03/21/2005: "Don Moran’s perspective on Sri Lanka"
My dad sent a note back from Sri Lanka as they continue with their work to help with tsumami relief. He is with the group. http://www.helpsrilanka.us
His thoughts are below...
I have times of being thankful that I signed on for this project. It is hard to explain the experience. Other times I question my decision to come here. The temperature is above 90 degrees and very humid every day. It makes working difficult. The driving conditions are shocking. There are no road rules. It takes us 2 hours in a van to get to and from work every day, a distance of about 40 miles.
I am working with the children, trying to teach but mostly just enjoying them. Group One built a playground. The equipment just arrived. Now the children would rather play than go to school. Some things are universal. Some days we take the children to the beach and we all work together to rake up debris and then play.
Unlike some of the volunteers, I have decided to try and avoid becoming too attached to the people here. Some of our people spend so much energy interacting with the people. I would be drained plus I think it is unfair to get so attached to the people and then leave them. I am enjoying goofing off with our volunteers. They are a good bunch.
