Back in Colombo

Well, here we are, back in Colombo, entering our last week of the exchange.

I'm finding it hard to believe that we survived the 8 day road trip, completely intack, no one killing each other. You would think that all that time in the van together woud have been traumatic, but it really wasn't that bad.

Although, i did learn a thing or 2 about lacking mental capacity. It's kind of a crazy thought, but there were definitely times when i didn't think i would make it through the day.

So, now that we're back in Colombo, we survived our last 2 days on the road which were definitely our most hectic yet.

We went from meeting to meeting to meeting, which is really the way it is supposed to be. We learned a lot about commerce and rural health in the southern province, which was generally destroyed after the Tsunami.

What I have noticed most of all, is that the iNGO's came to Sri Lanka and then left. They created one off projects that were nice, but created a sense of dependibility on others that the local population didn't have before.

I think you can see it most clearly in the roads that were being built, or the random parks you would find.

Please, don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that it was wrong what the iNGO's brought, but they didn't look at the long-term benefit that they could provide the country.

This week, that is something we all hope to be able to provide. An idea, or concept that will provide hope for long-term success for many of the NGO's that we will be meeting.