The Program

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August 24, 2010

Yesterday, Chaminda, the Sri Lanka WWOOF director,  told Jean and me that there would be a
program today. I have noticed that Chaminda can be a little vague sometimes when it comes to details. Our
last "program" was a few days ago. A couple of dozen children came to the DDC. Well, Chaminda
referred to them as children but they were aged anywhere from 12 to 20. Chaminda and several other of
the DDC staffers held sessions including a film and book discussion, and lectures covering the history
of computing and civil awareness. At one point Chaminda turned to Jean and me and asked if we would
like to present something to the children in English.

"When?" I asked.

"Oh, now."

"Okay."

*    *    *

So, yesterday I peppered Chaminda with questions about the program gathering that it would be about
conservation in nearby village, with adults and there wouldn't be any English instruction. I still wasn't
clear as to what role Jean and I would play.

We left the the DDC at 8:30 in the company van with Chaminda and and two other DDC staffers. After
a breakfast in a road side cafe of rice and dhal we arrived in the the village of Pahalwewa about ten in
the morning.


Tusita (foreground) is checking out the collection pond
Pahalwewa is in a dry zone of Sri Lanka. "Dry zone" I believe is a term relative to Sri Lanka as it
looked pretty lush to me. In August we are approaching the end of the monsoon season. Mid September
through the February rain is infrequent. Then the monsoons come again for a few months.


Tusita, one of the DDC staffers, has been working with the villagers to develop methods to be better
prepared for the dry season. 38 families in the village opted to have water retention ponds dug. Funding
came from a combination DDC and the participating families.


The goal of today's visit was to check on the condition of the ponds. Most of the ponds consisted of a
kidney shaped depression and an earthen dam built up one side. The opposite side was left at surface
level to allow water to flow in. The primary object of the ponds is to trap the water temporarily on the
surface so it can be absorbed into the soil. Underground, water is protected from evaporation and
readily accessible to plants.


Chaminda is showing us an interesting plant. You plant a branch of it and it will develop roots and start leafing out. It's a nitrogen fixer and the leaves are good for composting.
Tusita was looking at how the orientation of the ponds was working and the efforts the families were
taking to plant on the the dams to prevent erosion. I lost count of how many of the ponds we checked
out so I don't know if we made it to all 38 but we saw a lot. Chaminda put me charge of photography so
I now have a couple hundred megabytes of pictures of muddy pits.


Rooftop water collection system
It was an interesting tour as checking out the retention pond usually meant a trip into a families back
garden. I was amazed by some of the conservation techniques the villagers were using that have just
recently become the rage in America including solar cells and roof water collection systems. We were
also give loads of fruit and produce including guava, wood apples, bananas, melons and jack fruit.

Comments

sly said…
What is that last picture showing? Do we know jack fruit by some other name? Nice to get an up-close-and-personal tour!
13 October 2010 at 08:23
sly said…
Did you realize that this is blog #50 for this year? Wow...I am impressed and grateful! And we haven't heard all about Sri Lanka, or your second trip to India, or Thailand....can't wait!!
14 October 2010 at 08:55
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