Day 139 - 14th September 14

In the evening I return to Janaka's for a final week of volunteering before leaving Sri Lanka. Bel and Rosie are still here, along with a new couple from England, Sarah and Chris, who are fresh out of university.

Day 140 - 15th September 14

It's a manic morning with the street kids. We play a variety of games and manage to keep their attention for the majority of the duration. We sing and dance the Okey Kokey and play a simplified game of Bingo. Near the end of the session, I find a bowl of plastic vegetables and play a game whereby if they can name both the vegetable and its colour I will throw the vegetable to them. They're such excitable, easily distracted kids that I'm surprised they do not become bored quicker and that they interact well to this game.

I spend the afternoon in the orphanage, playing with the babies.

Day 141 - 16th September 14

At the Elders home, after massaging the women's legs and arms, I play memory with the men. Only two of them are interested, one of whom keeps nodding off while the other nudges him when it's his turn. The first is unable to remember any of the cards he's already turned over, repetitively turning over the same 2 cards.

Rosie and I have a class with the bakery girls today. We choose a simple topic - clothes and colours. After teaching the vocabulary we ask them to come to the front of the class to tell us what they are wearing. They are shy, but all capable of this exercise barring one who struggles to repeat the English words. They spend the 2nd hour fashioning clothes by cutting out the shapes from colourful materials we have found in the cupboards and dressing a model they have drawn onto the paper. They're unclear of my instructions at first but Janaka's 8 year old daughter is able to translate for me. One girl creates a beautiful yellow dress and accessorises her model with bangles, a necklace and a handbag. We sing a slightly ridiculous song with them before they leave that we have found in a book. For one of the verses: 'this is the way I wear my socks, on my feet on my feet, this is the way I wear my socks on my feet today', I manically wave socks around above my head while they look on unimpressed probably thinking I am mentally deranged.

Koeli has been sweet this morning so I've allowed her to join in with the class. She's incredibly intelligent, but she's also a drama queen and I've noticed a potentially spiteful streak. She approached me at dinner one evening, poked me in the cheek and said: 'when are you going home?' Rosie relayed an episode to me that she witnessed: Koeli drew two stick men with huge round bellies, telling Kath and Becky that these were pictures of them, before going on to draw 2 more normal stick men which represented Rosie and Jo. She is too clever not to realise that calling people fat is not acceptable behaviour. I think she just lacks discipline and I expect that her self-assured temperament has emanated from foreign volunteers praising her intelligence and beauty. Perhaps she acts up as she is lacking the attention she needs, with so many people constantly invading her family's personal space and taking her father's time.

Jenny and her parents have returned from their travels and are staying in Galle this evening, so Janaka has invited them all over for dinner. Janaka has a soft spot for Jenny. He says this is because she looks so similar to his sister when she was young. He repeats his speech for her parent's benefit and asks that she do the same. Sadly we were away, but we're led to understand that Jenny's previous speech was incredibly moving. This time her mum also says a few words and thanks Janaka for looking after her little girl.

Day 142 - 17th September 14

Matt has made animal masks for the street kids to decorate today and this occupies the beginning of the class. The teacher is out of hospital and back in the class, but she uses this time to sit back and relax. She's a very sweet, smiley lady and the children are much calmer now that she's around. Matt sings a song that he is surprised I know too from my childhood. 'One big elephant balancing step by step on a piece of string...' I start to balance along the little painted wooden chairs and pull one child up at a time to join me for each new verse. Matt and I wave our arm like a trunk in front of us, but the children are too cool to copy.

We are teaching at the principle's house again today, but to the children under the age of 10. Matt has already prepared a lesson, so I sit back and help when necessary. He is focusing on pronunciation and is explaining the difference between a soft 'c'and a hard 'c'. We leave feeling that at least some of the children have understood. They're young and excitable and more keen to play games than to learn.

Day 143 - 18th September 14

We are sent to a girls school in the morning to help with the special needs children who we will later be swimming with. When we arrive,
all the girls, dressed in pristine white uniform with red sashes, are dancing in the courtyard to a pop song. To the lyrics 'school is fun', they stick their thumbs up as part of their dance, smiling. Nobody pays us any attention as we pass through the gate and stand watching the girls practicing their routines while wondering what we're supposed to be doing. Eventually we locate a teacher who speaks English and informs us we are not needed today. It's a little irritating that no-one thought to inform Janaka this morning that the swimming class had been cancelled, but we use it as an excuse to walk from here into town, to stroll around the fort and have a coffee in Crepeology.

I spend the afternoon at the orphanage and say goodbye to the babies for a final time. Rosie disappears as one of the matrons is feeling ill and pulls her into the room with 4 month old babies to look after. There are 3 other volunteers here today, so at first it's much easier as the ratio of baby to volunteer is far more manageable. But the babies are suffering from diarrhoea as we soon discover. We work together, one or two holding the babies away from the brown mess while another grabs the cloth. 3 babies all simultaneously relieve themselves creating little pools around me. Belinda sees my predicament and throws the cloth to me while holding a baby herself. It has become a bit of an operation.

Belinda is an incredible woman with some really fascinating stories. She was a forensic scientist for years, but the traumatic scenes that she witnessed on a daily basis, began to affect her emotionally in recent years, resulting in a mental breakdown. She eventually won a legal battle against her workplace, but her girlfriend left her when she most needed the support and they have an 8 year old daughter together. She hopes her time in Sri Lanka will assist the healing process.

She's currently writing a book about her experiences as a forensic scientist. I am shocked to hear that she was sometimes sent alone to examine the evidence of a crime scene. She tells us of an occasion where she was investigating a scene in a carpark. It was dark and 3 am and she experienced a sensation as if she was being watched. She later discovered that the perpetrator of the crime was still there hiding behind a vehicle. Itsounds terrifying, but she explains that she became so used to the nature of her work that she stopped experiencing fear. There is one story she relays that I particularly remember: A man had asked an estate agent to show him around a pent house and then to the estate agent's horror he jumped from a window. She tells us that his mouth had hit a ridge while falling. Since he died whilst in middair, his body was completely floppy when he landed. The only damage to his body was two slits from the side of his mouth to his chin, making him look exactly like a ventriloquist doll.

I'm inspired by her openness and by her achievements. She makes and sells her own jewellery (successfully), she fashions handmade surf boards out of wood, she used to be a wedding photographer at the weekends. All this on top of an extremely stressful job.

Day 144 - 19th September 14

All the volunteers take the bus to Colombo today to renew their visas. I take the morning off to sort out issues I have with the bank, using the wifi in Crepeology and enjoying my final crepe.

This afternoon I'm taking my favourite class. Today there are more children than normal, so they are much harder to control. I teach them how to give directions, drawing maps of the areas and roleplay. I play a game using a blind fold while the rest of the class has to direct. But as there are 16 in the class, there is not enough group participation to keep them all entertained and once on their feet waiting around they become restless. A few of the girls disappear into the other room to gossip. Disappointingly, Razna (my favourite student) is amongst them. I discover I am totally lacking in disciplinary skills, so sit down wondering whether we should finish early - it's the end of the day on a Friday. Shazna, who is one of the brightest girls in the class says 'teacher, teacher, please teach us'. We play bananas until the end of class, but I leave feeling disheartened that I lost control of the class and was unable to regain it.

Everyone has returned to Janaka's in time for dinner, before we take tuk tuks to Unawatuna. We drink cocktails and listen to Chris attempting to simplify his PHD topic so we can understand. He was investigating the reasons why, if there's an obstacle in our vision next to something we are going to pick up, we automatically curve our arm around the obstacle rather than moving our arm in a straight line as would still be possible. Happy Banana is Unawatuna's only nightclub - the music is mediocre. Chris and Sarah head home before it closes, but Rosie and I stay and join the guys who work in One Love on the beach. We spend the rest of the evening at One Love, before to our surprise and annoyance we realise the sun is starting to rise. We'd had no intention of staying out so late!

Day 145 - 20th September 14

It's my last day and I relax at Janaka's with the other volunteers, before catching a lift with Dave who is driving to Colombo to meet Mal.

I say goodbye to the four remaining volunteers. Janaka gives me a hug and thanks me for my time. He's a fascinating, inspirational character and it's been interesting hearing his stories. Devastatingly, his parents died in the Tsunami. He was utterly destroyed by his loss, but he harnessed his emotional energy positively and threw himself into helping to rebuild the community. It was this that made him realise that he simply wanted to help others. He still assists in the management of the 5 star hotel which he has a stake in, yet he manages also to run this incredible project. He was given a large piece of land by his mother-in-law and he used the money from the sale of this land to build accommodation for volunteers to live in at the back of his house. Prior to this, he welcomed volunteers into his home, while he chose to sleep on the floor. His home is large and fairly decadent, so he is clearly a successful businessman too.

He tells us he sleeps very little every night, so he has time to complete his daily tasks. He works very hard and is clearly intelligent. He has an incredible memory, claiming to be able to recall the full name of every volunteer who has ever been to stay. He is helpful, generous and caring - nothing is ever too much. He is open to any new ideas and helps to make these ideas become a reality. When Becky suggested they fund a small Buddhist shrine to be built for the Senehasa girls, he organised workers to make this happen. He is persistent and will not give up easily, nor allow himself to become disheartened by the fraudulency and crookedness he constantly witnesses. He tells me he promised his mother not to become involved in politics as she believes all politicians invariably become corrupt. But he seems like such a good man, I wonder if she would have been proved wrong in his case.

I haven't connected with Janaka on a personal level. He's a great storyteller, but he's not so much a conversationalist or a listener, although this may be due to the language barrier. Janaka is used to being praised and I think this fuels his drive to continue to strive for others. He says that every night he remembers the acts of kindness he has performed throughout the day and this is what motivates him to continue working hard and helping those less fortunate.

I can't help but think it must be difficult for his family that he is so busy and that perhaps they sometimes feel a little neglected. Every evening he joins the volunteers for a beer when he could be spending time with his family. We've heard occasional screaming and tantrums emanating from the house at nighttime so we assume that there must be a few problems within his household.

I'm sad to be leaving and genuinely hope to return one day. This place has been made to feel like home and it's been so nice after a long period of travel to have had a base in such a welcoming environment.

I wait at the crossroads just outside Galle for Dave. We arrive in Colombo at 8 and eat some food with Hannah and Mal on the glitzy rooftop bar next to the swimming pool in the hotel they are staying. From the balcony you can see the road that runs along the seafront far below. I'm exhausted so I sleep in their bed for an hour before we leave to catch our plane.

Day 146 - 21st September

We arrive at the airport at 1 in the morning ready for our 3 am flight. At the Spicejet counter, the desk attendant asks us where our Indian visa is. We had understood that it is possible to transit through India. However, our flights include an internal flight, so we will technically be leaving the international airport. Now that the check in desk has opened, it is no longer possible to cancel the flight and receive any kind of refund. This is a big blow as it will dramatically affect my budget. I am angry and frustrated with myself for not researching more thoroughly. Our tour starts the following day, so we have to get a flight to Nepal. The cheapest flight currently available is through Dubai, which we book at the airport and wait. The Spicejet employees have told me I may be able to get a refund for the next flight into Kathmandu from the offices in the airport. I make my way back through security and take a lift up to the offices. The corridors are empty and eerie. I walk past locked doors, each with an airline label. The Spicejet office is not open as was promised, so I have to accept it won't be possible to receive a refund.

Dubai airport is sparkling clean and new. It's a nice space to relax before our next flight, so much so that we almost miss our flight. The flight attendants are calling the girls from Colombo. When we arrive, they ask in a baffled tone, why we are taking a detour through the Middle East on a trip from Sri Lanka up to Nepal.