The Field and the Flood

When international development professionals say they are working "in the field" it means they leave the home office behind and go to a place where the people their programs serve actually live.  It's easy to feel disconnected sitting in an air conditioned country headquarters, and I've been appreciative in the past couple weeks to make two field visits - one to a flood emergency in the southern district of Kalutara, and another to conduct interviews for a project proposal in the eastern district of Batticaloa. I'll speak about Kalutara today, as it really deserves its own post.

Kalutara is only about an hour south of Colombo, and was hit badly on June 1 by monsoon rains that came after a long drought - causing 26 deaths and over 17,000 Sri Lankans to be displaced from their homes. It's not an emergency that got much international coverage, but a devastating one all the same. Our job was to conduct a rapid needs assessment of the situation to have the knowledge to target our response. Save the Children not only provides humanitarian relief (food, tarps, water, etc.) during such emergencies, but also is looked upon to lead the education response for children. Schools are often closed for extended periods of time, meaning that children miss instruction and tests. In this disaster, the Ministry of Education asked us to provide kits to replace lost school materials.

Along with two colleagues I traveled to the district and visited local government offices overseeing the distribution of dry goods, a shelter in a Buddhist temple for displaced families, and a town that had been separated by a flooded rice paddy. We saw children, dogs, and adults taking small boats across the paddy, and we took a ride as well to survey the extent of the flooding. We interacted with numerous people who spoke of the hardships they are currently facing: flooded wells that mean they do not have clean drinking water, lost crops that will yield extended economic shocks to their families, and destroyed possessions.

Flood waters cover ride paddies, ruining this year's harvest

A woman shows us the water line on her home

Children paddle onto the once-paddy, their town separated by the floodwater

People gather outside a local shelter for displaced families, their homes still at risk for landslide

Most saddening was visiting a community on a hillside that is at constant risk for landslides when it rains. This disaster took the lives of two small children, who were trapped in a house that was destroyed when the landslide came. Even the local elementary school is not safe. A young man at the shelter told us that families are nervous for their children's safety every time it rains even a bit.  The school is mostly attended by poorer families, as richer families are able to send their children elsewhere. The school has been in its current spot for 78 years, and the village's campaign to have the school moved has thus far not been successful.

Exploring with my own dusty feet, or on three wheels

Today is a Buddhist and public holiday here - the Poson Full Moon Poya Day, which celebrates the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka from India. Thus, I have a nice little break from the office and am spending it in a local coffee shop with a (somewhat weak) ice latte, A/C, and free wifi.

The prevalence of coffee shops, restaurants, parks, and other public gathering spaces here stands out as a clear contrast to life in Bangladesh. While the Colombo streets can sometimes still shock the senses, there are more places to go and easier ways to get there. When I can't take the heat I hail one of the ubiquitous three-wheeler open air taxis, or more accurately one hails me. Many of the taxis here have meters (oh happy day!). Determined not to be hoodwinked, my normal procedure is to ask if the driver has a meter and then wait while he turns it on before I hop in. The cost of a meter taxi is 50 LKR (about $0.40) per kilometer - I can get most places in the city for no more than $2. Most of the drivers speak at least a bit of English, and now that I know my way around a bit I can direct with "right" and "left." So via my own feet or on three wheels, I am mobile.

Colombo is a sprawling metropolis of about 4.5 million people - no other cities in this country come close to its size. There is no clear city center, rather neighborhoods designated by both their own number and name that seep into eachother. I live and work in Colombo 5, also known as Havelock Town. I'm a short walk to Galle Road, the main thoroughfare running parallel to the sea. On this road one can find numerous shopping centers, small stores, local and international restaurants, at least one movie theater, and lots of construction. Colombo is certainly "developing" in the technical sense of the word. A major project seems to be building a consistent sidewalk for the length of Galle Road, which means that pedestrian ways can currently get a bit interesting. Dusty feet, I haz them!

When I step outside here, the first thing to hit me is the humidity. It hovers around 85 degrees Fahrenheit, but add extreme humidity to that and you've got a sticky situation. Even if I only walk the short distance to the office, I arrive with a sweaty face. The next thing I notice is how tropically beautiful this place is. Large, green leaves and flowers of deep yellows and reds creep out from fences and line the streets. I often play "spot the fruit" when I am walking and try to guess what is growing on a particular tree. In contrast to the frenetic rush of the main roads, the neighborhoods here exude a quiet calm that is only punctuated by birds chirping and the occasional three-wheeler dropping off or vocally trying to pick up.

When I am not exploring the city solo or with friends or traveling in the field I am either at work or at home. I continue to really enjoy my job and will post details about my field visits to Kalutara and Batticaloa soon. And my apartment here is huge and grand, if in a somewhat strange way. I have a spacious kitchen, dining room, living room, and two bedrooms to myself, all decorated in a 1960s Grecian villa style. There are lots of quirks (including a plethora of light switches that lead to nowhere, a currently dysfunctional fridge, and occasional critter friends), but overall it's a fine situation.

Oh, and what am I eating? Lots of fruit, for one. My fruit-adoring eyes have been a bit bigger than my stomach, and I need to curtail my purchases. But that's difficult when I see this every day:

Rambutan and Durian

For lunch there's the typical rice and curry packet. This consists of a whole lot of rice with various vegetable dishes and sometimes spicy fish wrapped up in plastic and paper for quick eating. Dinner curries can be more elaborate with crab, prawns, or other proteins and lots of "sides" that put Popeye's to shame. People keep asking me here if the food is too hot for me, but I always explain that I grew up on Cajun food and like the spice! Regardless, I am sure they still tone it down a bit. Other traditional dishes that I have enjoyed include "string hoppers" - clusters of rice noodles that are dipped into a sauce, "egg hoppers," - think a crispy crepe with a softly fried egg in the center, and "pol sambol" - a mixture of coconut flakes and spices that is typically served as a garnish for curries. It's all pretty tasty :)

Egg Hopper with Pol Sambol

Crab curry with all the fixins. Sure glad I know how to take those bad boys apart.

My Welcome from Colombo: Rice & Curry and Fingers Like Sausages

This weekend marks my second in Colombo, and I decided it was time to put fingers to keyboard again and record some of my summer experiences in spicy, beautiful, and very hot Sri Lanka. It’s so hot here that after a two-hour walk in the city last weekend said fingers swelled to the size of sausages and I began experiencing symptoms of heat rash. I’m currently writing from my apartment with two fans whirring. My place comes equipped with A/C, but as electricity costs are exorbitant here I often just try to sweat it out.  In any case it’s much preferable to DC cold.

I'll provide more explanations later of my first impressions and what it's like to live here, but for now some images from my first few days:



So what exactly am I doing here? I’ll be on this tropical teardrop for the next two months doing an internship with Save the Children, an international NGO focused on child rights – an important topic here following the end of the civil war in 2009.  My office is in Colombo, the capital city, but I will have many opportunities to travel to the field. And after one week I can definitively say that I will learn alot this summer. I've been quickly involved in the research and writing of a major project proposal, included on a number of meetings to learn about and contribute to STC initiatives here, and tasked to go to the field last Thursday to conduct a rapid assessment of a devastating flood in the South (post to come). Tomorrow I'll head to Batticaloa (via   overnight bus womp womp), a city on the east coast, to conduct a couple days of interviews and research for the proposal I'm assisting on. My colleagues have been more than friendly and inclusive and there's endless free tea, an office cat, and a very kind and tiny lady who picks up a rice and curry lunch packet for me every day. Another bonus is that my office is a mere two minute walk from my apartment - I'd say that's probably the best commute I'll ever have.

Last night I learned from a friend that Sri Lankans (like Louisianans!) use their hand to show people where cities are on this island. Bring all your fingers together and squint your eyes a bit and you’ve got this shape:

Sri Lanka is about half the size of Alabama with the Indian Ocean to its west and the Bay of Bengal to its east. India is to the very close northwest. Before I arrived I heard rave reviews of its sandy beaches, lovely tea growing regions, copious tropical fruits, sinful food, and friendly people. And while my primary purpose of being here is to improve my knowledge and skills as a development professional, I certainly plan to imbibe in all of those things.

And did ya know? The Arabic name for Sri Lanka is "serendib," which is the basis for the English word serendipity. It's probably my favorite word and concept in English, and I will certainly make note of any serendipitous experiences to befall me here :)