Batticaloa (more often called 'Batti') is a peninsula between the Bay of Bengal and a lagoon on the East coast of Sri Lanka. Until this September it will be my home. Its beaches are beautiful, though they pale in comparison to the ones in the south. It's hot and it's humid and there is no air conditioning, which makes a wimpy American such as myself appear spoiled. I usually judge how hot a place is by whether or not the locals sweat--her they are drenched, which proves it is pretty damn hot. The other indicator of knowing I'm not exaggerating is the fact that I'm sweating in the shower.
Access to Batti is rather limited in that the road and rail system is very slow. It was the scene of numerous clashes between ethnic groups and rival LTTE factions during the civil war years and Batti, along with its neighbors, are struggling to recover since the LTTE being pushed out in 2007.
Per Rough Guide Travel Guides in reference to the town in which I'm based, " Few tourists make it this far, but there are lots of NGO workers around..." So very true. I pass UNHCR, Unicef, WFP, UNDP, USAID and IOM acronyms daily and was introduced to several staff as part of the local expatriate community. ICRC moved out of the region this past March.
These organizations are of course what can be summed up as 'the Usual Suspects' in any given post or ongoing conflict environment. Especially in regards to UNHCR and WFP, where virtually the entire city and IDP camps were their sole means for survival. What makes the mix so much diverse is the NGO crowd.
Last week I met a group of them over a local Lion beer at the Singing Fish Restaurant and I was truly impressed by all I met and the nationalities they represented. Amongst the handful that I had the chance to speak with: a French woman working with handicapped people; a Scottish woman working with USAID who has been in the country for 15 years; a Macedonian man who weathered the tsunami who now despearately wants to now go and give his experience in Haiti, a Bangladeshi woman who had just come from a remote village without electricity for the past 15 hours, a token Brit and a German who had some rather eccentric stories of his time in Baghdad.
During the conversation the power cut for about 5 minutes and the Scottish woman reminisced with her Sri Lankan colleague saying ( cue the Scottish accent and slightly euphoric talk from 3 litres of beer)...'remember 2005 in Trinco? What this would be a signal for?' She then used her hand to show what was meant for a bomb to fall on the table.
I believe I am at the start of a whole new chapter for my planned book I keep wanting on the personality types you encounter abroad...or at least some entertainment to fill the void of television.
Access to Batti is rather limited in that the road and rail system is very slow. It was the scene of numerous clashes between ethnic groups and rival LTTE factions during the civil war years and Batti, along with its neighbors, are struggling to recover since the LTTE being pushed out in 2007.Per Rough Guide Travel Guides in reference to the town in which I'm based, " Few tourists make it this far, but there are lots of NGO workers around..." So very true. I pass UNHCR, Unicef, WFP, UNDP, USAID and IOM acronyms daily and was introduced to several staff as part of the local expatriate community. ICRC moved out of the region this past March.
These organizations are of course what can be summed up as 'the Usual Suspects' in any given post or ongoing conflict environment. Especially in regards to UNHCR and WFP, where virtually the entire city and IDP camps were their sole means for survival. What makes the mix so much diverse is the NGO crowd.
Last week I met a group of them over a local Lion beer at the Singing Fish Restaurant and I was truly impressed by all I met and the nationalities they represented. Amongst the handful that I had the chance to speak with: a French woman working with handicapped people; a Scottish woman working with USAID who has been in the country for 15 years; a Macedonian man who weathered the tsunami who now despearately wants to now go and give his experience in Haiti, a Bangladeshi woman who had just come from a remote village without electricity for the past 15 hours, a token Brit and a German who had some rather eccentric stories of his time in Baghdad.
During the conversation the power cut for about 5 minutes and the Scottish woman reminisced with her Sri Lankan colleague saying ( cue the Scottish accent and slightly euphoric talk from 3 litres of beer)...'remember 2005 in Trinco? What this would be a signal for?' She then used her hand to show what was meant for a bomb to fall on the table.
I believe I am at the start of a whole new chapter for my planned book I keep wanting on the personality types you encounter abroad...or at least some entertainment to fill the void of television.
