Last week we came back from WWW which was in Hambantota. Through this week-long trip, I’ve in fact achieved all of my goals and gained experiences that couldn’t be experienced here in Colombo.

As planned, on Tuesday and Wednesday, we visited a local school sponsored by OSC, and helped to paint the walls, playground equipments, decorate the walls etc.

For the first half an hour, we played little games and did some drawing with the children and we interacted with them. However, there was an issue of the language barrier and sometimes they didn’t seem to fully understand that we wanted them to do. I’ve considered the ethical implications of this activity. Because of the language barrier, the children may not have understood or enjoyed what we did together.

Picture of us interacting with the children 1

Picture of us interacting with the children 2

Picture of our group with the children

I was in charge of painting the walls and the playground equipments and since I’d done the same job last year, I took initiatives in painting walls and doing other maintenance in the school. We planned what each of us were going to do and worked collaboratively with others in painting. Painting walls and equipments for 2 days was something we were never exposed to before (last year, it was just 1 day of service) and I and everybody were tired, but I experienced something which I couldn’t experience in Colombo and showed perseverance and commitment in painting. I’ve certainly developed the skills in painting and increased the awareness of the area for growth.

Picture of myself painting the wall

I’ve also tried little bit of murals, which I’ve never done before, and I’ve undertaken the new challenge. Although it wasn’t an easy task, I’ve increased the awareness of the strengths and an area that could further be developed. Through this service work, we’ve engaged with issues of global importance. These areas were effected by the Tsunami and by helping these schools, we were involved in recovering the damage from Tsunami as well as providing better conditions for the local children to study.

Picture of our group doing the murals

Picture of our group after the completion of the service work

On thursday, we went to the safari ride at the Yala National Park. It was a great opportunity to go to one of the most famous safaris in Sri Lanka and I’ve certainly enjoyed this safari ride and observed the beauty of nature. It was great to observe some beautiful scenery and animals that we can’t see in Colombo.

Sunrise from the Yala National Park

Picture of dotted deers

Picture of us in the truck

This trip was full of new experiences and will be very memorable. Through this trip, I’ve done all three components of CAS, Creativity, Action and Service. Although this was the last WWW for us, the experiences we’ve gained in this trip will certainly be useful in the future!

Group photo