Day 10: A second visit to The Haven

As we had our breakfast we heard reports of the widespread rioting in London and England, and with our thoughts starting to turn towards returning home we prayed about the situation and discussed various plans should we need them for places to stay overnight once we arrived at Heathrow.

We once again walked to the Haven, and using the materials Sarah had brought and her guidance we led a craft session for some of the women at Sunshine House using fluorescent paper, glue and glitter – which got absolutely everywhere as some women were decorating themselves with it rather than the paper! It was evident to see that everyone had a great time in this session.

 One of the Majors working at the Haven looks on at the craft session

After a tea break we went outside to the courtyard for classic balloon games resulting in mayhem and a lot of fun! We then blew up the rest of the balloons and handed them out, and the little girl who had spent a lot of time with us yesterday was delighted with it as we played catch. She was even starting to pick up a few English words and delighted in repeating them! (For my part, I learnt that 'balle' is Sinhalese for 'ball'!)

After playing games in the hot sun we went inside for lunch, some much needed refreshments! We then returned to join in reading and playing with the residents, and generally just show them love. It was probably the hottest that afternoon for all the time we spent in Sri Lanka, at one point in an attempt to keep cool I was embarrassedly being being fanned by three of the women with books!

Doreen had brought a box of chalk with her, and we used this in the courtyard for drawing, writing and hopscotch on the concrete. I surprised myself with an excellent picture of a coconut tree which the kids could instantly recognise! 

 The next street artist!

 Some of the women writing with the chalk

It then came time to leave and say goodbye to everyone at The Haven, and some of the women wanted to collect our signatures so we wrote them small thank you notes. We bought some cola and cake and headed on over to THQ to throw a thank you party for everyone that had contributed to our trip. Unfortunately the Community Capacity Development guys couldn't make it, but we said thanks to Commissioners William and Debra Mockabee (the Chief of Staff and Territorial secretary for Women's Ministries), Captains Sharon and Jason Dannock (the Projects Officer and her husband) and their two children, and Major Nihal Hettiarachchi (who had driven us down to Hikkaduwa) and his wife. William Mockabee informed us that 9 of the 25 people invited to the Salvation Army in Colombo from Hikkaduwa for a few days (including attending the Social Services Sunday Service) had made commitments to Christ – Hallelujah! They told us that they were naturally concerned about revealing this to their Buddhist families, and they remain in my prayers.

After saying our goodbyes we headed back to the Training College to freshen up before heading out one last time in tuk tuks for our final meal together. We had been invited round Sharon and Jason's flat, so we popped in before we left. Being from a western background (Sharon is Canadian and Jason is Australian) they had their flat laid out much as those homes we had left behind, with a large TV, DVDs, shelves full of books etc. It was actually a culture shock after visiting the many people in Sri Lanka with their few possessions, and it really brought home to me the stark differences in our lifestyles. How little do we recognise how fortunate we are with all the things that we have, yet it is never enough as our materialistic culture is always on a trend of chasing more. It is a sad truth that we never seem to be satisfied and grateful with what we have, and yet after this time spent in Sri Lanka you realise how little most of our stuff is really worth. This is something that will definitely stick with me.

Over our meal we discussed our highlights and challenging and emotional times. My highlights were experiencing and seeing the behaviours and actions of the CCD team down in the Hikkaduwa region who had been so welcoming and helpful to us, but in who you could also see the love of Christ in the way they went about their work for the Salvation Army when working for the people we visited. I learnt a lot from them. The most challenging aspect for me was seeing the pictures drawn by children after the Tsunami in the photo museum, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts.

On the way back across town to our waiting beds, we were stopped by the barriers at a railway crossing and warning bells ringing for an approaching train. Our drivers informed us, 'should be about 5 minutes wait', in which time we mainly messed about with cameras taking silly photos. After about 5 minutes, the barriers went up without warning and without sight or sounds of a train! The drivers found this very funny (as did we), exclaiming 'No train!' as we drove on.

 Messing about waiting for a train that would never pass...

We rounded off our trip with Sam reading Isaiah 58 v 6-12, followed by a time of prayer. My Bible reading for this day though will be Luke 22 v 24-27 – words from Jesus which have been highlighted by the many wonderful people working for the Salvation Army that we have met, and also are words that we have tried to live out. 

“Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them. Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.”

Day 9: Visit to 'The Haven', a Salvation Army home for women in Colombo

After breakfast we made the short walk to the Haven from the Training College, the Salvation Army's home for women. Once there we were briefed on the work of the home, and the backgrounds of the women who wereliving there. There were several different parts to the Haven, the major section being called 'Sunshine House', housing women who had been remanded by the Sri Lankan courts for them to stay until their cases came to trial. Some women could be living in Sunshine House for years whilst waiting for their cases to be heard; we spoke to an 18 year old woman who had been living there for 6 months and still had no court date. 

Another section at the haven was a maternity suite for the women residents, some who would come to the Haven pregnant as a result of abuse. There were a couple of very young babies when we visited, one only a month old that was being put up for adoption. The Salvation Army had counsellors who would come in daily to speak with all the women, and would try to counsel those pregnant to keep their children due to the belief that children are better off with their own parents, but would support the women should they still wish to put their children up for adoption. If the women decided to keep their children, then there were facilities for them to remain at the Haven with their mothers until the age of 5, when they would then be moved to a nearby children's home ran by the Army.

 The dining room at the Haven - exactly 6 foot 4 tall!

Also at the Haven was a small section for up to 10 children aged 3-5 to live in as for whatever reason their parents couldn't support them (the Salvation Army would first see if they could support families to look after their children before moving them to the Haven). When we visited, there were 6 children there, who had sung the chorus, 'Rejoice, rejoice, and again I say rejoice' over and over at the previous evening's Social Sunday service at Colombo Central, much to the amusement of everyone there! We were blessed for them to sing it to us again on the Monday morning!

Women are remanded to Sunshine House by the courts supposedly for their own protection, and are forbidden to leave the site by the courts even though they are the victims. Sunshine House has bars on the windows (due to legislation), and there were three rooms where 20 women would sleep on bunk beds in a room that would be locked at night. The bedrooms were very bare except for the precious few belongings the women owned, although the walls were decorated with drawings and pictures stuck up. The Sri Lankan authorities viewed The Haven as a top example of this type of facility for women, showing it to visitors who came to see their legal system, which was a bit of a shock to our western standards, and we dared not to think what the other places would be like. This article on AlJazeera throws some light on conditions for other reprimanded and jailed citizens, which really puts into perspective how The Haven is such an improvement - that's not to say there isn't room for improvement though, and that's where departments such as the Salvation Army's UK International Development come in, advising and helping the people running these facilities.

One of the bedrooms viewed through the bars

There was a 60 year old women that had been referred to The Haven the previous day by the courts, although she had been granted permission to leave the site should she wish, and she told us that there hadn't been a bed for her so one of the children had given up her bed out of respect and slept on the floor. As she pointed out, this was hardly ideal. It turned out she had used to be a maths/science teacher at a local college.

There are several skill sessions ran at The Haven during the week, from IT skills being taught by a specialist tutor on donated laptops to craft activities ran by a Dutch woman. The items made in this activity would be sold in the Salvation Army's small shop by THQ for around 200 rupees each (just over £1), with half the money going towards buying new materials and helping to fund The Haven, and half to a bank account for the woman who made the item so that they had some money to draw upon when they left. A charity called 'Emerge' ran these jewellery sessions, with most bracelets and necklaces being sold through the Salvation Army in the US.

After our morning tour of The Haven we sat down for tea before joining in with the various sessions being ran, talking to the women and playing with the kids. Doreen had brought some items from her kids work supply in England, including toy cars, modelling balloons and a parachute and beach ball! In an instant, the place was filled with happiness and laughter as the kids and women played parachute games, and I found myself in demand as I could remember how to make balloon dogs!

 Doreen and myself join in with the parachute games!

After lunch we returned to 'work' in the Haven. Helen and I went to the live-in children's section, but left when we saw they were on their siesta and returned to Sunshine House. People were also sleeping here (it was incredibly hot in these afternoons), and we quietly spoke to some of the residents that could speak English. After a time, one of the women got a large washing basin, turned it upside and proceeded to use it as a drum, as they all joined in singing songs in Sinhalese. They asked Helen and I to sing something, so we sang 'Who's the King of the Jungle', and 'Our God is a Great Big God' complete with actions, which they found hilarious! Doreen arrived shortly after, and we proceeded onto all manner of things including 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes', patter cake, etc. etc. They then got the radio out and Helen was all to keen to show her dance moves!

There was a little girl and boy who spent a lot of time with Helen and I, from what I could gather the boy's mother had ran away with her new-born baby leaving him behind, and he now stayed at the Haven. They were delighted to see us and show us around the place, and told us all manner of things – unfortunately we don't have a clue what they were telling us as they were speaking Sinhalese! They acted like any UK kids would, children really do seem to be universal in their actions.

After spending most of the day at the Haven, we headed to 'Paradise Road', an ethically trading shop where I purchased a few hand-crafted items for the family. We headed back to the Training College by tuk tuks again after dinner after a very tiring day. We finished with Uno though, obviously!

It was great to see how just a little bit of love showed by the Journey team had uplifted The Haven, and after such a day 1 John 4 v7-12 and 19-21 seems very appropriate. It was tough, however, to see how in developing countries facilities like The Haven are a positive thing for the citizens, yet they still fall short of our Western standards. This is a challenge that organisations like The Salvation Army are aware of, and are constantly striving to improve. This Journey trip has showed me though how by God's grace and power we can see a need, and then work to meet that need, restoring lives in the process. Praise God!

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us...We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”