Blood test result, a visit, cinema (6th February)

Early morning I get my blood test result. It indicates that I have low haemoglobin and high neutrophils count. Whereas the platelets count is normal; this indicates that I am not infected with dengue. Thank God that my itchiness might just be due to food allergy. Neutrophils count above normal range means that I have some bacterial infection. I did not request for a blood culture and thus I do not know which bugs cause the spike in nutrophils. And low Hb level is due to the diet wise here; I rarely eat meat as the dishes provided are mainly carbohydrate-based with little veggies.

Blood test result

In the evening, Thomas (Chinese intern who came with me for a Global Village) visits Sarana Girls’ Home. The kids are excited and some of them recognize him. They say that Thomas is their English teacher in their primary school. I get a chance to share some of the experience with him. His project is basically teaching grade 1-5 kids thrice a week. He has lots of free slots and has travelled to Kandy last week with two other interns from China. This weekend he is going to travel to Galle again for 4 days with the other two Chinese interns. I want to join them but I have only 9 days left here, so I think it is best that I spend more time with the kids.

Thomas and the girls

At night, we watch a Sri Lankan movie in the Mouse (one cinema in Anuradhapura), a treat from Sir to celebrate his birthday (who is like the principal of this children’s home). It is neither like the cinema in Jakarta nor Australia where we sit and watch in a cozy sofa. Instead the cinema seems old and we sit on wooden chairs. Unfortunately there is no English subtitle available and it is a bit hard to catch the meaning at first. However, in the end of the story I can comprehend what the movie is about- sometimes actions speak more than words. It is very touching and most of the girls cry watching the movie. The movie highlights the comparison between a boy from rich and poor family. The poor boy could not afford to go to school and he always sneaks in and hides at the back of the classroom in every lesson, solemnly listening to what teachers are explaining. When the poor boy is invited to the rich boy house, he is flustered and he does not know how to use the toilet; big houses seem foreign to him. But the poor boy never give up on his dreams, with the support from his surroundings (friends, neighbors and family), he eventually win a junior inventor competition. He creates a mouse that is operated by feet and not hands.

In my opinion, this movie has taught valuable lessons: no matter what challenges and hardships that we have been through, never give up and always look forward. Hard work and faith (belief in one self) will never betray us and eventually all these will be paid off someday.