Meemure

People

The local doctor of the village, called the Veda Mahattaya, practices traditional Sinhala medicine. Roshan Edirisinghe, having spoken with the local doctor on a recent visit to Meemure said, “He is a very nice and understanding person. He told me that they don’t like to go to the city because it is very uncomfortable for them to survive there.”

Attending the only school in Meemure, students walk a distance of approximately 1km through trails each day. The school, only up to the eighth grade, has about 100 students. The school actually consists of several rooms with desks and chairs and several teachers. This is not a school with computers and high-tech laboratories. Yet, they humbly make the most of what they have.

A visitor to Meemure will undoubtedly come across a very common sight. This is the sight of every single person in Meemure carrying two particular items – a knife and the bag of beetle, a leaf that is chewed by rural folk in Sri Lanka. These two practices have become innate habits. The knife is an essential tool to many of the farmers in Meemure. Chewing beetle is a sort of addiction of many Sri Lankans island-wide as well.

The farmers in the village will cultivate one of their staple crops – pepper, cardamom, paddy or ginger; or produce toddy or jaggery. A local farmer named Kandayya said they produce just enough to earn about Rs. 80 (US$1) per day. Fences made out of stone are built to keep wild animals from the farms as well as homes.