Update January 2006
It is just over a year ago that I wrote ‘an e mail from 35 000 feet’ written on the plane on our way back from Sri Lanka . Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine the effect that what Sally and I had seen on Boxing Day 2004 would have such an effect on us.
2005 will be a year never to be forgotten for many reasons, the help support and comfort given to us by many people, some of whom we hardly knew, the generosity of our family, neighbours and friends in supporting the Wye Valley Tsunami Fund, the emotional roller coaster from times of deep despair and conflicting thoughts to times of great joy in being able to ‘spread a little happiness’ on our return visits, all this in the addition to the pressure of work and life on the never ending treadmill of life that seems to be the norm for much of the western world.
The building of the road to recovery is nothing short of miraculous. The determination of the Sri Lankan people together with the help given to them by various charities has enabled much of the infrastructure to be rebuilt. The emotional destruction will take much longer to repair.
Everybody who has donated to the fund can take great pride in the knowledge that their donation has helped so much in the aid effort.
Currently the fund total is just under £4000. We hope that donations will continue to be made no matter how small in order that we can continue to support the Dissanayake School for Children with Special Needs in Galle on a long term basis.
What Sri Lanka also needs now is for tourists to return, tourism one of the main sources of foreign income benefits so many people. A place to be recommended, visitors are given a fantastic welcome and a good time is assured.
Sri Lanka is a very special place, Sally and I though this on our first visit in February 2003 and it is even more special to us now.
Please have a look at some recent photograph we took while in Sri Lanka over Christmas and the New Year.
Kelvin and Sally live in the village of Whitebrook Monmouthshire . Kelvin is a Chartered Civil Engineer and has spent all his working life in the construction industry. Sally is an Accountant and Reflexologist
They visited Sri Lanka for the first time in February 2003 and fell in love with the people and the country. They looked forward to a well earned rest in Unawatuna over the Christmas and New Year Holiday 2004, this being their third visit. Arriving late on Christmas Eve they meet friends from previous visits and spent a fantastic Christmas day on the beach. Boxing Day morning was a typical Sri Lankan day. At 8 o'clock it was 80 degrees, cloudless blue sky and an almost deserted white sandy beach being lapped by a crystal clear calm sea. After a swim they returned to the hotel some 350 yards from the beach at 9 o’clock .
The tsunami struck at 9:30
Both witnessed an event that will affect them forever. Parts of the beautiful island and people were destroyed, with only seconds warning, by an event that lasted only a few minutes.
After the wave
In March 2005 Kelvin and Sally returned to Sri Lanka to try and spread a little happiness.
They tracked down Sam a local guy in Unawatuna whom they had been advised to meet as he could tell them how best to help. Sam, his wife Wasanthi , daughters and son were fantastic. They welcomed Kelvin and Sally into their home and lives without reservation and have become trusted friends. They have done so much to help the people from their village that have been affected. With the funds raised by the Wye Valley many more people were helped. People are so grateful to their friends in the Wye Valley for the help we have been able to give.
Sam and his family are completing a number of projects, including decorating school rooms, foods runs to a refugee camp, completing the fitting of the new calipers for the disabled school teachers, organising the fitting of the school intercom system and the provision of musical instruments for Unawatuna School .
“So many people walk around with a meaningless life, they seem half asleep even when they are busy doing things that they think are important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning”
Thank you to our sponsors and all who have assisted with this fund.