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Sri Lanka Journal |
The Clown's DiaryThursday 24 MarchFirst I met the consultant in charge of the children's ward and got her permission to work. I was shown an examination room where I could change into costume. There were around 20 children and 7 adults in the play area, and I performed magic, juggling tricks and general sillinesses for around ˝ an hour, by which time the sweat was pouring off me. (If men sweat, women perspire and performers glow, then I was glowing buckets!) Then I went upstairs to the other children's ward where there were 15 children and I repeated the routines there. Médecins du Monde must have liked what I did as they asked me to return again. Unfortunately prior comitments meant that I was unable to do so this time around, but hopefully the CWI team can work with them again in September when we return. After my work for MDM I attended a meeting with CHILD VISION in the office of THE COALITION OF HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES, a collective of small, local and national N.G.O.'s (I feel that there are more local N.G.O.'s here than in other towns that we have been in - also these N.G.O.'s seem better organised than in other towns. Although I have no real proof to back this up wtih, I believe that this is in part due to the important and unfortunate role that Batticaloa has played and continues to play in both the political and physical struggle between the government and the Tamil population). I explained CWI's work and philosophy to them and they agreed to organise shows, transport and translators for me, free of charge, on both Friday and Saturday. They also arranged to take me to visit and approve both locations and translators. They then took me to THE BUTTERFLY PEACE GARDEN. I had heard about this place a long time ago, before the Tsunami, and I had read about it on one of WARCHILD'S web sites. It has long been an ambition of mine to visit it and see its work for myself, so I was really pleased to be visiting. It's lovely. Both the look of the place and the feel of the place are a true credit to those involved in the setting up and running of the Butterfly Peace Garden. It has large open spaces with big, shade trees, a child friendly pelican who is used to being touched by children, big wall-less buildings, bright colours, a fish tank, and a true feeling of tranquility. My experience of conflict and post-conflict situations both in the Balkans and in Iraq makes me feel that I cannot overstate the importance of such places (sadly very rare.) I really hope that, should circumstances, logistics and funding allow, CWI will choose THE BUTTERFLY PEACE GARDEN as one of its intended work projects. The fact that children traumatised by war are also affected by the Tsunami means that the charity can work there without compromising its mission to help children affected by the Tsunami. Father Paul, who runs the Butterfly Peace Garden was not there the day I visited, so I left our information sheet with some of his workers and arranged to return at a later date. I then returned to my hotel and wrote up my diary for the web site. It's important that I adapt to the climate here. To this end I have given up using air conditioned rooms. However, this means that thinking and writing in the mid-day heat is not easy. The best way I have found of coping with the heat is to put on shorts and vest, then stand under the shower, before writing until dry (making sure first that the computer IS NOT plugged into the mains!), repeating the process whenever needed. I then attempted to e-mail my diary and reports to CWI head office in Somerset. At 5 p.m. 3 members of CHILD VISION/CHA turned up at my hotel and took me for a lovely motorcycle ride to inspect the school and beach where they wanted me to work. We then paid a short visit to the English teacher who was to be my translator. All of this met with both my approval and the safety/work standards laid down by CWI (e.g. clean, safe, soft play area that has been passed as mine-free, a translator who can talk English well, etc. (The Tsunami swept many mines in this area into new locations such as beaches, and considerable work is being done to check that areas are mine-free and safe for children to play in.) We then took the long route back to my hotel, simply because to ride on a bike in this climate is a cooling delight. 
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CWI Tsunami Tour