Leap Sri Lanka  

It has been a great adventure living in Trincomalee and running the Leap programme from here, but now it is time to head home! Yesterday and today were packing/cleaning/editing days: a lot to do in a short time. We have boxed up our extra supplies to give to local schools, and this morning took some costumes, paper and donated science equipment to a local orphanage (thanks to Amy and Mad Science!). Then, the curriculum needed some edits after three weeks' experience, so some time on the computer too. And the final step: packing our own things, and wondering how on earth we fit it all in our suitcases on the way over. Tomorrow we head to Kandy where we hope to catch the last day of the Esala Perahera before making for Colombo. Elephants, here we come!

Jessica looks at students' work.

The Leap final activity is always the most fun: kite making!

Students have a scavenger hunt on the school grounds.

Week 3 wrapped up yesterday with a final Final Ceremony to celebrate yet another highly successful week. I think we had a record turn-our of parents at T/Malagawa school near Kantale. An out-of-season rainstorm added to the chaos a little and raised the ambient noise level under the tin roofs, but everyone had a good time and the cooler weather was appreciated under our sarees! Will post some photos soon - now off for a quick visit to Valaichenai before we wrap things up in Trinco and head for home.

Off for another week! With Jessica on board and ready to go, we met 3 new classes of students this morning in a village near Kantelai, about 12 km outside of Trincomalee. It is a bumpy hour on the road to get there in the morning, but the kids were excited to see us, and to give up a week of their vacation for some English and science. A good day to start things off - the Leap Camp is starting to feel like a comfortable routine now!

In Padavi Sripura, we were hosted at the local Buddhist temple.

Week 2 of Leap 2010 has wrapped with great success. Teaching 4 classes simultaneously for the first time, David, Amy, Anna and myself headed inland to the remote region of Padavi Sripura for a week-long Leap program in the town of Palugaswanguwa. Students from 3 different schools gave up a week of their summer holiday to join the program, supported by 4 terrific local teacher translators. We were well-received, and had many great discussions with the local school principal and head English teacher, both very involved throughout the week. David and Amy leave tomorrow, but are being replaced by Jessica who joined us last night!

It's Sunday afternoon, and we are all packed and ready to head to the northern tip of Trincomalee district, to teach 4 Leap camps in Padavi Sripura. We have had a busy weekend here in town: organizing, buying and packing supplies for the week, as well as some R&R on the beach and a great trip to look for blue whales this morning. We didn't see any, but saw dolphins and had a lovely morning on the water. Padavi Sripura is remote and inland - will be a whole different experience from this week, but we are all excited for the challenge. Probably no internet, though - so look for news at the end of the week!

With many thanks to our great co-teachers: Gowri and Jeevahan!