Day 1 at SEDS

Yesterday evening finished with a short walk up to the cross roads between SEDS and the village. When we reached the cross roads we stopped a short while with Ronny talking a little with a few people before we walked back. Word must have spread quickly, as walking back we gathered a following of children, some shy and some cheeky, all wanting to shake hands, ask our name and our country, and to say hello. They followed us a little while until one of them plucked up the courage to ask us to take a photo, this call was quickly taken up by other children, and we couldn't resist the cute little chorus of "one photo please mister! One photo!"

One photo!

The arid landscape outside the farm

Our first full day in SEDS was pretty casual. We had a tour of the farm, which actually includes various places for accommodation, training, all the offices, a tailoring and sewing/handicrafts workshop (called the production centre), and a small primary school as well as a bit of agriculture. Some of the buildings have previously had different purposes and have been repurposed as projects change.

Previously a medical centre, the medical stuff was taken over by the government and this building now houses the production centre upstairs and store rooms below.

This is the hostel where a few school-age boys still live. These boys are not able to live with family, due to abandonment, becoming orphans, or being mistreated. The hostel element of SEDS' work is being phased out.

Ronny and his 'grave stone'

A view from the roof of the production centre

Dogs enjoy views too!

In the afternoon we went for a drive into Penukonda town. It is several kilometres (maybe 15 or 20kms) away from here, although the driving is slow and there are random unmarked speed bumps to keep an eye out for along the way… We didn’t get to explore in Penukonda though on this occasion, we just got to visit the new supermarket – the first in Penukonda, and the size of a small shop back home – to buy some laundry detergent for handwashing our clothes while we’re here.

Me and Manil inspecting the supermarket offerings

Penukonda's first supermarket

I didn’t manage to get photos en route, as being the smallest I was made to sit in the middle when we were driving, but there were lots of monkeys causing hanging about the roadside as well, very funny to see! Viewing the monkeys in a different light, later that evening Alex and I got to patrol for monkeys with an air rifle, trying to shoot them in the bum to get them to stop coming onto the farm and destroying the tree crops such as the coconuts. We have been assured that the air rifle pellets don’t do any harm when fired from a distance, but the monkeys have previously caused a lot of harm to the dogs at the farm, with one dog dying from the injuries inflicted by the monkeys.