15 August 2006

New Place and New Hope

by Shigeko Baba

One and a half years have passed since the great natural disaster, Tsunami. Thanks to your prompt response and continuous support for our activities, Surangani Voluntary Services (BBN) has been working to develop a good educational environment for the children in Vaddawan village in Batticaloa.

It is our great pleasure to announce that the pre-school building and a library (Funded by Japan’s Postal Savings for International Voluntary Aid) are now completed at our children’s educational center, the Blue Bird Nest (BBN). Before this, the children conducted activities in the temporary building or under the trees. However, they now can enjoy learning, reading at the library or just having fun in the clean wide-open space of the new buildings.

We are seeing great changes among the children. They are now more relaxed as there is enough space to work off their energy or to take a rest, unlike in the previous preschool where children were crowded and a little stressed. We see more smiles and hear more laughter among them.

It is also a great development that they have learnt how to use the bathrooms in the public place and have learnt to wait in the cue and wash their hands. In addition, they have learnt to treat public property with due care through the library’s lending system. More than anything, the children have begun to show their keen interest in the books − they now tell us that they want to read more and know more of the world.

Unfortunately, the guerillas are active in this area and the situation has been getting worse since beginning of this year. The people in this village are seeking ways to keep their day-to-day lives. Surangani is a very small NGO, so there are limitations to what we can do. However, we are fully committed to plan and implement our projects. We will continue to work with the people of Vaddawan and the team from BBN to make changes in this village.