Customs ,Cockroaches and the new Chandrasevana Arts Centre

November 29th 2010

This is SIRI MADURA meaning the Heavenly Palace.

The Chandrasevana Centre, founded by HARF charity after the Tsunami, was based in a house in the village of Dudanduwa. In monsoon storms in May this year the roof was very badly damaged ( though some tell me the monkeys nicked the lead off the roof) and a new more substantial house was offered for reasonable rent by a local business man. This beautiful old colonial style house is over 150 years old and retains many original features - including an open cooking fire in the kitchen. Much hard work has already been done to repair and renovate Siri Madura which has been unoccupied for over 15 years, AND  !!!!I move in today Wednesday 24th November!!!!

Ah well now its 29th Monday and I'm still in the hotel. For various reasons, mainly to do with the gates of the garden not being finished it looks like maybe next week ! A bit frustrating but Ill just have to make the best it . 

The  new centre will be called The Chandrasevana Arts  Centre at Siri Madura.

In meetings this week the final decisions are being taken about how the rooms will be used . HARF needs to let as many  rooms as possible to repay loans used for refurbishment costs and the really good news is that we reckon we can get it to be self financing within 2/3 years.   The house has not been inhabited for over 15 years so you can imagine numerous tasks have to be completed before its ready to be fully used. However its very near being possible to furnish some rooms and hopefully have some paying guests before mid December. In  the last few days the trustees  have been able to ensure that there will be  an air conditioned room for IT teaching , a covered outside area with a concrete floor for the teaching the traditional Kandy dancing circus skills and for workshops, art and drama activities.

So I need to redouble efforts for fundraising.
£9000 would cover the next 12 months and activities provided  for an average of 30 people each week.
Ive drawn up a present list - £5 would fund refreshments for all the participants in the Kandy dance class for a month! that's a lot of orange juice and.  bottled water. A beginners course of 10 hours for 10 people over 3 months would cost about £25 per month.
IT classes will cost app £4 per person per session. and sponsoring a young person to do 5  weeks of art sessions would cost £10
Providing Internet access for  a month £20.

I will add to the list in the next blog in case anyone wants any last minute Xmas gifts. I could always send a card from Sri Lanka allowing perhaps 2 weeks for post.
Well stormy but warm weather seems much more appealing that the snow and freezing conditions in some parts of UK.
Import and Customs Department in ColomboI collected my shipment from the dockside warehouse on Thursday- a very tedious and sometimes funny process that lasted all of 5 hours plus the 3 hour drive each way. We ( me and the taxi driver  who stayed with me every step of this process and was amazingly helpful ) had to exercise diplomacy in chunks as we were moved from one office to another and then back again several times , paying various bits of cash and having to find my own pallet of goods in a warehouse as big as at least 2 football pitches and stuffed with palettes, and then while the stern faced customs official glared at me had to try to open the well shrink wrapped and double cardboard covered  consignment with my tiny travelling nail scissors - trying to cut through sealing tape and wire bands and not daring to laugh, I remembered my Swiss army knife after about 5 minutes of this farce and it got a bit easier.
After a minimal inspection I got clearance but  still more passport inspections and more papers to sign in triplicate and more going back and forward between  the two offices.

I'm not sure if these procedures are a remnant of British Colonial rule or as was pointed out to me later a way of punishing those who, like me, didn't know that they indicate a need for some rupees to be presented with the papers at the beginning of the process.
After rescuing Zigger who had been locked up in a room as he wasn't allowed in the customs area we set off exhausted and at least the driver and I had the same opinions of the process and laughed at the same aspects of it all.  He had been hoping for a quick trip as it was his wife's birthday.  We were very hungry and I was very bitten by day time mosquitoes which although not malarial have been causing a rise in Dengue fever recently. That's a great name for a fever I think.
Though the driver wouldn't tell me what his pay is I later found out that the usual payment of a  van driver for the trip to Colombo whether it be the 6 hours driving time or with the 5 hours in the custom shed , or what ever else the passengers want to do added ,is still the equivalent of £6 - that's the days rate however long it takes-- and many days there is no work. .

Keyboard
I  unpacked the Yamaha Key board which was a donation from A Hullaballoo Quire member and it will be an amazingly useful resource with multitude of programmes and sounds . The tutorial will enable people to teach themselves. And it will certainly draw people into the Centre. There is a musician I met in February who lost his legs to a mine who I hope will assist.

So Siri Madura is looking great and I really am thrilled by the possibilities the trustees now see of becoming self sufficient within 3 years from letting the top floor, either as individual rooms or as a complete unit to tourists. It could sleep up to 8 people and is ideal for a family or a group of friends.

I'm coming to terms with the slow pace of developments and  putting efforts into fund raising - if only  to avoid doing my UK tax return which is still to be done.

I miss friends and the choir  a lot but not much of England so far. And from what I hear of the freezing weather I'm not sorry to be out of it. Getting my head round people getting ready for Xmas and wondering if the roads in the North East will be clear enough to travel this weekend seems very strange,

Here he is-- longing to get down to the beach.

I took Zigger to meet the local vet to check out the various bits of advice Ive been receiving from all and sundry - Was relieved to find that I don't have to give him tablets for a nasty disease as I was advised in UK as it doesnt exist here and Zigger will be extremely relieved to know that I shouldn't bath him every day and its best to keep his coat at average length and not cut extremely short. He is still very much the star of the show and loves the attention. 

 I've found a new use for Velcro!

 One morning I found a 2" cockroach stuck to the velcro of my sandal. Ive only seen 3 of the creatures since Ive been here and Zig managed to eat one of them! He was sick and refused to eat for 24 hours - not even treats so he must have felt really bad.

And here am I - grateful for a fresh pineapple and banana smoothy in the hotel after a 15 minute, very sweaty, walk through the muddy puddles of last night's rain to inspect the progress at Siri Madura.

  

Do keep in touch. It's great to get your emails and Skypes.

Much love and warm sunshine from Zigger and Eddi.