Update September 2018 – Sinhala Teaching

SINHALA TEACHING PROJECT UPDATE

The amazing good news is that we now have 150+ children benefiting from our growing Sinhala Teaching Project. From a small beginning—just one lady, Amudha in Lal’s village of Kayankerny teaching a few children in her home (she now has an extension which was crowded with over 40 children on our recent visit)—we have 6 more teachers in other villages, the latest being Mala in Kudamumakal, who teaches in the Nursery School (earlier request for playground equipment.) We found that she is fluent in Sinhala and very willing to have the extra job of after school Sinhala classes and a class of older children.

The Buddhist school at Mylankarachai we visited last February with Richard and Sasees is going from strength to strength, with 60 children attending. They are divided into two groups with the younger ones with two teachers, Kanthilatha and Sulakshmi, and the older children with formidable Sisili Perera—a very well organised older lady who was outspoken in her requests for books, pens and other teaching material! All our teachers are paid 5,000 rupees a month (£25) and are happy that their salaries are secure (quite unlike government paid teachers in this area who find that often their salaries remain unpaid for many months). We particularly love this   Buddhist school which is right next to the Buddhist Temple and there is a most beautiful aura of peace and healing pervading this whole village.

Nirojini (see photo on page 1) has a new group along the coast in Ooriankadu and Rokshana is now using her own home to teach after school Sinhala in Mankerni.  Rokshana also has two assistants, who help the 42 children of varied ages with problem homework from school.

It is so good to realise that all these children —and many more to come—will benefit from the opportunity to learn the main      language of their country, not just Tamil, which is spoken only in the North and Eastern Provinces and severely limits future job      opportunities.