My experiences at the Eco Community farm Sri Lanka- veleka

After a few months of travelling in Asia I decided to end my trip in beautiful Sri Lanka. Before entering the country I contacted the wwoof organization because I wanted to do some volunteering work. Very quickly I received an e-mail from Chaminda that I was welcome to the eco community farm in a place nearby Kurunegala. Chaminda also gave me some information how to reach the farm and which bus to catch.

In Sri Lanka I stayed first a few days in Negombo before I went to the farm. From Negombo I took the bus to Kurunegala, which takes around 2,5 hours. The buses where fully packed with passengers so I was lucky to have a seat!

At the Kurunegala bus station it was very busy. There where less tourists so immediately people came to me to ask where I wanted to go. The instructions of Chaminda told me to take a bus to Mollagollagama, a difficult name to pronounce! When I told people about the place they first did not understand and when I showed them the paper with the name I found out that they could not read… But after five minutes they showed me which bus I had to take. Again a bus full with people and sacks with rice… A lot of people stared at me, because I was the only white person. I told the ticketseller that I had to get off at the Saliyagaman junction , he promised me to warn  me when to get off.

After 30 minutes I asked again if we where not there yet and then I figured out that the trip to the junction also was around 2,5 hours!

The junction was a very quiet place with 2 very small shops and a postoffice. I tried to call Chaminda to pick me up from the junction but he did not answer his phone (busy with the cows or garden ??).  It was around 3 o’clock in the afternoon and a few tuk-tuk’s passed by. I flagged one down and showed him the address of the farm, he had no idea where it was… so he also had to ask people which way to go.

After a 10 minute ride in the tuk-tuk we went to an unpaved path, surrounded by trees. I was a little bit worried about where the driver was going because there was no sign or house in the neighbourhood. But after 5 minutes on a bumpy sand path we arrived at the eco farm where Talina welcomed me.

The other volunteers where still in the kitchen area, they just had a break. They offered me some sri lankan curry and I introduced myself to the group.

After a short walk through the fields of the farm one of the volunteers showed me my room. A nice hut with a wooden bed. The toilet was far away from my room and was just a small place with a squad toilet. The shower was next to the toilet, an even smaller place with only a bucket… I was glad to have a torch with me!

That evening we had another nice sri lankan curry meal, prepared by the cook Mala. There where only a few spoons so most of the people where eaten with their hands, like the Sri Lankans do. After some games and stories everyone went to bed around 21.30. With my torch I found the way to my room.

The next morning me and my roommate waked up around 6.30. I walked to the toilet and enjoyed the nice morning temperature. Around 7 we collected in the kitchen to sweep the floor and prepare a cup of tea. Together we decided what kind of jobs we where going to do. Till 9.30 we digged the ground and planted cowgrass. At 9.30 breakfast was ready and we could enjoy some rice with sambal (red pepper with coconut). After breakfast we started another job, building a house which was made of natural materials. Together we prepared mud and made balls to made walls from. In the meantime the sun was very strong so it was good to have a hat!

Lunch was around 1 o’clock, another nice rice meal prepared on the wooden fire. In Sri Lanka the main dish is rice, your plate is mostly filled with rice and you add vegetables or curry for some flavor. Most of the people are not used to eat 75% rice and 25% vegetables/curry but this is the way it goes here. After lunch we had some free time to do your laundry, relax a little bit or just chat in the kitchen. The kitchen is also the ‘living room’ of the farm.

Around 16.00 we started again with building the house until it was getting dark.

Everyone worked hard so we all needed a shower. One by one we went to the shower, a tiny place with only some wood around and a bucket with cold water. It was not the most comfortable shower but still very nice to clean yourself after a day of hard working!

Everyone collected again in the kitchen where we played some games and chatted. We where all hungry but wanted to wait until Chaminda also was there. Thelena had a hard task to collect all the 45 cows! Around 20.00 we had dinner all  together and talked about the day and some of us showed some magic card tricks or played guitar.

Around 21.30 I was so tired that I decided to go to bed, because work was waiting for me the next day….