Buying supplies: the long journey to Kilinochchi

Friday, January 14, 2005

Today the team of volunteers from Serendib Sri Lanka in Ratnapura embarked on the long journey to Kilinochchi, approximately 450 miles from our headquarters in the capital of Sabaragamuwa Province. The journey was long and tiring, but the members enjoyed each other’s company, and several stops along the way served as a relief for the bumpy ride and sweltering heat.

We stopped on several occasions – once to procure school bags, mats, socks, caps, milk powder, and other various sundry items that we could not locate yesterday in Ratnapura. In order to be most efficient, our team of 24 people divided themselves into four subgroups each of which was given the responsibility of acquiring the necessary items.

At each juncture along the way we found ourselves purchasing more items – from coconuts to toothpaste, and also water pots for the families to carry their water from well to camp. Interviews with the members ¾ of the way through the journey revealed different dreams and desires about the future of Serendib and its role in the rehabilitation and reconstruction effort of Serendib.

We arrived in Vavuniya at around 8 p.m, exactly 12 hours after we had departed Ratnapura. Tired and hungry, we still faced the job of packing the nearly 2,000 items that we had bought during the past 24 hours of preparation. Everyone is fatigued and it is nearly midnight, and tomorrow promises to be a hectic day as we will have to pass through a military checkpoint into the Tamil controlled area of the northeastern coastline.

Tucker

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