Day 17 - “You Go Quick, Come Back Quicker”

Wow. Today has been a rather emotional and hectic day, but I’ve loved every second of it.

I got ready for school as usual, howveer I was still sat waiting for my tuk-tuk at 8:30am. Otto, the driver had forgotten about me, and went off to run a few errands. It was only when a security guard realised his mistake that Otto was contacted to come and collect me! I finally got to school by 9am, after the assembly, I was due to be running and organising had finished. They did a make-shift one for me this afternoon so my planning didn’t got to waste!

We had another sports meet practice this morning, and instead of being on ‘teacher duty’ I was asked to take photos of the children. This I thoroughly enjoyed, and it gave me the opportunity to spend a bit of time with them individually and capture them at their happiest. Esther didn’t particularly enjoy my attention being away from her, and kept grabbing my arm every time I walked away from her or spoke to another child. She’s a little diva, but I adore her.

Today I got wowed by Kevin, the cutest little boy in the world, who seemed to thoroughly enjoy picking me flowers. Every time I looked in a different direction, he would appear, holding a flower up to my face. His smile is infectious, but like all the other children, his story is so sad. His sister recently died of a heart defect, and his family as a result are now struggling to get by, as they have had to recover from the devastation of this loss, and the financial burden of all the hospital care they paid for. He, like many other children needs sponsorship – please invest in him and his future if you are able to.

At the end of school today, the teachers gave me gifts for my time that I have spent in Paalam School, and the children also all designed something together for me. I even also got a card signed by each child! It was very thoughtful, and did make me rather emotional.

I had to say goodbye to most of the children straight after school, although I did go back and to the village for an English lesson, so I saw a few having their extra tuition with Miss Reenashree. I knew I would see Esther again, and so luckily I did not have to say goodbye to her in front of all the other children. I spent extra time with Esther after her tuition, and it was nice to have that final bit of time together to say a proper goodbye. I feel like these extra 2 weeks have helped me so much with bonding with her and really getting to know her as much as possible. Goodbye is always the hardest part of these trips – especially when it comes to Esther. I managed to hold myself together for a little while, but when she left the compound to go home that’s when my emotions got the better of me!

Gosh, I truly and deeply am going to miss this place. It’s safe to say, these additional 10 days has confirmed by love of Jaffna and the Sri Lankan communities I have been working in.