The Full Story
Site Visit - Kadugama School
In August 2024, our founder Danika Gupta and Thrive Sri Lanka volunteers visited the Kadugama School near Anuradhapura Sri Lanka. Here are some notes and pictures from the visit.
On The Way
Driving to the school, you can see the lush greenery of rural Sri Lanka. These forests provide the foods that our program relies upon.
At the School
Arriving at the school, the students, teachers and the principal welcomed us with joy. Some of the teachers even brought their small kids from home!
Seeing the cooking in action
Checking out the meal that the kids were being served that day. We tried it - it was delicious. You can also see how they make an effort to include a mix or carbohydrates, proteins and fat, with greens well represented. Everything is locally sourced and cooked on site, with fresh locally-grown watermelon completing the meal.
Meeting the parents
We met the parents who take turns coming into the school every morning to cook. We have learned from experience that what they need is often not what we think. In this case, for example, they had a strong need for covers for the cooking pots, to keep food safe from instects.
And the kids!
The kids gathered for a brief assembly. You can see how, even though they have so little, they come from loving homes where parents put them in clean clothes and tidy hair every morning. The chairs they are sitting on are the ones from their classroom - they have no extra ones. After assembly, every kid (even the tiny ones) put their chair on their head and carried it back to their classroom.
We also noticed that there are fewer and few kids in the higher grades. The sad fact is that most of these children need to work to support their families, and many drop out of school before they are done.
Takeaways
It was a profound joy to meet these families, teachers and children, and learn about their lives.