May 29th was, as Morgan puts it, incredible. Getting up at the crack of dawn, we drove five hours into the center of the country in order to visit a village AFLAC had rebuilt, an example of its non-tsunami-related activities. We also took the opportunity to visit Sigiriya, one of the most 'incredible' sites in the world.

Entries: Morgan

There is no better word for this trip than incredible.

We woke up at 6am this morning- horrendous, I know. Breakfast, then a 2-3 hour bus ride to a hospital in the center of the country, which was really interesting, and also a little unsettling- should we really be walking around in a building full of some of Sri Lanka’s sickest citizens? We actually walked through all the wards, past rows of beds. Also, were we invading their privacy?

So the hospital was apparently a nicer one for a regional hospital. It was a complex of one-story buildings connected by paths covered by rooves. I guess you would say the hospital was clean for what it was- the beds were rusty and there were flies everywhere, but the nurses were dressed in crisp white uniforms and it wasn’t horrendous or anything. Nothing like what I’m used to tho, not at all. There were no personal rooms, except for inpatients; only rooms specifically for men, women, children, surgery, maternity, and babies, each lined with 2 or 3 rows of metal beds. No privacy whatsoever- hey, they even let us walk around. I think they only let us because AFLAC told them we were premed students. I glanced in a “minor surgeries” cubicle set up in the corner of the men’s ward, and saw a man holding up a bloody hand that was missing a finger. I can’t tell you how much the whole experience made me appreciate the medical care I can get back home. Such a difference.
Two observations: first, well it’s more of a question, are most patients in there with serious, chronic, fatal problems? Or would even something like the flu send you to the hospital there? Also, just an interesting fact- all the medical care in the entire country is socialized. The government covers medical, food, and even (I believe) transportation costs when needed.

Later, we went over to a village AFLAC is sponsoring- they’ve built new, sturdier homes, built a community center, preschool, playground, etc. When we got there, I ran to the bus for a second to put in my contacts, and when I got back, everyone was gone- apparently they went on a tour of the village. So Mevan showed me around a little, and told me how the old thatch houses would periodically get crushed by the elephants when they came through (not exactly something I’m used to in Nyack…). Afterwards, the group was still gone, so I approached a group of villagers and introduced myself. They were very friendly, but I only knew a few phrases in Sinhala and they knew little to no English. We tried to talk, but ended up just sort of smiling at each other. I met a lot of people tho, and it’s really amazing what celebrities we are over here. It felt so incredible to just give someone, no matter what age, a great big smile and see their faces light up immediately- you can tell that you just made their day. I felt like I was having some trouble with the kids at first, because they weren’t really opening up. But before too long we were really having a good time. We pretended to be monsters and scare each other, and one at a time they all stood up and sang a quick song. It was fascinating how they responded to silly games and funny faces the same way the kids I know in the States would; there wasn’t really any difference in how we interacted versus how I interact with the kids I babysit for, except of course that I didn’t actually speak to these kids. It’s amazing how similar we all are.

I’ve noticed that the people here aren’t just friendly, they’re incredibly kind and also seem somewhat smitten with us. They love to feed us and communicate with us and tell us how beautiful we are… which isn’t so bad : ) They’ve also given us some really special gifts- the boys at the building site gave me a beautiful shell, a worker gave me a piece of Sri Lankan candy, and a girl at the village insisted that I take her ring as a token. It was so hard for me to accept it, but she really desperately wanted me to have it, so I finally did. That is something I’ll treasure forever- a gift from someone who had so little, but wanted to give me something to remember her by.
At lunchtime, we ate food they’d ordered in- spicy Sri Lankan food, of course! And wait, here’s the catch- we ate off leaves. That’s right, big, green, leafy leaves. Tell me that’s not awesome - we ate off leaves in Sri Lanka.”

-Morgan