From:  Caroline Collins
Date:  Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2005
Subject: "Progress to Date"

Hello and love to all. The latest ............

I'm still 'hanging out' with my best friend in Sri Lanka - Sister Alex (or Whoopi as Martin calls her!) She really is an inspiration to me; I must be going on about her a lot as I'm being the butt of many a joke from Martin and Conny. Martin was due to meet her tonight (in a club) - but he is out of action today as he's picked up some sort of a stomach bug- my poor boy.

Yesterday Sister and I went shopping to resource all the equipment needed for this sewing programme. She took me to places that I would never have known about - and we definitely got the best prices in Galle. Everyone knows her and it seems that everyone loves and respects her. BUT - as I said in the last Email, she is certainly no push-over. She has also taken me to so many poverty stricken places and small communities - much poorer than those I had described in my last trip. Interestingly, she took me to an area that pre-tsunami, was a middle class area. She told me that these people are now the poorest of the poor. They have been overlooked by agencies, NGO's and volunteers because they were not fishing communities and therefore living on the coast. They live in 'half-houses' - in the back streets. These people were used to giving not receiving and now they do not know where to start - mingled with having too much pride to ask.

I have spent a considerable proportion of the funds raised buying eight sewing machines - for three different camps. This will hopefully be the catalyst for some to start re-building their lives, looking towards the future. The names of each family will be put in a bag, as a type of 'Lottery' to determine who will be the actual owners (four families per machine)- but all on each camp will have equal access to it. We are presenting these machines on Thursday to the camps (Mahamodera & Maddawatta) and we're going to have a party to celebrate. It is my view that if there's something to celebrate in the world - particularly during such harsh, morbid times - then we need to make the most of it. I will bring along biscuits, sweets etc and entertain the children with puzzles and songs. Life on these camps is dull and monotonous. There's nothing to do and one day just drifts into the next. However, the longer I am here, the more I realize that some people don't now sleep in their tents at night - but stay with relatives, although they do stay in the camps (their villages and homes) during the days.

Yesterday I also went to Lovegahawatta Camp where I had organized for a delivery of vegetables. Each family (of which there are 57) received a 2kg bag of mixed veg for less than a pound each. It can be very cheap and easy to help in some ways, other ways are much more difficult. Sewing machines and in particular, fishing boats are extortionate comparatively and yet these are the items needed for families to build up and sustain their livelihoods.

I also managed to find myself in an Old Peoples Home - how I don't quite know - very interesting. On the whole it felt like a positive experience for me, except for the 'dying room' as they put it.

There's so much to do here, everywhere I turn I see potential 'mini-projects'. I really do place a great value in simply being here too. Westerners are intriguing to many locals- they love chatting with us, telling us their stories, laughing at our cultural differences and 'Western ways'. It is so easy to find so much to laugh and communicate about even if you only have a handful of words in common. On the other side, there are also the relentless opportunists, constantly trying to get money out of us. At least twice a day I get cornered by 'the milk man' who tries to prize money out of me to buy his babies milk. He is a well known drug user and schemer in the community; his children never receive the milk powder. Times like these are draining - I try and be firm, assertive yet keep people like him 'on side'. I would not like to seriously offend him or one of his mates.

Anyhow, must go now. Oh - We have , of course met up with our amorous tuk-tuk driver 'Kinicky' - who is greatly toned down now that Martin is on the scene!!

Love to all - Enjoy the summer sun, C. x