Apologies this is comng a bit late, I wrote it a while back and did not post until now! I had a very busy last 2 days in Sri Lanka, which was great as it slowed time down a little bit and allowed me to really make the most of my final hours in this fantastic country.
On Thursday 24th February I had 2 vocational visits, to 2 different vocations!
Due to illness I was unable to attend my pre-scheduled vocational visit to the Department of Forestry, and was really upset to have missed it. Once we were back in Colombo for our final week Dr. Suresh very kindly rescheduled it for me. He picked me up from my host's house in the morning and we drove to the Department which is on the edge of Colombo.
It was a very impressive building, designed in a square shape with a garden in the middle of the office space, where trees had been allowed to grow almost to the height of the building itself - very interesting. Suresh and I met with the Senior Conservation Manager, and I was able to ask him questions regarding forest policy in Sri Lanka, their main issues and focuses, and the work that they carry out with private owners of forests and community woodlands.
We also went up to the library, and I was able to come away with a copy of the annual report for 2008/9 which has a wealth of information about the projects that have been undertaken which I am sure will be useful.
We met Rtn. Kingsley who emailed me copies of the report for the last 5 years, and on the way out I took pictures of me at the Department with the English Heritage flag.
After the excellent and interesting visit Suresh dropped me at my next stop - the head office for Iron Mountain Records Management in Sri Lanka.
There is a story of luck behind this visit; at a Rotary Club meeting at the Galadari Hotel on Wednesday 23rd I was lucky enough to meet Thurab, who works for Records Management company Iron Mountain in Colombo, and he introduced me to his boss, Imthiaz Ismail, who is the Rotary District Governor. I had of course met him previously, but we had not discussed his profession so I had no idea that a visit could have been on the cards for me.
This visit was of interest to me, as it is the field I currently work in for English Heritage. Thurab and Imthiaz were very helpful and arranged for me to see their work the following day, after my Forestry Department visit, as my time in Sri Lanka was running out fast.
At the office I was met by Thurab, and introduced to the customer services team, who carry out a very similar role to mine back in the UK. I was able to talk to them and find out how they operate, and what issues they have.
Thurab then took me to see their storage facility, about 30minutes drive away. It was very impressive and I was shown all 4 storage warehouses they have and we talked through the management of the site.
We then went for lunch at a very nice coffee shop and ate bagels and huge slabs of chocolate fudge cake, a real treat!
On the way back to the office we visited the National Library and the National Archives, where we were shown around by the Assistant Director. The collections were very impressive, including a store of every newspaper ever printed in Sri Lanka, and the first book ever printed. The National Archive is currently undergoing renovation works to make it much bigger, and will be a very striking building once finished.
Back at the office I met Imthiaz and thanked him for allowing Thurab to spend the day showing me around, and was dropped back at my host's house with 1 hour to get ready and be back out again for a Rotary dinner meeting with the Cinnamon Gardens club at Excel World.
A brilliant and very full day, visiting a range of vocations. My heartfelt thanks go to Thurab and Imthiaz for their time, and arranging this impromptu visit that had real value for me and my profession.
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