Peacock up a Tree?

"If you give me a fish, you have fed me for a day. If you teach me to fish, you have fed me until the water is polluted and the beach is taken for hotel development.

But if you teach me to organize, then whatever the challenge, I can join together with my community and we will develop our own solution."

the lotus ponds surround Islander

Monshusri- resident monk; yesterday he was on a motorcycle....but he did not want me to take his photo like this

 

The above is the credo for Sewalanka Foundation. (it is actually a 3 part organization, part micro- lending, part social entrepreneurship and then the above is the heart of the organization).  I am currently at Islander, the Neutral Center , in the north, adjacent to Wilpattu National Park.  It is considered neutral because it is the "safe haven" for the different factions to come, meet, discuss and learn. This 30 year civil war just ended in 2009; Sewalanka has been doing its work since 1992.
Currently, there are students from both Sinha and Tamil, ages 17 or so having their first chance to mingle and also to learn leadership skills to take back to their villages and be pro-active citizens in their lives. It's a 3 month program. It's all part of capacity building, the buzz-word of rural economic development in the parlance of the NGO world for the past 8 years or so.  CBO (community based organizations) are what they strive to create.  Leadership is shared.
From my perch, it is well run and extremely progressive; the vision central, but flexible to negotiate a country in transition.
At this point, 5 days into my stay at Islander I have been
working with the new "Eco Tourist"  director who is attempting to create a plan for this extraordinary place.
I am attempting to identify the strengths of this concept,
direct my knowledge of resources for partnerships, and brainstorm what is feasible.  The range also includes volunteerism for their 50 acre organic farm as well as "spiritual tourism" as there is Buddhist monk in residence  and a visiting Hindu priest.  (the civil war conflict was mostly fomented around these two religions; geographically and politically, dividing the country)
This would include meditation, yoga and religious discourse.
The center itself is Magnificent, built on the ashram concept.
More on the work that I am doing later.

So, what has this got to do with the "peacock up a tree" title?

dusk - the scale is deceiving; this guy is HUGE!

 I am in a place of indescribable beauty ....... but I will try to give you a sense of it.
This is the dry plains of Sri Lanka.  Islander is in the middle of a sacred "tank" ; a waterway /reservoir system built perhaps 1000 years ago by the resident King.  The chairman Harsha's vision encompassed this neglected place and transformed it into a natural paradise where birds, reptiles, amphibians, elephants, INSECTS and of course humans intersect. It is a safe place for all.

outside of my window

heron and egret waiting for their breakfast to swim by over the dam

monitor lizard outside my window; i hope i can get a photo of the one i saw the first day: he was 10' long (this one is about 6-7)

Indian Pitta which I must have caught migrating

black hooded oriole- bigger than our Baltimore, He is the Color of Sri Lanka

 

the shy and quick Asian paradise flycatcher

It's not a jungle, it's more wide open plains with water ,foliage and dead trees, perfect for viewing the wildlife.  I cannot believe how close I can get to the birds. (I'll leave my small nikon binoculars here so that others can enjoy this experience).
The sounds are endless and amazing.  The peacock goes on all DAY.  He sounds like a combination of Tom Keith's (from Prairie Home Companion) version of a hawk + cat's mewling.  It is astonishingly LOUD.  They are so Funny.  Not great flyers (although they were the first thing I saw as i entered the area; my mouth agape seeing this HUGE unknown thing in a tree) they are the FASTEST runners, waddling with this gigantic long tail reaching 12 feet behind them.  Then there are the parrots, hundreds of green flying through the sky at
very low altitude.  And the diving kingfishers; fast and turquoise.  Then the hornbills.  And drongos and trogons.
I hope to be able to photograph some more for your delight.

SO, what isn't working very well here for me is only one thing.
Absence of sleep.  I am unable to sleep in the little bed, with the little rock hard mattress and the little pillow in the excruciating heat (but there is a fan) and the MOSQUITOES!
(yep, can no longer sleep in the Afghan desert- those days are long gone)
I just put two mattresses together and I hope this will work........
stay tuned................


 






travelin' woman