More People and Places

Yesterday I set off with my boss, Shiran, to Colombo, the capitol of Sri Lanka. First off we had a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce to get them to back his company and get a stand at Ambiente trade show 2011 in Germany. Then we had 3 stops at different places where he has bits and bobs made, painted or assembled for him. All the places were just people's houses where a room or outbuilding had been turned into a workshop or paint room. It was all very basic, and made me wonder how much of the stuff we get in the shops in the West is made in these types of places.

Sri Lankan Cows!

Fresh King Coconut juice, very refreshing.

Two women painting.

Two women painting infront of palm trees.

Workshop #1 Lathe work.

Lots of dowel.

Turning wood (left) and making dowel (right).

Making dowel the Sri Lankan way.

Driving down the lanes.

Just beyond the shacks is the sea. This area had flooding 8km inland after the Tsunami in 2004

Workshop #2 Painting things.

Figurines layed out to dry.

Sri Lankan kangaroos (sleeping).

Woman sanding ball.

Another jazzy pattern. Building up quite a collection of these.

Part of a jigsaw.

Paint pots on a ledge.

Paddi fields.

Workshop #3 More painting.

Drying animals.

Sleepy giraffes.

At the end of the day there was a raging storm which started in a moment and lasted most of the night. I found out today it was the wettest day in the last 18 years, and it only started raining at 7pm!