November 26th, 2005 - Hikkaduwa - Pierre and Quentin

Early this morning, the air was cool, after the torrential rains and the night storms, the plants in the garden were watered and relaxed, and the innocent light played on the marble leaves…

Louis and Betty, from the of "Plongeurs du Monde", left again; they will return from the 20th until the 28th of January for a nice program focused on the preservation of the underwater environment and an introduction to diving for the children from the villages …..to exorcise the sea. They still need assistance and support to round off their budget: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/plongeursdumonde. They signed an agreement with the Centre PADI Poséidon in Hikkaduwa, and prepared everything for their return …

Yesterday, we again brought children to the Apollo Hospital of Colombo. Awiska's medications are having very good results, she will go back in three weeks for new tests; Devinda will be operated on December 14th for the arm; Irushi, the small hydrocephalic girl has three months of treatment ahead of her - we are searching for sponsorship for her treatment; two other small girls have eye problems; finally a new-born is also going to be operated on, later, following a difficult birth which stretched the arm..……we welcomed them on their return with their families from the hospital, night time, another moment of emotion with these tired but relieved faces …

The trawler "Rully/Sète/Plongeurs of the World" broke down on the open sea, two days out of port. It was helped by another Green Hope trawler, the "Secouristes sans Frontières ". While towing, the two trawlers were able to catch nearly 2000 kg of fish. Tomorrow, at the same time, the three trawlers will take again the sea... The season is so bad that it is necessary to set out without a break to find enough fish. On account of the monsoon, the catamarans had to wait at sea until late in the night, to return to the port...

Cécile, from Radio France, et Anne-Marie, Cecil, from Télérama, are with us since yesterday. With a gentle attention, they listened to us telling the history of Green Hope. We like to speak about this magical chain of solidarity, thanks to the website, and about the life in the villages: You will be able to find Green Hope on the programs of Radio France, and on their website - radiofrance.fr - from December 19th …

Stéphanie and Christian, from France3, are also coming back to see us, one year after the Tsunami; we shall visit pre-schools, boats, cooperatives, houses, the future Stadium and tell all about the screenings and training programmes….

Two nights ago, late, we have heard the small steps of insects. Surprised by this unusual noise, we went up quietly onto the terrace on the roof. While all were asleep, one of our group is planting a Carnations of India bush in the garden. We look at his solitary and measured work, perennial gestures of man and plant….images of peace to fall asleep with …

November 22th, 2005 - Hikkaduwa - Pierre and Quentin

A lot of movement with Green Hope, these two days! Thierry and Maud left yesterday morning after the first screening for diabetes. When they get back to France, they will send us what is needed for the few diagnosed cases... Once again, we were amazed to discover the gift of oneself without stinting and the effectiveness of short and targeted missions.

Jean-Christophe left us this early morning, effectively still night time. He returns to France with many new illustrations and interesting contacts for the next Festival. He hopes to return in February... we hope for it also..

Louis, president of " Plongeurs du Monde " and Betty arrived yesterday, their paths could have crossed with Thierry and Maud.....A short stay to focus their end of January project : a free introduction into diving for the children of the villages, discovering fauna and flora, cleaning the beaches and the nets lost in the sea which imprison and kill the fauna...

The two pre-classes at Pathuwatha are progressing rapidly, this morning the roof was almost completely on and work begun on the interior walls of the bigger class... the inscriptions are finished for the next school year; thanks to the new classes we will be able to accommodate 70 children. We have a new teacher for the next school re-entry. She is called Ranjula, 27 years old, has just finished her studies as a teacher and learned the Montessori method which we practise in the pre-schools... bodily expression, song, gestures related to words, working with your hands.....

Ranjula	Diabetes screening

This morning, we visited the classes at Peraliya... the school was deserted... There was an announcement of a new tsunami, rumours run wild; it is said that there was a new high wave yesterday on the north-eastern coast...
The day after tomorrow, Asanka sets out with four children for consultations in Apollo Hospital; two children who have problems with their eyes, the hydrocephalous small girl, and Awiska for the continuation of her treatment about which we already spoken in the Diary.....

We are going to take responsibility for a small girl one of whose kidneys does not function any more. Her father is no longer with her and her mother does not have sufficient resources for the treatment...

After one day of sun, again the rains which just will not go away. This morning the sky is been heavy and full..... strange, all the seasons upside-down... since the tsunami something is out of synch...

November 19 - Hikkaduwa - Pierre and Quentin

This morning, with Maud and Thierry, we continued the diabetes screening and the free consultations. After Patuwatha, and Seenigama, this morning was Katukoliya. Tomorrow morning we will review the cases and determine suitable treatments....... and already our friends will leave, after one week conducted in difficult conditions... A sincere thank you to them.

We still have projects in mind to which we are very attached, like the College of Art, but also a Centre of Formation in the essential tools with are needed for success here, English and Information Technology, as well as a family planning centre and a blood transfusion centre...We are hopeful that the sale of the book, the celebrations at the end of the year, and the first anniversary of the Tsunami on December 26 will bring new donations to continue the programmes of Green Hope...

November 18th - Hikkaduwa - Pierre and Quentin

It is the Prime Minister, from red and blue party, the parties of the left, who has won election, by a narrow margin... Taking the road of Galle, one has the impression of a large town in France on the 15th of August .... the services of the green party, the Elephant, have set up shop... the sale of alcohol is still prohibited, the police force is everywhere, armed... impossible to foresee what will happen. We live in a country of tempting sensual sweetness where violence is never far away.

Along with Jean-Christophe, we met with Susila at the end of the afternoon. We have had many requests for the advanced course in English and will open a second class. We repeat again the huge generosity of the Côte Fleurie, the Communes, of course, but also the associations, like chars à voile, who organized a competition to support Green Hope. We need really these initiatives to continue the work... we have still not received any official assistance from France, nor from any Non-Governmental Organisation.
Enrica, with the Swiss delegation, is organizing in Geneva on the 30th an evening of support for Green Hope which looks like being a big success.

November 17th - Hikkaduwa - Pierre and Quentin

This morning, mobile health centre for the screening of diabetes and free consultations in Seenigama.

This area which has had its share of troubles is always discouraging with its wooden shacks, dogs in corners, and tent canvases all torn, all abandoned…….with all the sponsors banners…..donating but how..…..and donating what? An interim solution, with little respect for the dignity, the culture, and traditions, which are already themselves damaged… and in the end it becomes intolerable.

Wooden huts of the wrong size, done in haste to fulfil the need for reports, with few windows, made with damp wood, poorly aired: they act as breeding grounds for bacteria and for bronchitis, arthritis, and skin infections...

Here, nobody would build like that. They are suited neither to the heat, neither to the sun or to the rain, nor to the constant moisture.

Today is a peculiar day, the presidential election... this evening, as per usual a curfew... the sale of alcohol is prohibited since yesterday... everywhere an oppressive calm. Passing through the deserted streets, one can hear the televisions turned up load, the doors are closed, everyone waits... all through the night the results will be released and the forecast is for a tight race…for the final results it will be necessary to wait until tomorrow...

November 15th, 2005 - Hikkaduwa - Pierre and Quentin

This morning, we laid the first stone of the future Stadium, which we are rebuilding thanks to the help of one of Green Hope's partners.

This event, which was unusual for the Community of the communes, was attended by the mayor of Hikkaduwa, the President de la Community, and the mayor of Dodanduwa, - a splendid meeting since, thanks to this sports initiative, it brought together the representatives of the conservative green party and the red and blue socialist-communist party. There was a very large attendance of notables, young persons, many local people, who pointed out with pleasure that it was possible to meet together, two days before the presidential elections, on a united project and to forget about the election campaign for a moment …

On our arrival, the children, all dressed in white, greeted us with leaves from the Bo tree, the tree associated with Buddha, and of garlands of marzipan flowers. We were all very emotional in this sacred occasion, and by the impressive organization which had been set up, a palm pavilion, bunches of flowers, pastries…. they had worked since the early morning.

We laid down hollow stones and covered over with cement to protect the spices and tea. The Stadium will be finished on February 25th and we hope that our partner will be able to make the trip for the opening…

Clair and Noria, two "Greenhopiennes", left us after a long delightful visit of three days. They had brought us the teddy bears which we passed on to the children in every pre-class, and educational equipment which we will guard carefully for the next start of the school year in January and even some euros collected in their Company. A nice meeting!

With our friends, and Thierry and Maud from Trouville, we began the diabetic screening yesterday in the first village. This morning we examined 93 persons and deferred several cases to which we shall return at the end of the week. In this difficult pre-election difficult period, we are operating from a jungle mobile health centre. We check out villages in advance, in the afternoon, and then come back to get set up early in the morning directly among the residents, telling them beforehand to be fasting …

We have to end on a sad note: we have learnt this morning of the death of the mother of Sophie who carried out screening, and of Nicole from Seenigama. We had met their mother during our tour in France and always keep the loving memory of moments shared together in her sweet little home overlooking a valley in Savoy. We remember this exceptional woman, with a strong desire to live, wise and willing, so nice. To their family, and to their father who gave Green Hope his box of visual screening tools which we use here, and to all their friends, we send the expression of our most sincere grief …

to our beloved friend

November 14th 2005 - A Message from Fabienne

Account of my stay in Sri Lanka from 22 Oct. to 5 Nov. 2005

It is already a week since our return and the images of Sri Lanka have not left me….

Such as the hectic life that one finds on arrival, faces which brighten with a big smile as soon as one meets them, this unbelievable traffic and the muggy heat of the end of the monsoon. There is the azure of the sea and the huge coconut trees which appear very quickly as soon as one succeeds in crossing Colombo and as soon as one gets onto the A2 which goes along the coast.

Then a sudden silence and our faces freeze: the coast still carries the visible signs of December 26th, 2004 …

Of course, we had known it, of course, we had seen the pictures, but the reality gripped us by the throat: so many disembowelled houses, so much foundations without walls, so many wooden shacks and tents in the mud, so many signs of instability still. Reconstruction will take years …

Afterwards, lots of meetings, lots of exchanges with the Sinhalese. How did they survive the arrival of the Waves? How did they get out and save their neighbours? How did they search for the missing persons in this devastated coast? What remains of their homes, their businesses, of their memories? What is their future after this disaster?

To speak, to listen to them telling, it still helps them get over the trauma even ten months afterwards. " I felt my heart stop in my chest when I began to look for my sister and what I tried to get by bike to Gall where she laws living. There were so much destruction and deaths everywhere. " said one man whom I met on the street …

The evidence of European helps is numerous and whole quarters are "sponsored" by the Germans, the Spanish, the Swedes, the Swiss, etc. We see only one city with Muslim majority helped by Kuwait.

The UNHCR tents and the tanks for water are dotted along the road.

Most are living in wooden shacks 15 square metres and it is rare to find those who have correct living conditions. The rains, even if this is the end of the monsoon season, are strong and violent. Everything is saturated, respiratory infections or skin infections are numerous. Most of the accommodation is temporary but the temporary risks becoming much longer for the poorest, for those who lost everything and who do not benefit from governmental or humanitarian help.

Green Hope, life in the schools. november 2005 - pictures by Fabienne.

novembre 11th 2005 - Hikkaduwa - Pierre et Quentin

The ruined home is in the jungle. You get to it along a narrow road between rice fields, then by following the wall of a huge ownership belonging to a foreigner. They say that he lives alone, all locked up, with fifteen guard dogs …
The smell leads you to the small piece of ground. It rained so much, rain upon rain that everything is turned to muck where we slide and get stuck …

We are on the small plot: a big majestic tree and in the pots of destiny are hollowed out cockles; a garden which seems so precious and fragile, where we see some little shoots of tender green, some little flowers in lively colours …

The future home is marked out by stakes and white thread which protects the happiness to come.

The mother places the hollow stone filled with spices and with rice. A neighbour accompanies her with one shovelful of red cinder where incense is burning.

The storm still growls like a menacing dog and the heavy air is saturated like a low sky made of tin, a veiled light green of grey from which streaks of purple emerge, a heavy silence …

The women bustle about around the well, prepare tea, pastries, welcoming the neighbours who bring their gifts along hidden paths through the deep green of the jungle. During this time, the men, dripping wet from the sweat and the rain, dig continuously, carrying the heavy foundation stones…

In the middle, on a nice branch, rest the fruits of coconut trees for fruitfulness, and a bag of rice for prosperity …

In this murmured language almost like a litany, or breathing in and out, we can only get a few words. We can make out the ordinary words of the men working. And thus passes this ancient, calm and wise time, from the foundation of a house, to the solid walls standing under the protection of a roof, without counting the ongoing effort needed to raise the home …

The little brother contemplates the building site as if it is a magic trick ... We will bring him on a forthcoming trip to the hospital, his eyes are damaged by the gleam of the candle, doing his homework…we are going to install electricity.

With his two sisters and his older brother, he is now reassured - His friends in Europe will take care of them, and their studies, for the long term…..

The mother	Little brother

In this morning, in a lost little corner at the ends of the earth, our peace and consolation are the hope realised by this widowed mother whom has seen a life of misery as she sat down on a chair very close to the foundations; at last some rest for her and her children….. and we are happy to dream with her about what tomorrow will be like …

10 novembre 2005 - Hikkaduwa - Pierre et Quentin

Tomorrow morning, at dawn, the foundations of the nearby house which the monsoon had destroyed will be marked out…..the storm did not too any problem knocking it down ….some inter-twined branches, a tiny room where five people lived, sleeping one up against the other, or even on mats on the ground …

By chance we heard about it, that these friends lived in this unacceptable manner….. We are going to rebuild a firm structure, with two rooms, a corner kitchen…..and more…some dignity …

"Because sight, you see, has its limits. The more deeply observed world wants to thrive through love.
The work of seeing is done, now is the time to work with the heart" Rilke.

The last night of mud, and already new hope ……both new classes of Patuwatha are almost ended, and the carpenter starts work on the roof.

Patuwatha school

…
On the 15th, at 9 h 41, work will begin on the foundations of the stadium. Three working months will be needed ….. The big celebration of the opening will take place at the end of February, …all of the area is already talking about it …

From Monday, almost everything will be closed, schools, public buildings. On the 17th the presidential elections will take place. Results will be out the 18th, without doubt it will be tight, between the conservatives, the greens, and the united left, the reds. We know, having already lived through it, that the country is going to come to a halt during this week, so we try to get the most done before Saturday.…

On Saturday, Thierry and Maud arrive to carry out diabetic screening in the villages. We will also have the pleasure of meeting them, sharing moments together, introducing them to our works which they know about only through the website and in which they have participated so much along with all our friends in Normandy …

"It is necessary to feel the roots and the earth itself.
You must be able at any given moment to put your hand on the earth as the first man did … " Rilke

November 5th 2005 - Hikkaduwa - Pierre et Quentin

The home seems very empty. Carole and Frederick have gone back to Chambéry, we miss them, we enjoyed liked the shared evenings, after the hard days we are having at present, this fevered time of autumn, meeting with them, talking about our meetings. In some ways they are still a bit here. We are going to give out reading glasses in the villages and live on the moments of emotion, like this morning, when an old woman could read again after four years …It's a nice program, conceived and set up by Sophie and our deputation from Chambéry!...

In the evening other friends left. They had come loaded with presents and educational toys for the pre-schools. They will be back …

Now, we are preparing for the visit of Thierry and Maud from Trouville sur Mer for a screening of diabetes and then, some days afterwards, Louis, president of Plongeurs du Monde, comes to prepare an exciting programme which will take place in February, about respect for the environment …

Set aside your dates for the end of July/start of August. Our Idea for a organised trip to coincide with the next Green Hope Festival is taking shape…..12 days of which 5 will be with us to visit our projects, the schools, Women's Workshop, the fishing cooperative, and a barbeque with the fishermen on the seafront: Then on to Kataragama the holy city, the Park of Yala, Bandarawela and the tea plantations, Kandy, the big festival of Perahera, Sirigiya, and lastly two days by the sea in Negombo with a possible visit to Colombo. Nothing is fixed but we are working on it, so that the cost will be as low as possible - the flight, transfers, breakfast, evening meal all included. More to follow …

On the fishing boats...

We have just received the official letter from the Sri Lankan government agreeing to the reconstruction of the stadium. As always, we waited to be given the auspicious date given by the monks to begin work on the foundations. The work will be finished at the end of February, the beginning of March.

The two new pre-school classes at Patuwatha are flying up, they will soon be finished. In the mornings, they will be occupied by the pre-schoolers, on Saturdays afternoon by free lessons of traditional dance, and will allow us organize meetings, slide-shows …

This morning, we finalised details of the creation of a small Internet class in the school on the side of the sea. So the pupils and teachers will be able to start to learn about computer science and communicate with the Collège Barbara Hendrix in 'Orange. We sent them the drawings from the children in Orange and are going to send back the replies from the pupils of the school at the end of November. Work will be fully finished for the next start of the school year, at the beginning of January.

Tomorrow, we have meeting with a deputation from "Habitat for Humanity". We shall introduce them to the pre-schools, hoping for assistance which will complement the fund from the Ecoles de la Côte Fleurie.

Presidential elections approach. Posters and meetings everywhere, Schools will be closed from 12 till 21 November. A curfew is also in place. Daily life will be subjected to the consequences of a tense political situation …

November 4th, 2005 - Hikkaduwa - Pierre and Quentin

We have such good news we cannot wait to tell you... We have just learnt that a small week-old girl, who we had transported by ambulance to Colombo, between life and death due to a malformation of the heart, which by rights should have killed her, after five hours open-heart surgery, and several days of anxious wait, has just opened her eyes and smiled..... She is well.

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