Hospitality

My heart and my stomach are both filled to capacity after a week visiting old friends in Jaffna. Each person I met offered great hospitality, and usually some kind of edible treat or meal. I've come to expect this gracious welcome there, though it's still always humbling. But today, I was once again amazed at the generosity of strangers, people who have little, yet still sent us away with our hands full.

This afternoon Hollie and I visited about seven or eight different families in the Vanni who have benefited from the work of Kaveri Kala Manram, a cultural and development organization run by my friend Pastor Joshua. The Vanni was the worst hit area in the most recent final stage of the war in Sri Lanka, and nearly all of the houses in the villages we went to were destroyed. Many people lost limbs or family members in the bombings. KKM has helped many widows and disabled people begin small organic farms and coconut plantations for income. Several of the people we visited were eager to give us samples from their gardens. We were sent off with a giant gourd, peanuts, some mystery root vegetable, sugar cane, and even flowers. The gardens were really beautiful - even though they're meant to bring food and income for the families, nearly everyone had also planted beautiful flowers. A beautiful sign of hope in a place that has seen so much suffering for so long. We also saw some really cute 2-hour-old baby goats!