A Little Part-ayy

As the year came to an end, we celebrated the success of the program with a delicious meal of Kentuckey Fried Chicken funded by Yariq Captain. It was a good opportunity for our team to converse with the kids and talk about their personal view on how they felt about their achievements of from the program. Some of them felt rather shy in the beginning, but eventually we got them talking. It was also a good opportunity to talk to the children about about their ideas for the future once they finish school. Almost all of the kids wanted to be a engineer or a doctor as it is stereotypically considered the two common and reputed occupations one can earn in Sri Lanka. At the end of the day everyone enjoyed the event and left with a smile to return next year.

During the party our group members discussed the possibility of providing the children with their school book for their school year. Their education is a matter of global importance and it is our duty that we support the children in what ever way we can. Unlike OSC, students in government run schools are required to purchase their own notebooks and stationary material. So we thought that it would be a great opportunity to provide the children with their school books as we have the adequate funding necessary. While this contribution may have benefited a group of children, it also brings out the ethical implications of only providing the school books to a group of 9 children. There are more children back at their school who could also benefit from the aid of free school books, but did not get the chance. Although it may be out of our hands to provide school books for an entire school, we can be satisfied with the fact that we were able to help at least a minute proportion of that school in what ever way we can. 

Sunset for Sunflower Village

As the semester comes to an end, I can proudly say that I have successfully achieved the objectives I indented to achieve for this semester. I have addressed all 8 criteria in this semester through service itself. One criterion that I have made significant progress in this semester is “engaged with issues of global importance”. As an addition to swimming lessons, we incorporated a 20 minutes session of computer training. In rapidly developing world, technology is a key tool which we utilize in our daily lives. Throughout all provinces of Sri Lanka, computer literacy rates are low as 10%. Therefore we separated some time each Thursday to allow the children get some experience in technology at the most basic level.

Throughout the 20 minutes that we separated for the children in the technology labs, we stuck with the idea of letting them play games that tested their ability to type on a keyboard. At the beginning of the year, we asked the children if they have a computer at home or has used a computer before. Every one raised their hands to having used a computer, but only a few raised their hands to having a computer at home. This also made a significant difference in the variance of those with the skill and ability to type properly, and those with not. Only a few kids were comfortable keeping up with the pace at which they type, but the rest found it rather challenging. 

This coming semester I will focus on helping those children who had difficulty with the newly added computer program. It is essential that they get the maximum out of the available technology that is not available to them back at their own school. As mentioned earlier, being computer literate is a great skill for one to have under his or her sleeve. Having some knowledge at a young age will benefit them in their future.

School Books to The Children

Earlier this month we decided to give school books to the sunflower village children so it spares them the effort, money of worrying over writing material. Today we presented the books to the children in the SMPR. All 9 students arrived to OSC and the books were distributed out to the children. It was a pleasure to provide them with material that will help them in their education and more over, the smiles that they had on their faces were even more satisfying to see as it was a indication of thankfulness and  happiness.