A special day as all three teams participated in the painting of a building at the village monastery. The task at hand? Paint everything ! Walls, doors, shutters etc. We started by moving all of the furniture to the center of the room, largely atop the platform the monk usually sits on during special celebrations. Pillars and shutters both inside and out were sanded, floors swept, the paint mixed handily by Ruwan and Anil, Developing World Connections in-country staff, and off we went! Lots of laughs, a few mistakes and tons of fun. The monk himself even picked up a roller – his first time painting!
Tea was served care of the monk and quite a spread was put out! Cookies, crackers, bananas and even chocolate cake. We removed our shoes and sat down for the required break. After lunch a part of the group left to participate in the English conversation classes at Kettakalawatta, while the remainder of us stayed back to finish the painting. We agreed as a group that we felt it was important to finish it before we left. And we did ! The monk was kind enough to show us the inside of the temple and explain a few of the wall paintings to us - with some help from Anil.
Before we knew it was 4:30 pm and we were off back to Palm Paradise for a special cocktail party prepared by Baba and Sterling and D.All in all, a fantastic day with only one team member still MIA due to food poisoning.
Hilary Bruun
Developing World Connections Participant
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