the important temples in the country. As tomorrow is my last day, and we still have a six-hour drive back to Colombo, I may have to see The Cave Temple another time.

I checked-in to the Hotel Sigiriya and got my first glimpse of the 180-meter granite dome rising out of the jungle floor that I had come to climb. The hotel offers ayurvedic herbal treatments and I immediately went for a massage. The massage therapist was still an apprentice, but the interesting part of the treatment was the table – stainless steel and probably more suitable for an autopsy.

Nevertheless, at the end of an hour my cadaver had been revived. Dinner was a buffet in the dining room where I saw more tourists eating than during the last three weeks combined.

Tuesday I ate early and Lasantha got me to the rock before 7:00 AM. Sigiriya is a natural rock dome fortified by King Kassapa over seven years commencing in 487 AD. Abandoned after his death it was briefly reoccupied by monks who destroyed many of the beautiful frescos of half-naked women.

I hired a local guide who showed me around as I slowly climbed the 1200 stairs to the top. At the steepest part, an ‘Official Sigiriya Helper’ also appeared to hold my arm and show me where to step in anticipation of the inevitable tip. As a major World Heritage Site, UNESCO is reconstructing parts of the site including the Lion Gate area. There are mountains of brick stacked up in this area all of which has been carried up one-by-one.

I was down by 9:00 AM, purchased a few souvenirs, returned to the hotel to shower and checked-out. To break-up the long ride back to Colombo, we stopped in Pinnawala to visit the Elephant Orphanage, a popular spot with about 60 elephants including many calves. We reached Colombo at 4:30 PM, retrieved the suitcase I had left at the Hilton, and drove out to The Garden Hotel near the airport.

I paid Lasantha, who was as happy with his tip as I was with his service. I spent the evening writing and getting ready for my time in France where I will go tomorrow.