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Sri Lanka Journal |
The Clown's DiaryThursday 17 MarchI was up now, so I turned on the computer and started writing up yesterday's Diary and sorting out photos for the web site, before showering and heading down stairs for breakfast. At breakfast I met the General Secretary of a children's charity called 'Childvision'. We both spoke about our projects over breakfast, then we went and got our laptops so that we could explain our projects to each other more fully. He also filled me in on the local background, including the I.D.P. (Internally Displaced Persons) situation, regarding camps housing people affected by the decades of war. They too suffered from the Tsunami, so it will be quite suitable to our remit to work with both parties. He then started talking about children with special needs, a subject close to the hearts of both, CHILDREN'S WORLD and CHILDREN'S WORLD INTERNATIONAL. He feels they have rather been left out of the equation by many of the NGOs - hopefully we can remedy this. Our meeting ended at ten o clock, when my driver turned up to show me the vehicle we would be using. It was a mini bus with seating for nine or ten people and more than enough space for my work kit. I agreed that it was what I needed and asked him to return at 2 p.m., (once schools had closed and children would again be in the camps) then finished writing the diary and sorting the photos before putting them on a memory stick and taking them to the internet cafe. Unfortunately the computers in the internet cafe couldn't open the files, so I had to return to my hotel, burn them onto a disc, then take them to the cafe and send them. This all took longer than I'd planed, so my hopes of calling on various N.G.O.s before working in camps looked like being a non-starter, as it was already 13:40 hand my driver was due at 14:00 hrs. Why, oh why does communicating always take so long? My driver arrived promptly and we headed off to some camps. We arrived at the first camp and asked for the head man. He was away in town and people seemed uncertain whether or not we could play without his say so. Not wanting to put people in an awkward spot, I said that I'd return some other time and we headed off to another camp called Salicovee (please note that my spelling of place names may be somewhat loose as my driver speaks but does not write English). The head man told me that, although school finished at 2, most of the children are having private tuition and asked if I could return at 5. I agreed and left, but not before he made me promise 4 times that I really would return. How anyone could make an empty promise to children in this position is beyond me, but I got the feeling that people had. I decided that, rather than risk a 3rd refusal I'd hit town and run around the N.G.O.s that I'd wanted to contact earlier. At UNICEF I met with the 'Assistant Project Officer'. I explained to him about the background of this Mini Tour and our next, far bigger Autumn Tour. He listened, then told me that he has 10 departments that would be interested in our work, but the leaders of these departments are away and won''t be back until Monday, but promised to look at our web site and contact our head office in the U.K. Next I headed for UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). There I met with a lady from the 'Head of Field Office'. Again I explained about the aims of C.W.I. and the purpose of both this Mini Tour and the main Autumn Tour. She not only listened to me, but also WANTED to listen to me, interrupting only once, when one of her other work mates appeared, at which point she reminded her friend that she'd been saying that the children under her care really needed some sort of after school entertainment, and that C.W.I. sounded like exactly the sort of thing she had in mind. She also gave me a updated government list of I.D.P. camps etc. in the Trincomalee District (as of 07/03/05). It is a constantly changing situation, but according to the latest government data, there are a total of 3,321 I.D.P. families, consisting of 6,760 males, and 7,018 females, making a total of 13,778 people in 29 camps. There is no record of how many of these are children (though I imagine a reasonably high percentage). She then gave me a quick briefing on the security situation regarding the tensions here between Tamils, Moslems, and Singhalese. Although a lot more relaxed here than in other towns (she cited Batticaloa as a place where ethnic violence often results in deaths). You still have sudden situations arising where one group will suddenly close all its shops etc. in protest at one thing or another, but she also stated that western aid workers and N.G.O.s are rarely caught up in these matters. I left there feeling good about the afternoon and we headed back out towards Salicovee Camp, stopping off at a temple with around 15 tents around it. Here I did an impromptu show for around 20 children and played games, which ended up with more adults than children taking part - a first for me - but it just goes to show that it's not only the children that suffer from boredom! We drove into Salicovee Camp and I was pleased to see a group of maybe 25 children waiting for me. Within 10 minutes of my show starting, this group had at least doubled in size. By the time I started the parachute games there were enough children to completely fill the parachute. As the games continued, still more children arrived and I found myself wishing that I had a second parachute with me. My driver explained the games to the head man who passed the information on to the children (a good way of doing it, I think) and other adults joined in controlling and helping the children, whilst still more stood by watching and smiling at the sight of their children having fun. After around an hour I called an end to the games, to the disappointment of both children and adults alike. The head man asked me to return again later, and if I get the chance to in this tour, it would be a true pleasure to do so. Certainly we should work with this group again regularly in the Autumn if they are still in the camp. 
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CWI Tsunami Tour