That school I forgot about, "Wellaragama"

We did make a trip back to Colombo after Jaffna, that was to load the car again and make the journey back to the Anuradhapura Discrict to visit the little Wellaragama school at Mihintale.
This is the first little school that I ever visited to help here in Sri Lanka so I guess you can say it all started here.
I've become nice friends with the Principal, his family and the Teacher's at the school so it will be nice to see them all again.
Raja told me that the Principals wife is expecting her 3rd child, he didn't mention when so I assumed that she was in the early stages of her pregnancy and looked forward to seeing her to give my congratulations.
We left Colombo with a loaded car as usual so the drive was slow.  There are 41 children at this school this year and we placed an order at the school shoe distributor in this on our previous trip to provide these children with school shoes.
It was our hope to collect the shoes after arriving late afternoon but as things would happen we didn't make it in time. 
On the way, we stopped at Kurunagela as always to visit the family of my friend Padmini.  The road that we took to Anuradhapura was fantastic for about half of the journey and then it turned dreadful.  It'd been raining and the red road soil had turned to red slimey mud which made the going really tough.  You couldn't see the depth of the potholes and it got dark so Raja was having difficulty driving in these conditions.  We had no choice but to continue.
I didn't talk much to Raja as he was focused on the road and as the time continued, I could see that he was becoming more and more annoyed.  What I didn't know then was that he was annoyed with himself for making the decision to take this road instead of the usual road which would have been an additional 12k's.  Anyway, as he says, "What to do".
We finally arrived there at around 7pm after 5 hours for what should have been a 2 hour drive.  As we now needed to collect the school shoes in the morning, I decided to buy the chocolate and biscuits for the children at the supermarket that evening which we did and then we proceeded to the hotel for a much needed cup of tea and then a shower.
I thought everything would go smoothly with the shoe pick up but inevitably it didn't.  We needed to check that the order was accurate but more than 50% of the order was incorrect.  I also wanted to write the names of the children and grades on the boxes to make it easier to distribute grade by grade.
After finally getting the order correct (so we thought) and paying the money we left for the school.  Now it's 11am and the Principal was to leave the school to go to the hospital for the birth of his 3rd child.  Oh, I forgot to mention.  When I finally saw the Principal's wife Luzmie, she was visibly big.  When I asked when the baby was due, she answered, "next week".  I nearly died as I was thinking that she was just pregnant from the info I got from Raja.
We had a 30 min drive to the school so as soon as we arrived, he had to leave.  That was the beginning of a not so great visit to this school.
The Assistant Principal was left in charge to organise the children and the other teachers.  She is a long time teacher at the school and has been through this process with me many times so I thought things would work as usual.
Unfortunately, the teachers decided to sit and watch me unpack everything.  I did say to them that it would take about 30mins to organise the gifts and then I would ask them to bring the children in class by class.
To my surprise, 3 toddlers were at the school that day and the Assistant Principal had also brought her grandson along.  I felt obligated to try and find gifts for them as well.  I asked if there were any more small children, NO came the answer.  A few moments later another 2 arrived.  Raja's telling me not to worry about them, I couldn't take his advice.  How could I give gifts to all children except these little ones.  I wasn't happy at all about this situation but what could I do. Actually, there ended up being 6 additiional children as another teacher had her sick son there as well.  He goes to a different school.
I usually take with me enough things for the school children and a couple of others but definately not 6 others.
It's now time to get started.  I ask a few of the teachers to help give things out as Raja and I can't do it all.  The kids file in with wonderful smiles on their faces.  The first class is grade 1 and of course this is their first experience of receiving things from me.  The older children are used to the process now but these little tots didn't have an idea of what to do.  I laugh at their innocense.
Raja's handing out the shoes, I'm giving the school bags and books and the teachers are giving all the other things.  It's slow but eventually all 41 children have come and received their things.
Low and behold, some of the children return to us telling that their shoes don't fit.  I nearly have a fit.  It became very clear quickly that at the warehouse, they'd measured the shoes to the drawing on the paper not allowing for the actual shoe material therefore more than 23 pairs were too small for the children to wear.
What a situation to be in.  We were leaving for Colombo the following day and it was also Friday and school was closed for the weekend.  I called the warehouse and spoke with the Distribution Manager and arranged that we would take the ill fitting shoes back to them, they would exchange them and then deliver them to the school the following week.
When I returned to the classroom, the teachers were swapping shoes from one child to the next and it was a total shambles. If only they'd waited for my conversation to be finished, a simple solution had been arranged.  By now I'm really cross and upset, who do I have to voice all this to, Raja.  Poor Raja is all I can say, can't say more than that really.
Anyway, after the swapping was finished, we still needed to swap 15 pairs of shoes.  We still had to go to the warehouse.  They also decided that we would drop the shoes to the Principal for him to take to the children on Monday.  How he was going to manage 15 pairs of shoes in boxes on a motor bike, I couldn't imagine.  I just left them to get on with it all and walked away.  The best solution for me at that time.
When I went to the playground to see the children as I usually do and to take some photo's and give the chocolate, there were just a handful hanging around.  I asked, "where have all the children gone?" 
"Home Madam" was the reply, "it's 1.30 and they go home now".  I couldn't believe it, all gone home and still things to give them.
Raja and I were both shocked that the Teacher's would dismiss them without giving me the time to speak with them and farewell the grade 9 children who would not be at the school when I visit next year.
Lot's of guilty looks came my way from teacher's and one asked, "are you angry Madam"?  No, just upset that the children have gone home and I haven't had the oppurtunity to farewell them. I realised then that we'd also not given them the biscuits or chocolate that I'd brought for them.  I also have no photo's.
Some of the children return to the school but it's not quite right.  
I tried to make the best of it but everyone could see that I was upset, what I didn't know was that Raja had gone to the Assistant Principal and Teacher's to ask why the children had been dismissed and to tell that this is not how our visits are usually, hence the looks and comments I think.
By now, it's about 3pm and we leave the school.  I'm hungry, thirsty and really hot and sweaty, so the first thing we need to do is find somewhere where we can still get some lunch where there is a good toilet where I can have a small wash.
Over lunch, we talk about the morning's events.  Raja's opinion is that because the Principal wasn't at the school this year and left the events in the hands of the Assistant Principal, they didn't have the same level of caring as he did.
We were to visit the Principal's home that evening and Raja said that he would mention all to the Principal.  I asked him not to do that as it would sound as if I was complaining about his staff and that wasn't the case at all. At a quiet moment at the Principals home whilst I was spending time with his two children, Raja did tell the Principal all.  We also handed over the shoes that he would need to take to the school on Monday and probably Tuesday because of the size of the packages.
Let's hope that next years visit will be like the visits of old.
That evening at the Principals home, I asked if I could visit his wife in hospital the following morning as I wouldn't have the opportunity of seeing her or the new baby until I return next year.  He told that the visiting hours are 6-7am,  12.-1.00pm & 6-7pm.  How could I visit that these times, the morning was too early and at 12-00 we would be on our way to Colombo.
I asked if I could go and ask for special permission,  he said "try, but maybe not".  So if you know me well, I decided to go and try my luck.
Raja dropped me at the main gate and I asked directions to ward 26.  One very nice security guard got a nurse to take me to that area and I found my way from there. Once in the ward, I met with one of the charge sisters, showed her a piece of paper with Luxmie's name on it and then was promptly shown to her bed.
There must have been 29 other patients (new mums) in that ward and ask I walked to Luzmie's bed, she was sitting beside her bed and her new little baby boy was laying on her bed sleeping.  She stood when she saw me coming and had a grin from ear to ear.  She told me she was very happy that I came to see her.  How could I not do that, I wouldn't see her and her new baby for almost a year if I didn't take this opportunity,
She asked me how I got permission to visit. I said I just asked.  What a laugh, apparently if Raja had come with me, they would not have allowed me to go as they would give him all sorts of reasons in Sinhalese so I think my advantage was that they felt they couldn't explain clearly in Enlgish about the visiting hours and it was easier just to let me see Luzmie.
The baby was as cute as, he had a mop of black hair and his skin was fair. He was small, weighing just 2.9kg, anyway, he and his mum were well.
Luxmie had a caesarean section, her 3rd.  The process is different here, you are admitted to the hospital one day, in Luzmie's case Tuesday and you just wait until a slot comes up.  Luzmie waited until Friday morning. 
The hospital conditions were very good and it seemed that the care she was given she was happy with. Interestingly, the babies are with the mum all of the time from birth.  A small metal basket is attached to the end of the bed, that's where the baby sleeps.  The mum's have full care of the infant, even after a caesar.
I stayed for about 20mins and then left, meeting Raja in the street in front of the hospital.  He told me he was surprised that I'd been allowed to visit and also that if he had come with me, they definately would not have allowed me that privelidge.
Now we are on the way to Colombo where I'll spend the next 10 days whilst final preparations for Raja's son Sasitha (Shan's) wedding.It is to be held at the Ramada Hotel and I am planning on wearing a sari.  I have brought one from home with me and just need to have the jacket and underskirt made locally by a dressmaker.