Tsunami Diary: We had a day off today from construction work as it's Poya (or full-moon) day so a couple of us headed off in the morning to the Sambodi orphanage for the physically and mentally disabled to paint. No rest for the wicked.
Our task was to paint the room we cleared last week, the rat and cockroach-infested one. We were surprised to see how different the room looked after it had been swept and cleaned. As we painted the room bright blue, we could see the immediate improvement that a lick of paint made. It really cheered the place up.
After lunch I travelled around various relief camps and orphanages so I could distribute all of the donations that I collected from a number of companies in Ireland before I left. I left the Sambodi house with a top-up of medical supplies along with some colouring books, pens and pencils.
In the IDH relief camp I was able to provide a couple of boxes of jellies to the local girls who have been given the responsibility of monitoring the children on a daily basis.
They have promised me that they will distribute the mountain of sweets at staggered intervals . . . God knows the children are hyper enough!
Myself and Gemma, an Australian girl, travelled by tuk-tuk to Paraliya, Hikkaduwa, to see the train wreck. Along the seafront we caught a glimpse of turtles playing in the waves close to the shore. Apparently on some days you can see dolphins just a little further out too.
Driving along the coast, it was apparent that Hikkaduwa was one of the worst if not the worst- affected area. Palm trees were uprooted and lay on their sides rotting in swampy water.
Temporary housing projects are already under way in this area which is good news as the tents will most definitely not survive through the monsoons.
The area where the train sits was extremely quiet. It looks as though it had been involved in a collision with another train, not with the ocean which seems beautifully calm behind us.
Only a few carriages remain at this site but we were told that in some areas of Paraliya, bodies are still being found.
On the way back to Galle, our tuk-tuk driver, Janaka Nishantha Silva, told us how his pharmacy was completely washed away by the second wave of the tsunami.
He was trapped in his shop under eight feet of water after the first wave hit, unable to pull open the doors because of the water pressure.
He eventually managed to break the window with his elbow and get outside. As the sea retreated about 1.5 km, he saw people running towards the sand trying to catch the huge tuna fish which were flapping around on the sea-bed.
Thankfully, he decided to get away, carried his tuk-tuk and got as far up the mountain as he could. Looking down he could see the second wave swallow the people on the beach and wash away his business.
Fiona O'Connor (24) is from Dublin and opted out of her IT job to do voluntary tsunami relief work for a fortnight near Galle in Sri Lanka.
Her final thoughts on her time in Sri Lanka will be published on Monday in The Irish Times