British woman meets Lankan family for first time

UK: A lifetime dream has been fulfilled by a Bridgewater woman who flew halfway around the world to meet her family for the very first time.

Charlotte Caldera, 20, had always wanted to meet her father’s Sri Lankan relatives and finally got to come to face to face with her grandmother, aunts and uncles during the trip.

The former Heathfield Community School pupil is currently studying for a degree in childhood and youth studies at Exeter University and told the Mercury the visit had been emotional.

“It was quite overwhelming because I didn’t know anything about these people and then I had this massive family all in one day,” she said. “They couldn’t stop staring at me because they had only seen baby photographs of me.

“They were so kind to me and could not do enough for me - they treated me like a visiting princess.

I can’t believe it has taken me this long to finally meet them.” Charlotte’s father had moved to England when he was ten and it had only been last year when he had returned to Sri Lanka himself.

The student said the differences in cultures with her newly discovered Sri Lankan relatives had been noticeable.

“We have luxuries like Playstations and they don’t have anything like that - they have mobile phones and that’s probably the most luxurious thing they have,” she said.

“Materially they don’t have very much, but what they do have they are happy to share.

“”I am only five feet, four inches which is not tall over here, but over there I was taller than all my Sri Lankan relations.”

Bridgewater Mercury