The school was on a high hill. It was in the thick jungle surrounded by tall palm and coconut trees. The school resembled a one room school house. Like other ones I had seen, there were no glass windows only a wire mesh fence like material as windows. The building was made of poured concrete slabs. A wide cricket or soccer pitch laid in front.
There was a plain white sign which read “Rebuilt with the generous support of Northern Ireland.” The school had been demolished during the 2004 tsunami. It was on a high hill. Had the waves reached that high? Perspective is important to fully grasp things.
Northern Ireland had been ravaged by civil war. Sri Lanka had been ravaged by civil war. The parallels were easy to see but the coming together in building this school were remarkable. The NI children had bake sales and sold cakes and pies to help raise money. The money did not come from some faceless government or NGO. It came from children wanting to help children. There is so much to learn from this.
I tried to talk to someone but classes were in session and I didn’t want to intrude so I asked a few questions and then moved down the trail to the base of the hill.
It had been worth it to climb.