Today we were finally able to squeeze water from a rock by getting permission to build (in writing) from the Divisional Secretary's Office in Balapitiya. As a result, the wheels have been officially set in motion and the process of buying and mobilizing material for the 40 temporary houses and community shelter is underway. If this portion goes anything like the bureaucratic governmental process we experienced to get the permission, we won't have everything we need until Christmas. Let's keep our fingers crossed, eh?

Adam will be re-joining the AED team here in Colombo shortly, so you can expect to see him back online accordingly. He told me that the golf tournament/fundraiser he attended in Arizona was very successful and that it raised a significant amount of money. He even mentioned that he did an interview with ABC News and Good Morning America. So let me see if I have this straight: I am sweating to death in Sri Lanka doing his clerical work while he is doing interviews with my current employer and playing golf......hmmmm.....

As most of you are painfully aware, I have not been the model of consistency previously established by Mr. Adam. I am however, the bearer of some exciting news, so show some compassion and cut the rookie some slack

First and foremost, AED and I (Aaron Taylor) have teamed up to do something a little unconventional and unprecedented for both of us: build temporary houses. After assessing the immediate needs of many communities, it was determined that one way our team could lighten the load of reconstructing the Sri Lankan communities was to build temporary shelters for those affected families that were within the 100M mark and thus left with no place to go. And with the monsoon season approaching, tents, no matter what the quality, will not cut the mustard (or the torrential rain, for that matter). I am excited to report that the proposal that our team submitted to the Divisional Secretary's office in Balapitiya (which oversees Kosgoda) was verbally cleared and approved late Tuesday afternoon. Representatives from our team will meet with the Divisional Secretary on Thursday morning to pick up the signed approval, and have been told that the former school site will be cleared of existing rubble (not at our expense!) by days end. Keep your fingers crossed.....

In an effort to foster community building and uphold AED's mission of educating Sri Lanka's young people, we have also decided to build a temporary "community center" that will contain two classrooms to be used for English classes on weekends. This center will literally be in the center of the development, and our hope is that it becomes a focus point for the community. Further, we have established criteria for the residents who will receive a home, and they are as follows: keep the area clean, help construct their own home, help construct the home of another, and agree to send their children to English classes on weekends. Sounds good in theory, but we'll see how it goes. Bottom line is that we are excited and ready for the challenge that lies ahead, and expect to be pounding nails no later than Monday the 28th.

On a more relaxing note, while I have been diligently working on the above project and trying to set the world's record for eating curry, the entire AED staff went away to the central region for a weekend retreat as a necessary and earned respite for their unremitting effort and courage displayed since Dec. 26th. Many of them worked continuously around the clock, 7 days per week in many cases, and the time off was more than necessary. You would be proud to see how hard they have worked, without complaint, and their conduct has taught me plenty about what it means to be of service.

Oh yeah, Adam and I have apparently been so impressed with what we have seen out of each other, that we have somehow naively agreed to allow me to sit on the AED board. And just when you thought it was safe to go back in to the water.......

My name is Aaron and I will be taking over the daily logs for Adam in his absence while he is away. I will of course not be as involved in AED’s everyday operations, but I will certainly try to give you the gist of what I know to be happening over here on this small island in the Indian Ocean.

Well, in spite of the LTTE’s attempt to scare the daylights out of everyone in our crew, I am happy to report that all have made it safely back to the Colombo area and that AED has once again left its mark in a positive way. On Feb 14, the Tigers of Tamil decided to do a little show and tell for the entire Kirimichei camp. Needless to say, some very fast-paced dirt bike riding, a deliberate stroll through both sides of camp by AK-47 toting Tiger Pups (most didn’t look older than 19, and some much younger than that), and a few inquisitive questions about this wonderful blue building with permanent fans inside was enough to keep all on edge. In this case, however, the cat’s meow was worse than its bite, and the unprecedented visit was noteworthy for that exact reason; it had not happened before. And when you stop to look at it from their side, they were probably just interested in what AED was doing since they have made gazillion trips back and forth to the camp since December 27th. Meow.

Want to know what your efforts and hard work have accomplished this last trip? Try this on for size:
- Provided and installed 3 electrical fans and one kerosene generator (to help create a learning environment conducive to learning)

- Constructed a brick generator house to muffle the noise and to ensure a safe location for the generator along with two (2) 55 gallons drums of kerosene and 10 gallons of gas (Petrol)

- Built a western style toilet with a pretty ingenious bidet (I’ll leave it up to your imaginations!)

- Put in a well (hand-pump style) near the school to provide water for, amongst other things, the toilet.

- 2 sewing machines, 120 square yards of fabric, scissors, needles, thread, and buttons to repair and make clothing.

- Dry ration parcel for 106 families which included (Rice Bag- 12 lbs, Curry powder, salmon fish tin)

- Personnel hygiene pack for 106 families, which included (Sanitary napkins, tooth paste, tooth brush, washing soap, Razors)

- School items for the children (Pastel boxes, Pens, Pencils, Erases, Pencil sharpeners,

- Toys for the children – Dolls and Cricket batsFinally, yesterday morning as we put the finishing touches on the improvements we made and were getting ready to head out, AED again met with the Secretary to the Minister of Education. By the end of that meeting we were informed of two very exciting things. First, the government has agreed in principle to build a permanent school adjacent to the Kirimichei camp on an 8 acre parcel...the groundbreaking of which should start sometime next week, according to SLGT of course (Sri Lankan Government Time). Secondly, in the interim, AED’s school will be provided two additional teachers (one started as we were still having the meeting!), and the other was to start today. For the kids’ sake, we were both happy relieved that the government was finally showing a concerted effort to ensure that learning would take place.

The bruises are starting to really show on the right side of my shoulder, arm, and thigh. And even though the accident was clearly the bus driver's fault, if I had been going slower I would have certainly had more options. Worse than the bruises are the loss of my truck at such a busy time; we still don't know what the repairs will entail, or how long it may take to fix.

We spent most of the day at the office, putting together a strategic plan for AED and the rebuilding of our schools as well as the newly planned, Boys Safari Camp for tsunami orphans. Aaron Taylor left with our AED team for another trip to our AED School at the Kirimichchi Camp in eastern Sri Lanka. I had to stay behind to host representatives of several international NGO's that are looking for local partners; the latest one is called Assist International.

I will be heading out to join Aaron Taylor tomorrow and bringing with me the president of Assist International, Mr. Bob Pagett. I had not had the privilege of meeting Mr. Pagett before today, though we have been exchanging emails over the past several weeks. His organization based in Santa Cruz, California, works closely with Rotary Clubs in the Bay Area by providing anything from 2 million dollar desalination water purifiers to small relief bundles for refugee children. Bob flew in today from Uganda, where he has been providing relief material in the IDP (internally displaced persons) camps in the north of that country.

Today I met with the owner of the 3 acre piece of land, and it appears we have agreed on a price (US $144,000). I'm not quite sure yet how we will pay for this, but I feel confident it is meant to be, and the vision for this. Safari Boys Camp for tsunami children is growing among our staff.

Tomorrow, Aaron Taylor will be leading our team out to Kirimichchi Camp once again. I will be joining them on Saturday. Today we received an email from a company in Canada that is going to donate a water purification system for the camp. That will be a tremendous relief.

We met today with the Child Probation department regarding AED securing more tsunami orphans. The Child Probation department is not interested in our transitional plan for getting the children out of the refugee camps and into our care, unless we can provide a permanent place for them. Thus accelerating our need for a large and new permanent place for these children; we have found a 3 acre sight almost across the street from Samudra Sri, and we will begin negotiating on a price for this place immediately. My plan is to acquire this property, and turn it into a Safari Boys Camp. This address two issues: (1) we have only two years left before we must separate all of the boys from the girls at Samudra Sri, (2) by taking the boys from Samudra Sri, we can use that vacated space for girls, thus doubling our capacity. We should be able to accommodate at least 200 boys at this new sight (if we get it).

I'm thinking of a place like 'Jurassic Park' for boys, sans-dinosaurs. It would have 'Robinson Crusoe' style huts, rope bridges, rope swings, boats (the property is adjacent to the lagoon) and anything one can think of that would be adventurous yet safe for boys of all ages. This is certainly in the nascent stage, but I think we can create a place of security, healing and growth for the boys that have lost everything. If anyone is interested in helping with this (both by coming out and helping us build it up, or with financial help) please contact me ASAP.

Our team arrived today back to Colombo from the Kirimichchi Camp. The reports coming back regarding our new school at the camp are very encouraging. Under the leadership of Aaron Taylor, our AED team spent several days working with the children and assisting the teachers. The camp is in need of several important items, and Aaron has decided to purchase generators and other equipment to make life at the camp more bearable for the survivors, especially the children. Refrigeration is desperately needed to keep certain medicine cooled (especially snake-bite anti-venom serum).

After re-supplying, we will be heading back to Kirimichchi Camp tomorrow. I will be meeting with the Education Minister of the Eastern Division who recently visited our new Kirimichchi School, and has asked AED to start several more just like the Kirimichchi School in other refugee camps in the southeast region. We will assess this and determine what we can afford to commit to, in both personnel and financial resources.

There is a possibility that Bill Clinton and/or George Bush Sr. will be visiting our Samudra Sri Children’s Home while they are in Sri Lanka (both are representing the US via the UN for tsunami relief effort in South Asia). I am supposed to hear something from the US embassy later this week.

Our team is at the Kirimichchi camp in eastern Sri Lanka, which is located in the "uncleared zone" controlled by the LTTE. As mentioned previously, the eastern division of the Ministry of Education has asked AED to start a full-time school at this camp, which we have now done.

Aaron Taylor is leading this team which gives me a chance to do major "catch-up" here in Colombo, and a possible visa run (I have inadvertently overstayed my visa, and may need to have it reissued due to this oversight). In any case, the school at the Kirimichchi camp appears to be doing well, with over 200 children now coming to classes in our big tent and makeshift "outdoor" teaching arena.

Aaron is trying to secure a communication system that can be used at the Kirimichchi camp. This will be no easy task considering the lack of technical equipment on the eastern side of Sri Lanka, not to mention that since the camp is in the LTTE controlled area, getting the equipment in may be problematic due to government restrictions. Yet, it would be great having a way to communicate with the camp, especially when emergencies come up, like snake bites or elephants that charge through at night.

A sad day today as we say "goodbye" to my friend and the man in charge of the relief effort for the tsunami US Joint Service Command Center, Col Brian Vincent III, USMC. Col Vincent left this evening to return to Okinawa, where his wife and two children are eagerly awaiting his arrival.

Under the command of Col Vincent, the US Joint Services involved with relief effort cleaned up and cleared 23 schools destroyed by the tsunami, including one of AED's schools in the south. Under Col Vincent's command, the US Joint Services delivered over 300 tons of relief effort to the north, south and east of Sri Lanka, out of which about 28,000 lbs was for AED relief work. Whether it was coordinating the massive relief effort throughout Sri Lanka, or playing for hours on end with the children at Samudra Sri, Col Vincent demonstrated what true valor and heroism is all about. Col, I hope you take a part of Sri Lanka back with you, and the knowledge that your effort saved lives and mitigated suffering for countless tsunami survivors. We at Asiana Education Development will never forget your valiant effort; it is with a deep sense of admiration I look to you as a true American hero.

Today the US Embassy called me and asked if I was interested in helping former NFL football player (Green Bay Packers, San Diego Chargers) and current ABC sports announcer, Aaron Taylor. He arrived the day before yesterday, and wants to help with the tsunami relief effort, and was looking for an NGO to hook up with. I took him to Samudra Sri, and he played with the children. Tomorrow he will be leaving with our AED team to the Kirimichchi camp in eastern Sri Lanka, where we just started a new school on Monday. The cool thing about Aaron--he has a graduate degree in teaching--and just wants to jump in and help wherever he can. I'm excited that he is here.