Coastal road trip

Greetings from Ampara... I've arrived in the Eastern part of Sri Lanka. We took a road trip around the coast of the country, dipping south to Matara-- which has a quite pretty beach.

There we checked out our sister media house the Matara Media House, which seems to be doing interesting work.

We headed up to Ampara the following day, stopping for breakfast in Hambantota, the president's home town which surprise surprise is now home to a number of public works projects. Some talk of this little harbor being made into a major international harbor...

hmmm...

We came to the two cities that I'll be working in-- Ampara, a quiet rambling farming village/provincial capital and half hour or so away, Kalmunai, a more bustling commercial hub on the coast. Kalmunai was badly hit by the tsunami. Something like 10% of those killed in Sri Lanka came from Kalmunai. Reconstruction here still has a long way to go.



I'm getting aquainted with the local media scene. We went to visit Pirai FM, the local station which may be airing the programs we produce. Then as they were showing us around they announced it was their station's anniversary and could we 'say a few words'. The station manager walked in the live studio, interupting a pretty happening Arabic pop music show, and started talking about our work with local journalists.



So my colleagues Matt, and Shadath started out.


I thought I was off the hook but instead I too made my Sri Lankan radio debut.

If you've been worried after reading the news about recent violence here, know that I'm staying safe. Ampara town is generally quiet even when unrest or general strikes are in full swing in nieghboring areas. As far as the conflict goes, its pretty hard to be optimistic. It's really very tragic.

So as not to end on a depressing note, I'm happy to say I think I found a house to rent here. It has an interesting color scheme--orange walls on the outside, pink walls inside. Should be interesting. More on that soon.

Warmest wishes,
andrea