OST Team watch Sunrise

Teacher Training morning

Mandoor photos

Chenkalady photos

D&D Dinner Photo

Culture show photos

Kirankulum Playgroup photos

Tegan's teacher training

I felt teacher training morning was a success. We started the day with Zip, Zap, Boing which worked well as an ice breaker and brought the energy of the room up. It was lovely to see women of all ages in their sari's 'zip', 'zapping' and 'boinging' with such enthusiasm! I based my session on developing the imagination and active learning. I started the session by taking the ladies on a Gruffalo walk and getting the group to react the story as we met up with the creatures in the deep dark woods,although one group had not read the Gruffalo so I had to think on my feet and alter the activity to meeting some animals in the woods and creating our own story. For the second half of my session I drew a large box in the sand and asked each of the 'children' to tell me what the box represented eg house, school, mini van, hospital. I then asked them to describe their imaginary surrounding; what colour the walls were, who was there, were they were going, what they were doing. This activity worked really well and the teachers were very responsive and each group came up with some completely different scenarios. It was lovely to hear one of the teachers say she had loved being a child for the morning and did not want to go back into the real world as she would have to behave like an adult again. I feel similarly about leaving Sri Lanka, I would much rather stay and do the hokey cokey every day than return to England. Hey Ho back to Colombo we go. Our drive was broken up by a surprise elephant ride through the jungle. Then further down the road some wild elephants crossed the road in front of our mini van which was a lovely magical end to a magical trip.

Wendy's Teacher Training Morning

The teacher training again took place in the local hall. The preschool/ nursery teachers came from far and near for the training, one teacher getting up at 3am in order to travel to Batticaloa to attend the day. After introductions some games were played and then the teachers were divided into groups so that they could rotate and take part in all the activities. Amali and I were doing the creative group and we asked the teacher to create a collage of the Gruffalo, his friends, the woods etc. We asked them questions in an effort to make them think imaginatively. Various craft techniques were used painting, gluing using material, rope gems, crayons and pencils. Each group created some very creative but different work. At the end of the morning we all assembled and certificates and resources were handed out. This was also a birthday celebration for those with birthdays on October, November and December as well as the OST birthday in January. Lunch followed and the team had to pack up and leave at 2pm for the long journey back to Colombo. Our journey to Colombo was very long, but uneventful, so we arrived about 11.30pm to find members of OST team waiting up to meet up.

Judy 31.10.2013

31 10 2013 Spending time with the D & D parents and kids was pretty special. Mainly because it reminded me of this community in whatever country and how complicated not having a sense of hearing can be. It was added to here by the fact that the government don't pay for hearing aids so if you need one and have no money you remain deaf. I talked to one of the children who was very bright and very articulate with great English and a clear career plan – to study medicine in Australia, she already has a brother who is a doctor, a sister economist and a little sister who wants to be an engineer. Her father is a carpenter. Great she has all these plans but I hope Sri Lanka doesn't run out of carpenters either. The next day: a really brilliant day at Kurumavelli nursery (me and Andy, Kriti and Thula) 55 kids and 52 turned up so nearly a full house The room was large, newly built by John Bunter's school in the UK in the grounds of the methodist preacher's house. The kids all had little plastic chairs that ringed practically three walls of this big room. We started off with their teacher giving them prayers and exercises – all very healthy, and then rolled into the usual routine although to my delight they threw themselves into every game – they wriggled on the floor as snakes and all leapt up to be frogs and foxes nd deafened us as frogs. The games I tried elsewhere that did not always work, all worked here and then some. I even felt brave enough to launch into zip boing although we did it as a chant zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zzzzzzip zzzzzzip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip BOING BOING A great energy arouser although this is perhaps the one nursery group that doesnt really need energising. They had excelled in Keepie Uppie, keeping the ball up in the air pretty well, although adding a new twist to the game in that every time it fell to the floor they turned it into a mad rugby scramble – momentarily forgetting my instruction that this was a game in which we have to work together. At the end although there was only time to make and decorate the masks so we were finishing with no follow-up gruffalo game they didnt need one as they marched around the room, masks on faces, doing gruffalo growls and gestures off their own bats completely – credit here to Andy's manful reading of the Gruffalo, actually getting all the way through the book with them We've arrived at cinnamon lakeside hotel, which has given me a chance to catch up on some sleep and think about the week we have just spent together.

Judy - Teacher training morning

Friday Part One Teacher training morning: Interactive story telling today. Five times. Some sessions dragged a bit but some interesting topics for stories came up, and in the last session one of the Ocean Stars teacher trainees said 'Oh this is great, a new experience that I can use in the classroom!'. We had: a few teddies as key characters, including a convincing retelling of Goldilocks and the three teddies; lots of nature; animals; fruit; a mother with babe, drawing water; the fox and the turtle: The fox climbs on the turtle, planning to eat it. The turtle's shell is too hard but the helpful turtle says, 'Put me in water and my hard shell will become soft.' Little does the fox know that the turtle then plans to escape. He goes in the water and his leg becomes soft but he doesn't escape as the fox eats his leg. and........: Once upon a time there was a little girl who had a stomach ache. This was a dream stomach ache. This stomach ache has two legs, two arms and two heads. One head can see and one head can talk. The stomach ache argues with the little girl. The stomach ache says. 'Leave me.' She says, 'I wish I could.' The stomach ache picks up a stone and throws it at her. So now the girl also has a headache. So she goes to hospital to get some medicine. Surreal and the last one – perhaps this is why Surreal. Part Two The trip to Columbo was sparkling with unforgettable scenes: roads lined with pyramids of coloured fruits lorries painted so lavishly one such with no door elephant ride uncomfortable but so peaceful everyone should go at an elephant's pace elephant ride taking me to heaven a bat hangs from a telegraph wire dead or folded like a bunch of dry brown leaves dark bumpy road dark excellent juice bar eco agricultural project healthy sustainable avocado juice creamy liquid meal three or four wild elephants crossing the road just in front of us egghoppersegghoppersegghoppersegghoppers the mountains of sri lanka popping their heads up and down and up on the horizon orange yellow sunset gorgeous repeated streaky shapes in the sky appear and disappear behind a fringe of palm trees

Judy Teacher training day

Judy Blog Friday Part One Teacher training morning: Interactive story telling today. Five times. Some sessions dragged a bit but some interesting topics for stories came up, and in the last session one of the Ocean Stars teacher trainees said 'Oh this is great, a new experience that I can use in the classroom!'. We had: a few teddies as key characters, including a convincing retelling of Goldilocks and the three teddies; lots of nature; animals; fruit; a mother with babe, drawing water; the fox and the turtle: The fox climbs on the turtle, planning to eat it. The turtle's shell is too hard but the helpful turtle says, 'Put me in water and my hard shell will become soft.' Little does the fox know that the turtle then plans to escape. He goes in the water and his leg becomes soft but he doesn't escape as the fox eats his leg. and........: Once upon a time there was a little girl who had a stomach ache. This was a dream stomach ache. This stomach ache has two legs, two arms and two heads. One head can see and one head can talk. The stomach ache argues with the little girl. The stomach ache says. 'Leave me.' She says, 'I wish I could.' The stomach ache picks up a stone and throws it at her. So now the girl also has a headache. So she goes to hospital to get some medicine. Surreal and the last one – perhaps this is why Surreal. Part Two The trip to Columbo was sparkling with unforgettable scenes: roads lined with pyramids of coloured fruits lorries painted so lavishly one such with no door elephant ride uncomfortable but so peaceful everyone should go at an elephant's pace elephant ride taking me to heaven a bat hangs from a telegraph wire dead or folded like a bunch of dry brown leaves dark bumpy road dark excellent juice bar eco agricultural project healthy sustainable avocado juice creamy liquid meal three or four wild elephants crossing the road just in front of us egghoppersegghoppersegghoppersegghoppers the mountains of sri lanka popping their heads up and down and up on the horizon orange yellow sunset gorgeous repeated streaky shapes in the sky appear and disappear behind a fringe of palm trees Judy Kendall The Sri Lanka trip with Ocean Stars charity: ostsrilanka2013.blogspot.com

Amali final day

We've arrived at cinnamon lakeside hotel, which has given me a chance to catch up on some sleep and think about the week we have just spent together. It's great to have a chance to relax and catch up on sleep but I also find the reality that the people I have worked with this week will never experience this way of living quite difficult to comprehend. I suppose this is the way of the world we live in and I feel comforted knowing that although ocean stars works with people from very difficult backgrounds, they clearly have a strong sense of community, a proactive work ethic and are looking ahead to the future with a positive mentality. It's been great to share this trip with such an enthusiastic group of people and it's also been brilliant to see how the various ost projects have developed and grown since I was last here. Now for the journey back to fleet...

Andy and Theresa - teacher training morning

We enjoyed an extra hour in bed this morning even though we had to pack for the return journey to Colombo. We took over our usual mini bus to a hall in the town where we unloaded the resources we had and prepared to welcome nearly forty pre school teachers many of whom we had worked with during the week. They all arrived in their beautiful 'Ocean Stars' sari and astonished us by their flexibility of movement in the sports workshop. The saris were no handicap when they shied each other the ball games they used with their nursery children. Other workshops included Theresa's session sharing resources to help develop language skills with the children. Presentation of certificates to the teachers and speeches preceeded a shared lunch before we departed by mini bus on the ten hour journey back to Colombo. This was broken by the excitement of riding on an elephant along a jungle path, the highlight of which was watching our elephant juggle and eat his mangoes.

Wendy's visit to Pulliyadimunai

Thursday Our last day in Batti, and what a day it turned out to be! I was really looking forward to visiting Pulliyadimunai school again after my visit last year. The school had organised a Sports4kids day, inviting 8 other Junior schools to take part in this event. When we arrived the teams were lined up outside the school waiting our arrival with anticipation, there were reporters, teaching staff, and other dignitaries already there. We walked along the lines of welcoming students, and into the area where the sports were to be take place. Each team had an allotted place in the playground where there were chairs for them and once everyone was in the outside playground area students came along and quickly laid out the course. Virtually everything they used was something recycled – water bottles filled will coloured water to use as marking out cones, larger water containers were filled with sand to hold poles upright, which were decorated with balloons and flags. After some speeches the proceedings began. There were different activities for each team to have a go at and at the end of a set time the whistle was blown and students moved on to the next challenge, their scores having been taken by a steward. Mr T was asked to do a warm up to Gangnam style music, and he says he made it up as he went along – but everyone got up to dance anyway. There was a welcome break during the morning when tasty noodles were served. The day was extremely hot, but students and staff alike kept dancing to the music played while the students participated in the activities. While the student teams were waiting to take part in their activity many of them were dancing with our students so all this contributed to the party and festival mood during the day. As the final whistle blew and scores were added and then began the prize giving. Certificates, cups, medals and plaques were issued to all the participating students and CPS came in third with Pulliyadimunai school the winners. The cost of the certificates, cups, medals etc was paid for out of the money raised by the Calthorpe Park School students in their fund raising efforts for OST. The whole morning had run late by this time so we had a very quick lunch at the school before returning to the hotel for a welcome shower and change of clothes. We returned to the school for a talent show in which students at Pulliyadimunai performed many songs, dances and drama pieces. Our students sang a couple of songs together, three of the girls sang together, three of the boys sang and Amy performed an amazing gymnastic routine in sand, which made it difficult for her to keep her footing. At the end of a wonderful and amazing day it was time to say goodbye to the students, which made us all very emotional. We had dinner at the school before returning to the hotel. Everyone agreed that the day had been outstanding and that having to say goodbye to the students had been very emotional making our students realise what an impact their visit had had on the school and the local community. If we had not visited the school, the sports event would not have been organised, the other schools would not have been invited to participate, we would not have met them …………. Time for everyone to have a final evening in Batti and pack before heading back to Colombo tomorrow.

Wendy's visit to Kannakudah

Visiting Kannakudah Wednesday Today we went to Kannakudah nursery travelling in a tuk tuk with our resources piled behind our heads and rolling on to our shoulders. ('How did you get that concussion madam?' 'A box of Milo hit my head'). The road was very bumpy. Because it was a terrorist area the government hasn't mended the roads. Some of the pot-holes were as big as the tuk tuk. On the way we stopped at a petrol station with one pump and many jugs and funnels – to fill with small amounts of petrol. The driver came back with a litre bottle full. While we were waiting three cows crossed the very very busy road in amongst hordes of cyclists making their way to school and work. We got to the school before 8 – some children were there but others arrived at half past – when it opened. So we took photos of photos while we were waiting. The teachers opened with prayers and morning exercises. They were brilliant, better than us. We followed with a series of games, some of which worked. The kids could count to ten in English and knew the English alphabet, and quickly learnt an alphabet song from us. They enjoyed the hokey cokey as usual. We read the Gruffalo and named the parts of the body. One of the little three year olds was very good at sticking out her tongue, which she tried out later as well! After reading the Gruffalo we put out masks and crayons for them to paint/decorate their masks. Standards were high. Some very good mask painters and decorators. We did some games in lines – relay races with bean bags which kind of half possibly worked. The we tried keepie uppie. Once they realised they didnt have to stay in four regimental lines while doing this it was very successful, even though we worried about the one and only lightbulb. We finished this up with a few minutes of bubbles, and squeaks from the children, and gave out teddies and lollipops. The lunch was superb – particularly the hot leafy fennel-like sauce which was amazing – best dish so far! Judy and Wendy

Amali's visit to Shining Stars

Today I visited 'shining stars' nursery which was built over the summer by the Edinburgh Global Partnerships team. After seeing all the work that was put into fundraising for this project it was brilliant to see the building in use. The ceiling was decked with rainbow fishies and masks. When I arrived the children were sitting round tables writing up animal words in tamil. The Gruffalo made another timely appearance which led to an array of animal related games. The best were drama games where the children acted out the animals that the gruffalo meets on his journey through the 'deep dark wood'. This evening we visited the school where the Calthorpe Park students have spent the past few days and were entertained with dancing, singing and drama. I'm looking forward to the teacher training tomorrow and seeing all the teachers again

Theresa's Blog 31.10.13

Today I had to leave at 6.30am because the nursery I was going to was a long way away. When I got there the pre-school was very pleasent, there were two teachers and in the classroom there was even a fan. Each child had thier own table and chair. The children were keen to participate in all events and they were desperate to please all the adults working with them. They loved The gruffalo story and thoroughly enjoyed making a picture using paint on the stamps of the animals. They also particularly enjoyed making masks and taking part of the animals in the story. This afternoon we enjoyed the performance of dance and music put on by secondary school in Batticaloa. The Calthorpe Park students did really well to sing and perform at short notice.

Tegan's visit to Kallikulam

As tired as we all are, five of us made it up for 5.30 and headed to the beach to watch the sunrise and a paddle in the water. The landscape was beautiful oranges, it was most defietly worth the early wake up time. I (Tegan)headed to my last pre school of the trip, in a Tuc Tuc to the village of Kallikulam. Mixed emotions about my last session as the end of the trip is class, I was dripping with flowers petals. They all managed to say 'Good Morning' to me in English. The children started their day with prayers led by one of the older students (who was only 5 years old!!!) and then did some exercises counting in English as they went along,they really impressed me when they managed to count backwards in English too. We read the Gruffalo, which they all seemed to enjoy, they loved colouring in thier masks and the colour purple was definely in high demand. The high light of my morning was probably getting them all hyped up by playing keepy uppy with the balloon, and the joy and excitment when we brought out the bubbles. Before lunch with the teachers, my translater Diana, helper Kritika and one of the teachers from the nursery headed to the temple of Ganesh (the hindu elephant God, he symbolises wisdom) We washed our feet with water from a well before they showed me around and talked me through some of the many Hindu Gods. I really enjoys how colourful Sri Lankas culture is. This afternoon we are off to a culture show at a local school which I am looking forward to very much.

DAY 5 LITTLE STARS AND PARRY PLAYGROUPS WENDY AND DILANEE

VISIT TO LITTLE STARS AND PARRY – TUESDAY

Dilanee and I set off in the van around 7am to visit the Little Stars and Parry Nurseries which were combining at the Little Stars building.

The road trip was long with rutted roads which were very difficult for the driver.  The landscape was .  very barren with only small farm houses along the way, and just farming as a means of earning money.  The children were waiting excitedly for us to arrive. 

We began with circle time which Dilanee ran, together with Cuddles, the bear from Heatherside Infants school.  The children were very shy at first even with the bear.  Dilanee asked them all to pass a smile around the circle and slowly they began to become less nervous.  We then did the Hockey Koakey which was enjoyed by everyone. 

After that we read the Gruffalo book and asked the students questions.  They did not seem to be frightened by the Gruffalo and were able to answer the questions we put to them about body parts and colours.  Following that we got out the Gruffalo masks and colouring pencils and crayons, together with the glue sticks and some sequins.  At first the children were not quite sure what to do with everything, but after being shown what to do they enjoyed decorating the masks.  At the end of the decorating we put sticks behind each mask so that the children could hold them.

For break time we gave them each a Milo drink and a sugar bun, and by this time it was nearing the end of the preschool time.  We took the children outside for a run around then gave them each a small ball which they could take home with them.  We had to show them what to do with the balls, then we got out the bubbles which they loved. 

Just to finish with we put on some music and let the children dance to it, holding their Gruffalo masks.  At home time each child went out with a lollipop, teadybear, Gruffalo mask and a small ball. 

The Parry playgroup had all arrived in two tuk tuks – about 15 children plus a teacher in each tuk tuk – what a sight to see!!! 

The mummies of the playgroup provided us with a lovely lunch and then we visited one family with one child at Little Stars playgroup.  After that we got back into the van for our long drive back to the hotel.

The children were amazing, and really enjoyed their dancing around to music holding their masks at the end of the session. 

DAY 5 MANDOOR 2 TEGAN AND THERESA

Mandoor Blog

Today was our earliest wake up time so far! Breakfast at 6,15 and on the road for 7 to the Village of Mandoor, where Theresa and I entertained 12 young children most of which were around 3 years old. We were greeted with flower necklaces and happy faces. We started the session by introducing ourselves and the introducing Theresa's shy little friend, The Gruffalo (puppet) the children all said he felt beautiful. We read them half of the story and then got them to pretend to be some of the characters from the story, which they all seemed to enjoy. Then we moved onto some crafts and we recreated the wood scene with some extra glitter, we all love a bit glitter and stuck on some of the characters from the Gruffalo. The children were all very proud when we stuck there pictures up on the wall. We then moved onto making Gruffalo masks which again they loved and were very excitable when we told them they could take them home. Next we sang them some songs, Hokey Cokey definitely seemed to be the most popular of the lot. They then sung us some English songs they knew. We finished the day off with musical chairs and ball games outside. The children appeared to have a fun day and it was lovely to hear them giggle and compare the colour of their lolly pops. I personally had an amazing time with them and feel my confidence is growing with each session.


Tegan

Day Four

After a very hot and exhausting (yet totally wonderful) day at the Vellaimanal project near Trincomalee some of us went for a refreshing dip in the beautifully clear water just around China Bay. The others caught up on some much needed sleep and we regrouped for dinner. We went to a lovely ‘authentic’ (read: slightly shabby but incredibly delicious) vegetarian restaurant. We were provided with a range of curries and an array off dosai (a thin pancake-like bread). We ate well and it was great for the drivers to sit and eat with us, and we were all stunned when the bill came to 300 rupees or £1.50 per head.

We had another very civilised morning, leaving the hotel at 9am to start the drive to Batticaloa; team headquarters for the next 4 days. We stopped on our way out of Trincomalee to see the Thrikkuswaran Kovil, a Hindu temple with a long and fascinating history. We received blessing and a sacred thread tied around the rest by a holy man and complete with ash markings on our foreheads we jumped into the vans and back on the road. After a hassle free 3 hour drive down the beautiful coastal road we made it to Hotel Bridge View (no bridges in sight) and were joined shortly after by the Calthorpe Park team.

We had a huge meeting of 60 people (both teams, translators, helpers and teachers and students from the Sri Lankan school) and it was fantastic to see the children from both sides of the link start to form friendships so quickly. Everybody is very excited for the few days ahead and anxious to see how things will work out. It’s going to be hard for me to leave tomorrow night with so much going on but I look forward to being on the other side of these blogs for the first time in five years!

It’s a blessing to see the hard work of the team on the ground in Batticaloa come to fruition, and I have no doubt that it will be a powerful and moving experience for all involved.

Love

Matt

Day Four

After a very hot and exhausting (yet totally wonderful) day at the Vellaimanal project near Trincomalee some of us went for a refreshing dip in the beautifully clear water just around China Bay. The others caught up on some much needed sleep and we regrouped for dinner. We went to a lovely ‘authentic’ (read: slightly shabby but incredibly delicious) vegetarian restaurant. We were provided with a range of curries and an array off dosai (a thin pancake-like bread). We ate well and it was great for the drivers to sit and eat with us, and we were all stunned when the bill came to 300 rupees or £1.50 per head.

We had another very civilised morning, leaving the hotel at 9am to start the drive to Batticaloa; team headquarters for the next 4 days. We stopped on our way out of Trincomalee to see the Thrikkuswaran Kovil, a Hindu temple with a long and fascinating history. We received blessing and a sacred thread tied around the rest by a holy man and complete with ash markings on our foreheads we jumped into the vans and back on the road. After a hassle free 3 hour drive down the beautiful coastal road we made it to Hotel Bridge View (no bridges in sight) and were joined shortly after by the Calthorpe Park team.

We had a huge meeting of 60 people (both teams, translators, helpers and teachers and students from the Sri Lankan school) and it was fantastic to see the children from both sides of the link start to form friendships so quickly. Everybody is very excited for the few days ahead and anxious to see how things will work out. It’s going to be hard for me to leave tomorrow night with so much going on but I look forward to being on the other side of these blogs for the first time in five years!

It’s a blessing to see the hard work of the team on the ground in Batticaloa come to fruition, and I have no doubt that it will be a powerful and moving experience for all involved.

Love

Matt

Day Four

After a very hot and exhausting (yet totally wonderful) day at the Vellaimanal project near Trincomalee some of us went for a refreshing dip in the beautifully clear water just around China Bay. The others caught up on some much needed sleep and we regrouped for dinner. We went to a lovely ‘authentic’ (read: slightly shabby but incredibly delicious) vegetarian restaurant. We were provided with a range of curries and an array off dosai (a thin pancake-like bread). We ate well and it was great for the drivers to sit and eat with us, and we were all stunned when the bill came to 300 rupees or £1.50 per head.

We had another very civilised morning, leaving the hotel at 9am to start the drive to Batticaloa; team headquarters for the next 4 days. We stopped on our way out of Trincomalee to see the Thrikkuswaran Kovil, a Hindu temple with a long and fascinating history. We received blessing and a sacred thread tied around the rest by a holy man and complete with ash markings on our foreheads we jumped into the vans and back on the road. After a hassle free 3 hour drive down the beautiful coastal road we made it to Hotel Bridge View (no bridges in sight) and were joined shortly after by the Calthorpe Park team.

We had a huge meeting of 60 people (both teams, translators, helpers and teachers and students from the Sri Lankan school) and it was fantastic to see the children from both sides of the link start to form friendships so quickly. Everybody is very excited for the few days ahead and anxious to see how things will work out. It’s going to be hard for me to leave tomorrow night with so much going on but I look forward to being on the other side of these blogs for the first time in five years!

It’s a blessing to see the hard work of the team on the ground in Batticaloa come to fruition, and I have no doubt that it will be a powerful and moving experience for all involved.

Love

Matt

Day 2 at Grace Children's Home

We spent today at grace childrens home in vavuniya, which has been supported by ocean stars since the very beginning. Tegan began by lading a wide array of drama games such as grandmothers footsteps, zip zap boinggggg and wink murder which quickly broke the ice.

It’s great to see how the boys at this home have matured into young gentlemen and to see how they look after their younger brothers. Both groups there today were able to feel at ease in each others company, a testament to the strong relationship between the home and ocean stars.  we were able to see their talents emerging through sports games, keyboard playing and gruffalo painting.

It’s just a shame the day went by so quickly.

Amali

Day 3 in Trincomalee

Today was an action packed day! Dilanee, Andy and Theresa arrived very late last night, it was lovely for the whole team to be together for the first time this morning. After a quick catch up over breakfast we headed to Vellaimanal Village preschool (which means white sand). Vellaimanal Village was wiped out during the Tsunami and have had to rebuild their lives  a mile in land as the government has claimed their land on the beach.
When we arrived at the pre school over 50 children lines up to give us a very regal welcome, decked out with a welcome sign, necklaces made out of shells, songs and a percussion performance with instruments Ocean Stars had donated last Christmas.  
We then split into groups and played games with the children and read The Gruffalo with the younger ones. After a drink and snack break some of the mothers of the children brought in embroidered items they had made for us to purchase, so now you know what you will all be getting for Christmas. 
We then went into the village to meet some of the families sponsored by people in the UK through Ocean stars. Some of the homes had pictures up of their sponsor family in the UK, which was very sweet. They each very proudly presented us with a table full of snacks including some mangoes from their gardens, pine apples and home made cakes. 
We then went to Janabdeen's house to find an amazing lunch his wife had prepared for us. There was fresh crab, prawns, muscles, plantain and plenty more varieties of curried dishes.
After an amazing lunch we presented two fishing boats to families, which will help them generate an income. 
Then Janabadeen took us to the beach where the Tsunmai hit and wiped out the village. As the government has now claimed the land we had to get special permission to go on the beach. It was very emotional especially for Janabdeen who family owned a lot of the land.
Then it was back to the hotel to grab our swimwear and out to a beach for a swim. 

Tegan
Xxx

FUND RAISING QUIZ PM

OCEAN STARS QUIZ

Just over a hundred people gathered @ All Saints Church Hall, Fleet, at 7.30 pm for the annual Ocean Stars Quiz Evening. A wonderful evening filled with laughter and fun, as well as lots of brain-searching, was had by all. There were 12 teams in all and 8 rounds of questions. After the first four rounds there was a cheese and bread supper as well as a raffle with sixteen prizes. Then came the next four rounds. A big thank to our Quiz Master Mike who kept us entertained with jokes all evening. An amazing £900 was raised for the work of Ocean Stars Trust.