Wednesday 29th July by Andy

Once again we began our day at the village with the pre-school for the first couple of hours as the older children had another exam for most of the day.Following that, we went with a couple of the schools staff to a nearby house in the village where we helped to lay a new section of road that lead to several houses in another part of the village. Many other villagers, men and women had also turned up to help with the project which was funded by the local Government. Mixing cement and carrying buckets, we really felt part of the community helping in everyday life and meeting people we had not met yet.

After another massive lunch put on for us by one of the women in the village, we were taken to the house of one of the pre-school teachers where we watched a family prepare for a Buddhist ceremony to be taking place that night. Inside the living room was a large alter that was skillfully crafted from bamboo and palm trees that we were told formed the focal point of the particular tradition. We also got the chance to hear the teacher performing on his home-made drum kit made out of wood, boxes and old x-ray films used as the skins on the drums. It sounded so good and rivaled the sound of any other ‘normal’ drum kit, until Andy got his hand on the sticks and the quality of performance went slightly downhill!