Due to the recent flooding in Sri Lanka that destroyed a substantial portion of the agricultural crops that that help feed the 20 million plus living on the island, the President issued a statement encouraging everyone in the non-affected areas to plant home gardens. Out of necessity, many are having to turn to growing their own food, as prices in the marketplace are increasing almost daily. To give you some perspective, one coconut(hand grinding pictured above) that is used daily in the typical Sri Lankan diet, last year cost $.25. Today it cost $.50 and as high as $.70 in some areas. The price for rice, beans, and other vegetables have also doubled. This has had a tremendous impact on the poor, and we have seen the needs here in Samagama. Several families have come to us over the last month and explained their dire circumstances.... no food to feed their children. We continue to buy more food than we need, so we are able to share with those who are in need.
We brought seeds with us this trip so we could plant our own garden (seedlings pictured above), and we've had much needed help from the villagers (helping build fence). Our garden has become a gathering place for the curious and it has prompted some to begin their own plots. We are slowly learning the fine art of gardening here in this tropical climate. They are teaching us their ways of mulching, what grows best where in the garden, spacing, organic fertilizing (water buffalo dung gathered fresh each morning), and other valuable tried and true methods that will help produce a healthy crop.
Our garden is becoming much more than just a vegetable garden! It has become an opportunity for us to share our lives with our neighbors. One day Donna was hot and sweaty with mud caked hands and feet, when the fifth family of the day came for a visit, interrupting her gardening efforts. Seeing her frustration with yet another interruption, the Spirit spoke to my heart, "Donna don't fret, Samagama is our garden", and immediately she also understood, we were sent here to plant, tend, and water the lives of our neighbors! Pray for the harvest!
Saturday, September 30, 2011 was International Children's Day and we took a field trip with 21 children from Samagama for a day of fun in Galle Park and Galle Fort. For many of our kids this was their first time to visit the park, with slides, merry-go-rounds, and other amusements. After lunch we walked over to Galle Fort, built in the 1500's by the Portegese. Through the years Galle was occupied by the Portegese, the Dutch, and the British. We visited a Dutch Reform church built in 1755, that still has a congregation that meets every Sunday. Today there are three Chrisitian churches, all dating to the 1700's, one Buddist Temple, and one Muslem Mosque, inside the Fort. The diversity of the Fort population is evident as we walked around the old narrow streets. Many of the old buildings have been renovated as shops and boutique hotels and guest houses. Our day ended at the beach where everyone enjoyed gathering shells, getting wet, and trying to get Donna & David in the waves! We survived with sand between our toes and semi-dry clothes!
