Some of Tilly's photos

Team 2 and 3 Thursday

Heather.

Well today has been really interesting.   Sophie and I visited a Pre School which would like to come under the umbrella of Ocean Stars  The teachers were really interactive with the story of We’ re all going on a Bear Hunt, and the Hokey Cokey, Samba, colouring, etc.

Lunch was again curry which appeared out of nowhere.  It was good to be a guest of honour complete with garland at the local school, the samba band led us in to the evening’s cultural exchange.  Dinner was again curry. Cases are packed ready to travel to Colombo tomorrow.

Dan:

Another different day for me, meeting the District Chair in Batticoloa and then onto the school for a chance to see the sports day and to distribute pens and pencils to the students. I demonstrated my lack of ability to speak Tamil in the Tamil class!  In the afternoon, we went to the Cultural evening.

It’s been a wonderful few days here and looking forward to meeting the teachers and going off to Colombo tomorrow.

Emma, Tilly, Mike:

Today we went to Kannarkurum to visit an Ocean Stars pre-school. Cellotape Mike came with us again today!  The journey wasn’t as eventful as other days – no floods today thankfully! We did spot a lot of wildlife today; we saw an eagle swoop up and eat a snake, a spotted deer that looked like Bambi, and lots of butterflies!  

The school had a fantastic playground – we even had a play on the swings! The teachers were fabulous and very engaged, and Rameesh was hugely helpful, making clouds and flowers to add to our Bear collage.

The kids were hugely excitable today and especially loved the bubbles. All round, a very enjoyable day.

Afterward school finished, we sat and ate a lovely prepared lunch. The fish and coconut curry was extra tasty!

Jill:

I woke this morning to a wonderful glass of hot milk and a tea bag to wake me up.  Off on my last visit to a preschool here in Sri Lanka, and I enjoyed my time.  It’s been great to be on a bear hunt, and I’m still not scared!  I visited a school on Ocean Stars’ waiting list, so it was nice to be able to encourage them.  I loved the way we were escorted into this evening’s event by the Samba band.  

Amali, Dan and Mike visit Thirrukovil

Thirrukovil nursery is the furthest away from Batticaloa, meaning that our alarms went off at 5.30 to leave at 6. The early start was worthwhile though as the kids were full of energy as we arrived and kicked off with a warm up and the 'bear hunt'. We played the hokey cokey, sleeping lions and ladders, which went down well and then did a section of contemporary art, where the kids used glitter, crepe paper, paints and felt pens to construct their works. In the afternoon we met the recipients of the gift catalogue, who received 4 bikes and a sewing machine between them. A lady who received a sewing machine earlier on in the year came to show us some of the pillow cases that she has been making. She's now in a position to start paying back the sewing machine so that another machine can be purchased. Now we've prepared for our final day of pre-school teaching. We've had to reschedule the visits a bit as a few of the pre-schools are unfortunately marooned due to the rains.

Sophie and Dilanee wade through water to reach Sorewamunai preschool – 27.10.15

An eventful morning started with a walk in torrential rain to today’s preschool, accompanied by a parent who met us with umbrellas for all and refused to allow us to carry any of our bags. The morning ended with a motorbike rescue from the water sodden paddy fields surrounding the preschool (as the roads were too flooded and damaged for the bus!). But in between we spent 3 hours with the most wonderful, happy, and grateful children looking adorably smart in their miniature ocean stars uniforms and rucksacks.

At the end of the morning, the tiny girls and boys then walked off home delighted and clutching their gifted teddy bears – many of them headed to a home which may have been a flooded, one room hut up to a few kilometres walk away, but still they smiled and waved back at us as they left after a fun morning of activities.

This has been the highlight of the trip so far for me - seeing each little face light up with every new activity and every gift they received. It was so touching to observe the amazing work of Dilanee and Ocean Stars in providing these children with education, resources, a hot meal every day at school and a chance to have fun and socialise with other children – all of which would not otherwise be possible for them. Such an eye-opening experience!

Sophie's thoughts on D&D evening - 27.10.15

We have just returned from a wonderful evening workshop with sponsor children of adults with hearing impairments and all their families, some of whom had traveled up to 3 hours to be with us. Dilanee explained how for many of these families, the yearly Ocean Stars workshop held for them is the main treat they look forward to in their year. And for some of the team (including Heather) it was an opportunity to meet in person the child they have been supporting through their schooling. This was so lovely to see!

The evening got off to a slow start, with some fiddly activities of scoobie-making, loom bands and finger knitting, as well as balloon-making and face painting! But soon enough all the families were laughing, smiling and enjoying themselves. The highlight of the evening for me was the largest hokey-cokey I've ever seen and then a very active samba workshop which Amali and I taught. We finished with a very original samba in the dark with glow sticks!

Finally, we enjoyed some delicious food and then gifts were given to all the families, including jewellery, hair clips,  pens and sweets. A big thank you to my mum Kerry Sowden for donating all the jewellery and hair accessories which the children and adults absolutely loved!

Sophie and Heather visit Kanthapody Primary school - 26.10.15

Our first day began with a bus trip to a very remote village in Batticoloa, where Kathapody Primary School stood amongst paddy fields swollen with rain water. But we were met by 100 smiling faces and a wonderful warm welcome with flower garlands from the students and teachers. And their little smiles stayed throughout story time, samba dancing workshops, games and bubble time. Then the teachers were delighted to receive a pile of exercise and texts books from Bagshot Lea Primary School and a collage of photos from Dilanee and John’s previous trip to the school, which the children admired with delight. We then ended with the children singing and dancing to their own songs to say thank you to us for visiting them. What a wonderful school and such kind and grateful teachers and children!

Heather, Mike and Dan after their trip to Mandur

Heather:Went to a primary school Monday and all the children were so pleased; to see Ocean Stars.We had a wonderful welcome and received garlands made of fresh flowers, so kept coughing all day.  Primary children loved the story of the bear hut and enacted it wonderfully well.

Today we went to pre school, where they enjoyed the story and coloured the teddy bears which we spent ages cutting out.  This evening we went to the sponsor evening which was greatly enjoyed by everyone.`

Mike Monday 26^th

We went of to Mandue play school1, it took a little time due to get there due to the floods, I was ok I got a lift on the back of a motor cycle, Jill had to wade through 2/3 feet of water.  The lesson at the play school was fairly uneventful.  In the afternoon we started work on painting the nursery.  We repaired a hole in the roof so we only had 2 inches of water to stand in.  The painting went well particularly when we enlisted the help of the locals in deed we were so successful at getting help, I found myself supervising.  The village came to look at us, I don’t know if they were amazed at our work or our incompetence.  I am know known at White Beard in the village.  The whole experience was really good fun, an experience not to be missed, with enough stories to last a life time.

Dan:Monday and Tuesday

Eventful trip to Mandur: involving an intrepid walk across the road that had become a river in the heavy rain.  Arrived and completed a successful bear hunt, we weren’t scared but one of the children who was new definitely was.  Painted the preschool building, tried to repair roof. 

Tuesday morning spent in Mandur with the local Church.  Well fed!

Tilly and Emma visit Mandur

After an adventurous journey to Mandoor 1 getting stuck half way by a flooded bridge, off the van we got, rolling our trousers up to get ‘stuck in’ and make our way through the paddy fields. Picked up on the other side by a tuk tuk, we dropped Amali, Gill and Dan off at Mandoor 2 and then finally reached our school. We were welcomed by some beautiful garlands and smiling faces. We had some lost time to catch up on so we started with circle time and introduced ourselves and teddy Bigfoot. We then had a hokey cokey singalong to break the ice, followed by the bear hunt story – they loved the swishy swashy actions (which brought back some memories of our morning). We had a small break and then moved on to making hats, which was brilliant, some children got stuck in and others were very particular about which colours to use and where to put the gems. We then measured up and created their beautiful hats. Without wasting any time, we sketched out the collage and collectively created the bear hunt book themes and stuck it on the wall, with lots of group photos. Relieved we finally got there, we loved our morning with the children and are now really looking forward to doing it all over again tomorrow, hopefully with a less adventurous journey!

Sofia's first blog post!

Sofia: Personally, I think the highlight of the trip was visiting the spice garden and seeing lots of wonderful things or the elephant rides which brought new experiences into my life. The hotels have been much different to the ones I have been to before, very basic but lovely.

Trip to Mandur Pre-schools!

Today Amali, Gill, Mike, Nathalie, Emma and Dan went to Mandur to visit 2 long standing Ocean Stars pre-schools. Ironically, as we went on to read 'we're going on a bear hunt' to the children, we hit a hurdle...'Uh Oh' and got caught up in a 'swishy swashy' river on the way, which had flooded the road making it unpassable. We had to abandon the van for a motorbike and 2 tuc tucs to cross the flooded road.

We arrived a bit late after the journey but went straight in to reading the 'bear hunt' which went down well with lots of different actions. Highlights of the day include colouring the hats, playing sleeping lions and the hokey cokey!

We've packed our resources and looking forward to an action packed day tomorrow!! Pics to follow :)

SUNDAY 24.10.15 - slightly out of order! sorry!!

Heather – Well we have finally made it! Lost Boarding pass was found so here I am in a lovely hotel. Unique. Bottom sore after 11 hours on the plane followed by 10 hours in a mini bus. We are all in good spirits. Looking forward to the week ahead.

Mike and Jill:

We had a good flight, long and cramped. The flight arrived early and while most of the baggage came through quickly unfortunately we were missing one bag.  Sorry to those who donated materials but there seems very little chance of getting the bag back. We rested up on Saturday with a gentle walk, before we meet up with Dilanee and Heather.  The drive across Sri Lanka was long, 8 hours but we were in good spirits, lifted by seeing an elephant on the side of the road.  We had a nice reception with flower and a meal. We are now off to bed for an early start tomorrow, 6 o’clock.

Batti7562

Dan: Having convinced Sri Lankan Immigration that Mike and Jill were not my parents, the rest of the journey went smoothly.  We’ve now travelled across from West to East in glorious sunshine and spectacular rainfall.  We’ve avoided cows, dogs, lizards and sunstroke.  Good curry and rice at every stop, with a wonderful welcome from all.

Diana: We waited four hours for the Ocean Stars Team to arrive. We are very happy to see them. They all have smiles on their faces. We hope we are going to have a good week.

Pooja: This I my first experience of Ocean Stars and I am very happy to meet everyone.

Team 2 visit Trincomalee - Vellaimanal pre school

Natalia and Sofia . Today we went to Vellaimanal, in Trinco. We were given a great reception by the smallest children playing the instruments that Ocean Stars donated last year. They were all so excited! I was really pleased to meet all my family’s sponsored children. We did some activities at the playgroup and then we met the sponsored children families. There were delighted to receive all the presents we brought. We had a lovely lunch prepared by Janapdeen’s wife. I ate with my fingers for the first time. Oh and so did Sofia ! We are now relaxing under a tropical rain

Fleet Methodist church visits Mandur Methodist Church

Impressions

Heather:  Today was quite special.  Up at 6.00 am to leave for Mandur  Methodist

Church, the Church where Fleet is setting up a link.   The weather was dreadful, and the rain was heavy.   We were late arriving, but were made to feel so welcome, and we joined in the service  with gusto.  Another exciting day awaits us tomorrow/

Dan: A trip out to Mandoor over bridges and avoiding paddy fields/snakes/cows.  It was special to be so included within the service and to contribute with an under-rehearsed FMC song.  Fortunately, no recording was made.   After a chance to hear about Mandoor Methodist Church’s life, we shard in lunch at the Manse.  I especially enjoyed the trip on the motorbike around the village with the Minister.  Back to Mandoor tomorrow to do some painting with Mike….

Mike.  We have sorted our resources for tomorrow, when go back to Mandur to a play group, all we have to do is deliver the lesson.  We went for dinner, transport was a tuctuc, we are getting 3 in the back.  We have purchased some paint and apparently we are decorating the church pre-school.

Heather in a tuc-tuc

Inside Mandur Pre-school

 The Manur Manse

We'll be in touch again tomorrow!

First of the departures to Sri Lanka

AMALI AND SOPHIE HEAD OFF TO SRI LANKA

THE FIRST OF TEAM 2 DEPARTS FOR SRI LANKA

THE CALTHORPE PARK TEAM DEPARTED FOR SRI LANKA ON WEDNESDAY MORNING.

Both teams have an exciting 10 days ahead!!

TEAM 2 REFLECT ON THE TRIP AT THEIR LAST

MEETING AND PACKING EVENING

Jill: I am very excited and looking forward to it. I am looking forward to working with the children. I am worried that I might not be fit enough. I am looking forward to interacting with children. It is difficult to imagine the church service in Mandoor. It will be interesting to compare he service with Fleet Methodist Church. I am looking forward to meeting church families. I think people in our team are very supportive.

Heather: I’m looking forward to it in a reserved sort of way. I hope I will be of use. I don’t worry about things. I am looking forward to seeing the children. I have enjoyed the planning meetings. I have enjoyed raising the funds. I have enjoyed every aspect of the trip so far.

Nathalie: I can’t believe the Sri Lanka trip is almost here, I’m so excited!!! I can’t wait to meet all the children and teachers that we’ve heard so much about and in particular I’m looking forward to making the bear collage and reading the book with the children and seeing their faces! I’ve met so many really lovely people in the planning meetings already and can’t wait to meet some more during the trip! Thank you for letting me be part of this amazing work!

Amali: It’s great to be gearing up for another Ocean Stars October trip to Sri Lanka. The team has worked really hard preparing all the lessons and collecting all the resources to take, so now I feel ready to get going! I’m looking forward to seeing all of the pre-school teachers and children and to be sharing the visit with a few good friends this year too!

Sophie: After regularly donating to help the brilliant work of Ocean Stars Trust, I am very excited to finally be travelling to Sri Lanka next week for the first time. Quite a few months of planning have almost come to an end, and I have enjoyed raising money for our trip with a successful car boot sale and a (very tasty) cake sale with the help of my mum and work colleagues. But as well as excitement at the prospect of finally seeing in person the results of 10 amazing years of the work by Ocean Stars Trust, and spending time with the wonderful team, I am also quietly apprehensive. I’m wondering; will the children warm to me, will they enjoy the activities we have in store for them, but most of all will the Ocean Stars school teachers love the Cha Cha Cha as much as I do!!  …..They will be taking part in a dance workshop with me as part of their teacher training if you were wondering!

Anyway, with less than one week to go, most of all I feel privileged to be involved in this year’s trip and cannot wait to try and make just a little difference to the lives of the children living along the East cost of Sril Lanka.

Natalia. How time flies! It seems like yesterday that Sofia and I were thinking to join the team to go to Sri-Lanka. We are even going to do some turism, seeing even some temples and elephant orphanage We are sooo very excited. I can wait to meet my sponsored children. I have seen them grow through photographs and now I am finally going to meet them and their families. I am also very happy to go to the playgroup in Trincomalee. I will bring loads of photos from there to show them to the little ones at my nursery, Buttercups. Sofia and I are counting the days.

Mike: Looking forward to what will be a very different experience.  While Sri Lanka is renowned holiday resort, this trip will give me an experience of the people and culture that no package holiday can give.

Visiting and working in a school will be another first for me, which while I am looking forward to it, does give me some trepidation.

The preparation have been very entertaining, thanks to the great team I am in.

 

 

 

OST TEAM 2 BEGIN THEIR DEPARTURE TO 

SRI LANKA!!

Amali and Sophie: Leave Tuesday 20.10.15
Natalia and Sophia: Leave Wednesday 21.10.15
Nathalie and Emma: Leave Wednesday 21.10.15
Dan, Mike and Jill: Leave Thursday 22.10.15
Dilanee and Heather: Leave Friday 23.10.15

OCEAN STARS SRI LANKA HERE WE COME