Following in Buddha's Footprint

Let me wish you a happy Vesak! Thursday this week was one of the most important Poya days or full moon Buddhist festivals, in the Singhalese year, the Vesak Poya. Buddha very considerately made sure that he was born, died and gained enlightenment on the same day and, to top that, he made sure it was a full moon! Singhalese celebrate the festival by adorning every building with paper lanterns that turn formerly drab places into beautiful, if slightly kitsch, structures. In true Sri Lankan style, there are 2 days of public holidays so it seemed rude not to make it into a week's holiday.

Sam, a fellow VSO volunteer, and I, set out last Sunday in true Buddhist Pilgrim style, to climb Adam's Peak. At 2243m, Sri Pada (the local name) is the 3rd highest peak in Sri Lanka, but it is revered as it is purported to have a footprint of Buddha at the top. The Christians tried to take over the mountain for themselves by claiming it's the footprint of St Thomas; the Muslim's claim it belongs to Adam who set foot here after being cast out of heaven; the Hindus say it was created by Shiva. So, all in all, it's a pretty sacred place. I just wish they all could have chosen a mountain with an easier climb. We started the climb at 0245 in order to make it up the 5,500 steps for what is described as the most incredible sunrise. We enjoyed rain all the way up and it wasn't to be our auspicious day as we were greeted by thick cloud cover and a biting wind! The footprint isn't even visible after all that. I really suffered on the way back down with my legs turning to jelly. Sam, who has summited Everest, made it down like a mountain goat so I felt extremely embarrassed to be hobbling so badly. It has knocked my legs out for most of the week - well that's my excuse for not doing much!

In order to have a bit of luxury after the climb, we spent the next 3 nights in the most amazing tea plantation bungalows. There is a company called "Tea Trails" who have converted 4 former Plantation manager's bungalows into exquisite 5-6 bedroom villas complete with butler, swimming pool, and total colonial glamour. Although it was relatively pricey, everything was included - all drinks, all food, laundry, tea factory tour. I'm not sure how much profit they made out of Sam and I as we took full advantage of the free bar and delicious wine. I've really missed wine since I've been here as it's very expensive normally. You're left with "lion beer", the local tipple, which is an OK lager but gets a bit boring after a while. Suffice it to say that the Gin and Tonics and Wine went down very well and now I've vowed that June is an alcohol-free month! The villas (we spent a night in 3 out of the 4) are set in working tea estates so you're surrounded by the ubiquitous tea pickers overlooking the reservoir - picture postcard perfect. To top it all, it's cool enough to wear a fleece. I can't believe how excited I got to be able to wear a fleece again! Unfortunately (fortunately) my jeans are too big to wear now so I couldn't get the pleasure of wearing them too.

After 3 nights ruining our livers, we headed on the train East to Haputale. The train line is a British legacy and is the most incredible feat of engineering over the ridges of the hill country. At times there are sheer cliffs on either side of the tracks. Haputale is a sleepy town in the hills and the jumping off spot to visit Lipton's Seat named after the Scot, Sir Thomas Lipton, who put tea on the map. We walked up to his view point on top of an escarpment overlooking his factory and what feels like the whole world spread out at your feet. We climbed early to get ahead of the cloud cover and, as if with an alarm clock, the mist rolled in at 10am covering everything, just as we'd been warned.

I headed back to Galle today on a long 6 hour bus ride. I was lucky enough to get a direct bus but was unlucky enough to have to stand for half of it. I'm getting used to these long journeys here in Sri Lanka. Even though the distances aren't really that far, the roads are so bad that everything takes forever. I've got into the habit of listening to books on my Ipod which is a great way to pass the time people watching, watching the view, and not getting bus-sick from reading a book with the constant slamming of breaks and hairpin bends in the road. I'm glad to be home now and have a day tomorrow (Sunday) to sort myself out before I crack on with things at work. I really hope that work improves when I get back. I've decided to bite of small chunks to try to feel like I'm achieving things as the list of potential "to dos" is depressingly long. I think the break will help me see things with a clearer perspective.

Until next time, happy Vesak.

Like herding cats!

I know it's a physical impossibility but Sri Lanka is a game of 3 halves at the moment. The first half is being here; I'm loving it. The second is working with the 18 permanent staff at the Chamber; they're untrained but keen to learn and I'm making (slow) progress with them both individually and as a team. The third half, however, is working with the Board of Directors; I'm tearing my hair out!!

The Galle Chamber of Commerce and Industry is focused on developing the capabilities of the small and medium entrepreneurs in the Galle District - a very worthy vision. To do this they have a 30 Directors who join the Board on a voluntary basis whilst managing their own businesses. The Board meets once a month on a Saturday night at 7.30pm (which turns into 8.15pm Sri Lankan time). Unfortunately it is a total boys club; I was told no self-respecting husband would let his wife attend as a director (a) because it's so late, and (b) because everyone retires to a nearby watering-hole afterwards and gets plastered on Arrack, the local hooch. Women here are not supposed to drink. My first Board meeting went fairly smoothly. They all start with a formal welcome speech, followed by a Buddhist prayer, and then a moments silence. A very random agenda of topics is then followed with the things you think should receive the focus, getting only scant appraisal. After my first meeting, I thought my issue would be cutting through the hierarchy of the Board. People are seated in order of seniority and the level of interaction is virtually nil. How wrong I was...

The second board meeting was a disaster. I turned up on time and, after hanging around for 45 mins for everyone to arrive, and after the prayer, welcome speech and moment's silence, Mr Lakshman, the Chairman said: "Miss Jules, we'd like to invite you to give a short speech after which you can leave because we're concerned about you getting home late at night." I, of course replied: "Don't worry, I'm fine to get home at the end of the meeting". Suri, the Director General (and the power behind the Chamber) then said: "You're welcome to do a 10 minute speech but then you must leave as this is a meeting for Directors and you're not a Director." I was flabbergasted. I tried not to make it show and did a small speech about why I was at the Chamber and then made my exit. I cycled home absolutely furious and probably made all those who saw me laugh as I was talking to myself all the way back!

On the Monday I found out that after I left, some of the newer Directors had said that it was inappropriate that I had been asked to leave and the Board then proceeded to discuss me for a further 90mins. 5 Directors vehemently opposed me being involved but the balance voted that I be allowed to be involved in everything, warts and all. So, the situation has actually worked in my favour. After digging further and approaching Suri directly, the instigator of my dismissal, I think the reason I was asked to leave is that Suri didn't want to be embarrassed in front of me. I know some of the other Board members were going to take him to task over his inappropriate behaviour and, I guess, he didn't want me witnessing that. Suri is both a former Captain in the Sri Lankan Army as well as a former Chairman of the Chamber. He treats the staff as if they're his battalion and it is appalling to watch. I think he also thought that Mr Lakshman, the current Chairman, could be his puppet but Mr L has a little more spine than that so they're now clashing on almost every decision. I need to get Suri on side because with him I'll get things done but without him I'll have an uphill battle. As they say: "better the devil you know"!

Anyway, the task ahead of me is huge. I need to get the Board to agree to a clear objective and set of strategies to follow; I need to improve their decision making capacity by setting up effective sub-committees to manage key projects; I need to refocus them onto their vision of developing the small to medium entrepreneurs in the District; etc. The list is very long. I know what I need to do but how I'm going to do is still a bit foggy when you're herding cats! I've asked Mr L for a series of workshops with the Directors but, based on my first experience and his advice, no one will show because their own business take priority (understandably so). He's therefore agreed the sum total of 30mins per board meeting for me to run various sessions. The next one is on the 22nd May so I've got to make it a humdinger of a session and try to convince a smaller group to then work with me on the Chamber strategy. I think I know what it should be but if I don't create it with them it will just gather dust in a drawer somewhere. The other thing I'm doing is visiting each Director one by one at his business to try to build up more of a relationship with them. They're businesses are pretty varied. Today I met with Mr Manamperi who runs a Funeral Parlour. He kindly showed me all around the business including where they embalm the bodies. Fortunately there wasn't anyone on the slab when I visited. He is keen, though, to investigate Cardboard coffins so if anyone out there has any links to the Cardboard Coffin industry, please let me know!!

After a particularly frustrating day at work today, I headed to the Lighthouse Hotel (a very plush hotel with 2 pools and a gym that I've become a member of), to pound up and down the pool to try to work through some of my angst. It worked especially as I was lucky enough to witness one of the best sunsets so far here in Sri Lanka. So, it's not all bad here.....!

"The Journey not the arrival matters" - T.S. Eliot

This weekend I've only just begun to understand what TS Eliot meant and yet it seems to be inbred within Sri Lankans. Let me explain ....

This Thursday we set off on a four-day "Harmony Development Council" Trip to the North East of Sri Lanka along with about 70 fellow Council Members. The trip was the brainchild of an NGO called Business for Peace Alliance (BPA) who are focused on, as the name suggests, undertaking conflict transformation through private individuals doing business with each other. The idea for this specific event was to bring representatives from Chambers of Commerce in the Singhala-majority South of the country to meet with representatives from Chambers in the Muslim- and Tamil-majority East of the country to meet, become friends, and share ideas to bring more harmony to the country. As the BPA rightly say, although officially there is peace in Sri Lanka, there certainly isn't yet harmony amongst the different communities.

On Thursday I have to admit I met the bus at 0600 with dread. Knowing that I had an 18 hour bus trip ahead of me that day, and seeing the drums that were being loaded onto the bus, I knew I was in for a raucous ride. We started out with 10 representatives from Galle and, as we travelled north, this mushroomed into about 70 people from the different Chambers and the BPA across two buses. Fortunately this included Sam and Sarah, 2 fellow VSO volunteers, who are both working with the BPA; I was extremely grateful for their moral support throughout the trip. The music started early in the morning and percussion developed as the day went on from a drum, to bottles, boxes and all parts of the bus that make a noise when banged becoming the orchestra. Having grown up with Dad's rule when travelling "stop every 3 hours for a break", I found it rather frustrating that we'd often stop after only 45 mins from the last stop to either have tea with someone's relative at their house, to stop to buy booze, or to view a reservoir. It wasn't until the last day (whilst on the 15 hour return journey) that I realised that the issue is probably more with us Westerners. We're focused on arriving and will huff and puff through a journey trying to make it pass as quickly as possible with our ipods stuck in our ears, or a book firmly in our hands, or lulled to sleep by the boredom. Sri Lankans, rather, know that the journey is going to be a long one so settle in with their music, their nibbles, and their smiles and are quite happy to elongate the trip as long as is necessary to make as many stops as all participants want to make. I think there is something to learn from that.

Day 1, 2 and 4 were almost entirely driving (48 hours in all across the 3 days!) in order to achieve the focus which was getting to Trincomalee, or Trinco for short. Trinco came to fame for its deep water harbour which made it a tempting prize for the Portuguese, Dutch and finally Brits. More recently, however, this history has been overshadowed by the civil war which began in 1983. It became a flashpoint for ethnic tensions thanks to its population which is almost evenly divided between Tamil, Muslim and Singhalese communities. It hit home to me how difficult it must be to have lived in the area first when we stopped at a beach south of Trinco. Beautiful white sands dotted with colourful fishing boats flanking a warm blue sea with no humans cluttering the view stretched before us as far as the eye could see. We ate our rice and curry using our hands (as all meals are done in Sri Lanka) and, it wasn't until we headed back to the bus, that we were told that it was good we hadn't walked further because there are still landmines in this area. (Thanks for telling us after the fact!!). The beach was a major fighting ground between the government and the LTTE as it was used as a key point to smuggle firearms from the North to the East by the Tamil Tigers.

A little further north, the road met a river and the only way across was via a rickety rope ferry (see photo). Here the bridge, like most in the East, had been bombed during the civil war. The Chinese are currently building a new crossing which is supposed to be ready in 3 months. In some respects that will be a shame because the ferry is a stark reminder of the history that none of us would want repeated. I doubt the bus driver would agree, however, as he clearly thought that he'd lose his livelihood as the front and rear of the bus scrapped, like finger nails down a blackboard, both going on and off the ferry.

What brought the horrors of living in the East to life most starkly for me, however, was the visit to a Tamil village that had been scheduled. The ladies of the village described to us how many of them had lost their sons and husbands during the fighting, both as active cadre, and through kidnapping to become child soldiers within the Tamil Tigers. Many of them left the area and waited in India until things started to improve. This was the case after the 2002 ceasefire. Although this was rarely followed by either party, many families returned to the area in 2003 and 2004 only to be decimated by the Tsunami in Dec 2004. 50% of the people in the village we visited died. The families are slowly rebuilding their lives based on the predominantly fisheries-based economy in the area. Many children don't get beyond O-Levels, however, because the standard of teaching is mostly poor with badly trained and under-paid teachers who focus their efforts on private tuition after school to the richer children.

Despite the stark realities of the trip, there were lots of laughs to be had by all. One morning camp fires were lit and the whole group got down to preparing our breakfast and lunch for the day. Vast vats of rice and curry were prepared along with some nibbles for those with a sweet tooth. One of the delicacies during the New Year period that recently passed is oil cakes which, as the name suggests, are made from a sugary dough that is deep-fried. I managed to get the whole cooking to grind to a halt when I tried my had at a couple of these. The trick is to poke the cake with a stick to create what can best be described as a nipple on the top. Unfortunately, after 3 attempts, I only achieved 1 decent nipple much to the hilarity of the on-lookers.

Each night during the trip we slept on raffia mats on the floor of halls with all the women in one room and all the men in the other. Despite the lateness of each night (around the camp fire with multiple bottles of Arrack, the local hooch, being consumed) the women would get up at 5am each morning. This is what they do everyday at home so I guess their body clocks are predisposed to it. They must have thought us extremely slovenly as we slept in until 6.15am. At least it meant they were all done in the showers by the time we were up. It does take the women a while to get into their saris and put coconut oil through their waist-length hair. Our "don't care what you look like" approach is a little quicker!

How much harmony was developed, I couldn't tell you, but based on the harmony of the singing and drumming on the way home, I'd say the trip "did what it said on the tin". I was glad to see my bed when I got home, though, I can tell you!! Until next time, keep well, have fun during the election this week, and drop me a line if you've got a spare moment.