We left for Vikumgama at 9am to arrive there at around 10am. Vikumgama is the most inland preschool, so instead of riding in a tuk tuk, we got the public bus. The bus journey went so quickly for me because I was busy practicing my speech in my head for the ceremony. At this point, I was so nervous! Did not want the bus journey to end! Nevertheless, when we got there, I was fine about it. When we arrived, Joy and Bandula met us and then the monks arrived in a tuk tuk. Then we walked up towards the school where the children greeted us and gave us all a bouquet of tropical flowers each. We literally had a few minutes until the ribbon had to be cut. Sri Lankans are very precise about time and school had to be officially opened at 10:02am. They work out the perfect time to cut the ribbon based on astronomy. If we were a minute late or early, they would believe it to be unlucky. I had the honour of cutting the ribbon, but knowing about the specific time and being a clumsy person I was a little bit nervous about it! However, it all went fine, Bandula was there to make sure I did it right. Once the plaque was unveiled, we all headed inside for the ceremony. There was a big turnout of villagers, so much that people were looking in through the windows. First of all, each one of us lit a candle, and then it was time for the spilling of the milk. Basically, they make a fire indoors and place a bowl of milk on top. Whilst the milk is boiling, a piece of string is passed round to each person to form a circle around the milk and the monks chant and sing until the milk overflows. The spilling of the milk over the edge gives luck and good fortune. After the ceremony was over, we had a bite to eat and then it was time for the speeches. A few Sarvodya gave their speeches first, in Singhalese. We could not understand but Bandula translated for us afterwards. Then it was Joys turn to make a speech and then it was my turn! I was so nervous! Nevertheless, it went well. I was talking on behalf of the whole team and just talked about how honoured we were to be there and to share the experience with them. I also talked about how we raised money for the cost of the building and ended the speech by giving gifts to the teacher. Each one of us handed the teacher a gift. One of which was Lego – the children absolutely loved it! They sat on the floor for the rest of the day playing with it. The last speech was from a woman who had been trying to get permission to build a community building for around 3 years. Again, we could not understand the speech because it was in Sinhalese, but we knew it was an emotional one because half way through she began to cry – Laura went up to hug her. Without even knowing what she was saying, we knew the building meant a lot to her, and it really made me realise how much we take for granted back home – like a simple building. After the Speeches were over, we all travelled over to one of the villagers houses in a van. When we arrived, we were greeted at the door by a woman with a glass of water on a plate. Before going in we had to touch the edge of the plate – yet to discover why this is! The villagers had prepared some traditional Sri Lankan food for us, which was amazing. The people were so nice as well, serving us and talking to us.

Overall, it was a special day, for the villagers and us. There was a great atmosphere when we got there and you could really tell that they were so appreciative. I feel proud to have contributed to the cost of the building.