An up and down week ... and not just because of the topography

Oh it's been a busy week! So I was away last week from Colombo having departed for Bandarawela/Diyatalawa in "Hill Country" on Wednesday and returned on Sunday afternoon. OH how BEAUTIFUL it was up there and I loved the climate. Highs in the upper 20s during the day and lows in the upper teens at night. I want to go back! It was so green and lush.

We stayed at our NOC President's vacation home, Cranford Villa. It was an old tea plantation bungalow from the early 1900s. There were some pretty cool antiques there! Aside from the absolutely fantastic weather we had, food had to be my favourite. We ate Sri Lankan meals during our stay here and it was sooo tasty! 

However, it wasn't all relaxation and fun. I was up here to see what the Olympic Sports Administration and Management course was all about ... in Sinhala. In large part, I didn't know what was going on except for the text that I borrowed from time to time to flip through, the PowerPoint slides, and the occasional English term. 

What I took most away from this experience were from the students at this teachers' college. A little background... The Uva National College of Education is a government run school which offers a three-year teachers' diploma in physical education. At the end, students who are able to can move to university for another year to attain their degree. The students live on campus attending classes and training sessions for their first two years, followed by a one year practicum. Everyday, in addition to attending classes, they have physical training sessions in the morning and evening. 

These students were really bright and exhibited an excellent work ethic. They were so attentive during our three day course and was absorbing every word being said to them. They were so grateful of this opportunity provided to them. Then I was told that these students, although they have room and board, get by with very little. Their dormitories are barracks style. They get 60 rupees a day to eat three meals. That's about $0.52 a day to buy mostly rice and some curry and a bit of veg and protein if they're lucky. For students who need to use their minds and also are so active in training, I couldn't believe that was their diet. Not exactly a habit you want physical education teachers to have when they will be the ones who will set the example for their students when it comes to nutrition. 

Students working on their final task. 

However, truth is that as government teachers, their students in the future won't be very wealthy and likely be surviving on a similar diet. I was reading last Sunday's paper and on their pull out health section was a plate with 2/3 rice and 1/3 veg on it to promote what they should eat (no protein?). Protein was mentioned in the article, but also mentioned was this was a goal that Sri Lankans should shoot for, given that the majority of the population here eats 90% rice and 10% everything else in their meals. That put into perspective that 2/3 carbs and 1/3 other food groups made a lot of sense as a good target to shoot for. 

When they get a job as a government teacher, they'll be making about $150 a month and I can only hope they will be able to fuel their bodies better ... until they have families and if they are the primary breadwinner then back into more carbs they go as that little bit of money then needs to feed many more mouths and provide larger shelter.

That brings me to the National Team Selection meetings today for the Isle of Man Youth Commonwealth Games. Many of the National Federations came in insisting their athletes could improve upon the trial times/scores that were submitted given that we are in mid-season and they won't peak until the Games. I started connecting the dots ... knowing what I learned last week about diet and nutrition in the country, I really believe that these athletes absolutely could improve. However, as much as training will improve their score, I think the true improvement in the performance of these athletes are hidden in their nutrition. Many of these athletes are from rural areas and have not a clue how they should treat their bodies as high performance athletes. 

It was a thought I had at the office and I know it's something that will not change overnight (and when it does, it will be very slow) But if the government wants better performing athletes, they need to realize that it starts at education. If they don't feed their teachers properly, then the teachers won't learn proper nutrition to teach as they can't practice it. Then, you end up with student athletes who have this amazing potential, but are unable to perform to their fullest because they lack the nutrition they need for their bodies to grow, condition, and repair itself. Most of their athletes come out of the education system because very very few are able to afford other training or advice. You may have recently seen a slew of Sri Lankan cricketers and rugby players testing for banned substances ... mostly because they've heard from someone a supplement or an energy drink is good and not aware at all of the risks of consuming those. 

Then, at the other end of the spectrum, I see wealthy families who are also uneducated about what good nutrition is, but are stuffing themselves and their kids with so much food that they are obese. As my Yoga teacher preached last week, "fat makes you lazy and lethargic." Well, now you have athletes that are a little too lean and lacking nutrition or kids who don't want to be athletes because they aren't encouraged to live a healthy lifestyle. 

I know these are very strong opinions and what I have written here could be considered wishful thinking when so many residents worry and work just to ensure they have food and shelter day to day. Survival is first and healthcare is secondary. It's frustrating to me to see that some of the high performance administrators in this country don't recognize the importance of nutrition and are solely focused on physical training.  It's also frustrating to see that there isn't additional help offered to these young athletes with nutrition as they grow so that when they are fully mature they truly are performing to their full potential and are educated enough so that they aren't caught with banned substances in their bodies. I don't doubt that there are people who are trying to change this. I would love to learn more about what barriers they have faced in trying to "sell" this concept. I certainly know that the very passionate administrators at UVA National Teachers College have tried to fight for a bigger budget to provide better nutrition to their student teachers, but to no avail. 

This week was one where the culture shocks have hit me pretty hard as I had a lot of time to reflect on my  observations while in Bandarawela and in the long car ride back to Colombo. To me, as a person who comes from a land where we preach a plate 1/2 full of vegetables/fruit, 1/4 protein, and a 1/4 grains with dairy/dairy substitute on the side, learning what was real was shocking. Seeing that healthcare was secondary to survival made me realize how much we take healthcare in Canada for granted. And it was humbling to see these student teachers with such an amazing spirit compared to some teachers in Canada who have the freedom to choose where they want to teach and have so many resources to use to help them teach.