Today was the official opening of the new school building in our village Gandarawatte. We were all very excited to see both the village and the school, where we will be working for the next 2 months.We were thankful for a more overcast, cooler day and luckily the rain held off for the course of the ceremony. Even though our trusty three-wheelers couldn’t handle the steep ascent to the school, we still arrived early and were met by members of the Sarvodaya organisation. The ceremony started with lots of Sri Lankan flags being waved (and some token British ones too!) and some of the younger children giving out flowers. It seemed the whole village had turned out to celebrate to opening of the school and the start of a new term. We looked around the new building which has a main central room, a separate kitchen area, and an office for the teacher. Finally we could see the direct results of all our fundraising efforts. After more traditional drumming and lighting of candles, we were led into the village hall for some welcome singing and dancing performances. This was followed by some speeches which lasted quite a while and although we couldn’t understand a lot it was clear to all of us how very appreciative the whole community was of the efforts of all involved in the construction of the new building. It became clear that to the villagers it was more than just a new room for education but is a place for the whole of the village to use for whatever purpose and will improve the standard of living.We were kindly invited to lunch and here were formally introduced to staff working in the school and members of the village. This concluded the ceremony and we headed back to the guest house for a swim and a nap.Although we weren’t in Gandarawatte for too long I felt very overwhelmed but at the same time excited at the summer ahead.