SCAW BLOG: SRI LANKA, 2026: July 8
Today began with a truly unforgettable experience. Early this morning, elephants from the nearby elephant orphanage in Pinnawala walked right past our hotel on their way to the river for their daily bath. It was such a thrill to watch these magnificent animals stroll down the street before splashing and playing in the water.
Most of us even had the chance to touch the elephants and take photos with them.
Our fearless team leader, Sue, went one step further by climbing into the river to help bathe them!
It was a wonderful start to the day, and we are grateful to our Rotarian Overseas Partners for arranging this for us.
From Pinnawala, we travelled to Kadawatha for another bedkit distribution. We received a warm welcome with traditional drummers and dancers, as well as smiling children who greeted us with beautiful bouquets of lotus flowers. It was a lovely setting, and everything ran smoothly, making it another successful distribution.
Taking their bedits home by tuktuk
Leah and Warren hamming it up for the SCAW camera.
Today marked our 11th distribution out of 12, so we are almost at the finish line! This evening we arrived in Colombo, where we’ll spend the next two nights. Tomorrow brings our final distribution, followed by a meeting and dinner with our Sri Lankan Rotarian partners. It will be a fitting way to wrap up such a meaningful and memorable trip.
Team Sri Lanka, 2026
Rotary Club of Kelaniya 🇱🇰 + SCAW 🇨🇦
