6th March

The Mad Dog and the Englishman

Time for our first session here in Trinco. Chandra, our IOM translator, picked us up at 10 a.m. to head to the school via some shops to grab an important electrical lead. Having tried to email last night with no success - even though there were plenty of internet places, none of them would let me into my account - I didnt think we would manage to get the lead - but luckily I was proved wrong!

The session took place at Namagal Vidyalayam School and ran for 2 hours for 400 children. The session started at 12 noon, so it was really incredibly hot - I think these people have been listening to Noel Coward's songs - Charlie became the "Mad Dog" and I was the "Englishman"!

We started the usual way, with me warming (!) up the crowd and Charlie presenting the first part of his clown show.

Far too many children

There were far too many children for us to run the parachute games, so with Chandra's translation help we began some large-scale group games over the microphone. We had the children dancing, becoming trains, building cars in groups using their bodies, then more dancing. Thankfully this part of the session worked really well. It helped being in a school, where there are teachers to maintain some discipline - if we had been in a camp it would have been impossible to keep the focus with such large numbe

Coincidentally I.O.M. (as well as Teardrop/Impakt) also take milk and biscuits for the children - so everyone took a break to eat and cool off before we finished with the session with second half of the show.

Two good hours

The show seemed to go down really well with the children and with the school staff, which was a great relief! It's good to know we have 2 hours of material that works really well (and that's without the parachute games). The heat was very intense though, and we do need to be aware of it and take care - when we returned to the hotel, we were both feeling very flaked out. Luckily this hotel has a good shower and excellent air conditioning - I hope the accommmodation will be as comfortable in Batti and Ampara - fingers crossed!

Note from Bella

FROM BELLA IN THE GLASTONBURY OFFICE IN ENGLAND:

I've just spoken to Paddy again. His emails are going to be a bit erratic, as internetting is not always from the East coast of Sri Lanka. The Tour seems to be going really well. They have one more day of work in Trinco and then they will drive down to Batticalloa and do 3 days of shows and workshops there, before moving on Southwards to Ampara for their last few days before returning to Colombo. In Colombo they will do 2 more days of work in camps with Teardrop/Impakt, before flying back to England. They are feeling the heat a lot, but are in good form and enjoying themselves. So are the children!

Local newspaper coverage

HERE IS A NEWS PIECE AND PICTURES THAT WERE FEATURED ON "TAMILNET" IN SRI LANKA ABOUT TODAY'S SHOW AND GAMES.

(TamilNet, March 06, 2006 17:04 GMT)

The Children World International of United Kingdom with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Monday held a variety entertainment show as a part of traumatic counseling for tsunami-affected students in Trincomalee district.

About 500 students participated in the show held at Namagal Tamil Vidiyalayam, which is located in Trincomalee town.

Mr. Paddy Hill and Mr. Charlie Miller of the World Children International arrived from England and held the show with the participation of students.

Mr. Paddy Hill was the workshop leader. Parents and teachers also witnessed the show.

Mr.Wisanu Prawongchai, IOM Trincomalee head and his officials also participated.

Reproduction of this news item is allowed when used without

any alterations to the contents and the source, Tamilnet, is mentioned