Well we've reached the end of the trip - and in the last couple of weeks we've continued some great work at the orphanage and scored some epic waves. The work at the boys home became more frustrating for us as time wore on. the more we visited, the more apparent was the neglect of the management over the kids, despite a number of different charities trying to work with them to improve the health of the boys. The problems faced at this orphanage are similiar to problems faced throughout Sri Lanka by aid agencies. There is no lack of charities, what is lacking is a just and fair structure through which aid can be directed where it is really needed.

The problem at this orphanage is not a lack of money - the management know they can get more than what they need from various sources. The problem is that:

• a) some of the money is syphoned off for 'other' purposes, and
• b) what is really needed is trained staff that actually care for the welfare of the children.

At Barunsriya there is one guy running the place day to day, and he used to work on a tea plantation - he doesn't have a clue about child welfare!!! Every day we visited we ran a 'clinic', and tried to patch up the cuts, sores and infections that occured on the children daily.

We also got stuck in with some manual labour, giving the orphanage a good make over, digging some drainage ditches and trying to make the place cleaner and healthier. The kids are kind of left to look after themselves, so as you can imagine, as with most 8 year olds, hygiene isn't high on the agenda!!!

But most important of all was just spending time with the kids especially the younger ones. Sadly, there ain't no-one else to give them the time of day... it always ended up being good fun for both of us, whether it was a game of cricket, the human climbing frame game or just jabbering at each other in our different languages...

Despite the difficulties in distributing aid in developing countries like Sri Lanka, the people of these countries continue to need our help. There is no doubt that the work being done by various charities and the donations we make from the west do make significant differences to people's lives. Let's keep it up!!!!