Yattyanthota is a relatively new preschool for OST and is situated 2 hours east of Colombo in a region which is home to many rubber plantations. The children who attend this preschool mainly come from Tamil plantation workers who are on a daily wage of around £3 per day and often do not get the opportunity to attend a preschool. However this pre school has only been made possible through the vision of a forward thinking young minister who saw this as an opportunity to break the poverty cycle.
On arrival we were greeted by happy smiling faces and were presented with flower garlands which made us feel like royalty! After a warmup session we then read them a story about a giraffe called Gerald who could not dance. The children loved the book and all its illustrations. Books here are very uncommon here so this was a real novelty. The children then followed this up be making giraffe hats and then parading them proudly round the room. After a sing song of English nursery rhymes which were sung fluently as English is now actively encouraged in all Sei Lanka preschools we finished our session with bubbles and handing out of teddies ( which they all called Pinky) and toothbrush sets and lollipops. The children really loved our session as getting a visit from a westerner rarely if ever happens.
We then were asked back for lunch at one on the children’s home on the plantation where we got a chance to meet their families, enjoy the food they had prepared for us and to appreciate their living conditions. They may not have had much but they all had warm hearts and beautiful smiles.
No comments:
Post a Comment