Fig. 1 Some of the nuns of St. Cecilia's college. The one in the middle nicknamed us 'd squared'. You could tell that she was trouble when she was younger! :)

Fig. 3. One block of classrooms in the main school. Absolutely no electricity for fans or anything like that. Some classes were held in little sheds outside with nothing but an aluminium roof.

Fig. 5. The school desks that the girls get to us.

For the two days and two nights that we spent in Batticaloa, we stayed with the nuns of St. Cecilia's college at the convent of St. Joseph's. They were extremely sweet and took very good of us. One of the nuns nicknamed Dana and I (Derwin) 'd squared'. They even remember teaching about Manitoba and Saskatchewan when they taught geography.

Just after the tsunami hit, many of the Catholics in the area came to the church and convent for aid, shelter, and food. For days, they cooked and cared for the people.

Besides running a school for 2,000 girls and the convent, they also ran an orphanage. Very basic facilities as you can see by the pictures.

One of the classrooms at the orphanage.

The room where the girls could keep whatever possessions they had.

Mother Superior showing us around the school

The area where the girls bath and wash their clothes.

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