Finally able to sit down and write a little bit about my three amazing weeks in Sri Lanka. There is so much about the trip that randomly pops in my head, so I thought it would be best to split it up into multiple blogs as it comes to mind.
Words can't express how elated I am to have been able to experience what I experienced during the course of my time there. I experienced the beauty of the country, the excitement of nature and most importantly, the genuine hospitality of the people. Although it's a developing third world country, in many ways, Sri Lanka is better than America. Their values are much more defined and clear-cut there - they value people, we value things. I saw poverty firsthand like I never imagined I would experience in my lifetime, and although it saddened me, it also left me humbled because even those who were destitute were something that I found very surprising - they were happy. They were grateful for what they do have instead of being regretful for what they don't have. They sense of materialism that has been created by capitalism doesn't really exist there. People there (for the most part) don't want handouts, and often refused tips. It was quite astonishing.
We completed a program at the Centre for the Study of Human Rights which is part of the Faculty of Law at the University of Colombo in Colombo, Sri Lanka. We learned about the culture and the legal system primarily via lecture, but also by a couple of field visits - one to a prison work camp and another to an extremely poor village. I still can't get the images of that village out of my head. Most of the people in the village live in mud huts. The structure is built from branches, then mud and water are mixed together to form mud blocks that make the walls. Very few of these huts have electricity, and if they do, it literally consists of only one light bulb socket strung from a wire. Running water didn't even exist in this village until the American Embassy paid for pipelines to be laid, but they still can't drink the water - no where in Sri Lanka can you drink the running water.
This village earns what little income they do by growing rice, but because they don't have a rice mill, they have to sell it to a middle-man to be milled before it can go to store shelves. They want so badly to be able to support themselves, and they could do that with a rice mill. Building a rice mill would provide approximately 10-15 jobs for the village, and essentially allow them to become self-sufficient, but they can't afford a rice mill. When we asked how much that would cost, I was shocked by the number...a minuscule $2200 US Dollars. A mere $2200 US Dollars to enable a village of people to adequately support themselves...it made me sad. It made me wish I had money to hand over to them so they could build the mill.
The people in that village, despite their poverty, still wanted to provide us with refreshments to welcome us into their village, but they were asked by the University not to because we already have everything we need. I can't even articulate how poor these people are...it's something that you only see on TV that doesn't really exist until you see it with your own eyes, but yet, they still wanted to give us what little they had as a welcoming offer. It was so very touching, very humbling, and the visit to that village forever changed my life. I cannot get the people from that village out of my head.
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