I'm back from my trip to Sri Lanka and visiting a Buddhist monastery to deliver school supplies was one of the highlights. I thought that someone would just pick up the donations from my hotel but the head Buddhist monk invited us as his special guests and we visited the monastery for lunch as well as viewing special artifacts. Our tour guide is Buddhist and he received a special blessing so he was also very happy.
I would have liked to take more but couldn't fit more in my suitcase so will post more over soon. I took 45 sets of exercise books, pencils, erasers, sharpeners in drawstring bags; as well as 10 pairs of magnified reading glasses, some toys and 10 beanies for babies. Uniforms 4 Kids Victoria supplied 45 sets of coloured pencils and the remaining school supplies were provided by Jo Algie and her friends.
The Monk is responsible for 158 families living nearby and he provides food, school supplies, support etc as well as scholarships for 56 children. I asked what he needed and he said he doesn't like to ask for money and sending school supplies was an enormous help for the children and their families. The reading glasses were also much appreciated so if you have any glasses you no longer need I can post them over to him as many of the older people are unable to access reading glasses. He's a delightful man and it was a pleasure to meet him.
One of our tour members kindly stood in for the photo as the monk is not allowed to be photographed with a woman on her own.
Hugs, Jan Mac xx
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