This Week Without Walls (WWW) was my grade's final school trip. Hence, it included a variety of activities which helped us to develop and grow in various aspects such as personality development, community service, collaboration and communication, creativity and ingenuity, tackling physical and mental challenges, planning activities, and leadership. The WWW program also included a variety of leisure trips such as trekking on the Situlpahuwa rock and visiting the Yala National Park.
Every day in the WWW was unique, and on each day, I was able to grow by developing and enhancing my personality by engaging in activities involving Creativity, Action and Service.
DAY 1 - MONDAY
The programme for the first day was to visit the schools and conduct a recce in order to create plans for the major tasks that needed to be accomplished in order to renovate the school. The day began with a 5 hour bus journey via the new Southern Expressway. However, the work for the day began in the afternoon after arrival when both the sections of Grade 11 visited both the schools that we were going to attempt to help by providing different kinds of physical labour. The schools were vacant today and hence, both the grades were able to plan properly.
My class was able to plan efficiently as we had already used information from the teachers' recce trip and divided ourselves into working groups such as the mural group, the construction group, the painting group and others. Me and my peers Humza and Uvin were responsible for landscaping work. All the groups were responsible for completing their individual tasks firstly, however, were free to join other groups after completing the specified tasks.
During the recce trip, I was responsible for talking to the construction group leader Sonny and arranging the different tools that me and my landscaping team would require to work. This enabled me to
collaborate with my peers in order to
plan and initiate an activity.
After arriving back at the hotel, all of us reflected on the recce. We set specific goals for our tasks in order to be able to accomplish our goals. My goals briefly were to:
- Work with full commitment. Complete all tasks that have been initiated. (Show commitment and perseverance.)
- Learn new landscaping skills and use them to make the pre-school playground area a more child friendly zone. (Develop new skills.)
- Consult my landscaping team and collaborate with them to complete the tasks. Also, I will help my class peers and always boost their morale. (Collaborate with peers.)
- Be respectful to pre-school community and to the purpose of the task. Always work whole-heartedly, responsibly and with complete focus as the tasks that we will be carrying out will directly impact the lives of the pre-school community as well as the students' futures. (Engaging in issues of global importance and understanding the ethical implications of my tasks.)
- Be a risk taker and open-minded learner. (Undertake new challenges and increase my awareness of my strengths and areas of growth.)
After dinner, both the sections of the grade separately planned the performances that we would carry out in the afternoon on Wednesday after completing our work in the pre-schools. This performance would take place in front of the whole pre-school community, including the students, teachers and parents. My class finalized that we would perform one English song as a whole group, while two Sinhala songs would be sung by the Sri Lankan students. The English song we will all song in chorus is 'Stand By Me' by Ben. E King.
It was a fun and exciting day for me.
Below are a few photographs taken during the day:
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| Me (inside the van) helping to load the baggage. Photograph by: Dharshana. |
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| Mr. Lockwood addressing our class. Photograph by: Uvin Ranaweera. |
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| The condition of the merry-go-round and the pyramid before our work as seen on Day 1. Photograph by: Uvin Ranaweera. |
DAY 2 - TUESDAY
Tuesday was a very successful day. All of us were initially welcomed by the children with flowers. It was a very nice moment. In the beginning, everyone interacted and played with the children. The playing session included games such as "duck-duck-goose" and treasure hunt. These games were not a 100% successful as the language barrier, lack of planning on the part of the games team, and poor organization led to poor understanding of the games and hence a poor success in introduction and communication. However, the improvised idea of having a drawing session solved this problem and enabled all of us to make new friends. I made many new friends such as Janith, Shashun and Udina. I played with the children on the see-saw and also helped them to swing on a tyre swing that had been placed by the construction team in the playing time. While interacting with the children, I found it difficult to communicate with them. Hence, I developed a new skill of speaking some key Sinhala terms to appreciate, to say thank you and even to maintain an order by saying words and phrases meaning 'next' and 'his turn'. I enjoyed playing with the children.
After playing with the children, I began work with my landscaping team. We decided to use the rake to clear all the small rocks in the playground and later to use the hoe to take out the obtruding sharp rocks from the ground. I used a rake and hoe for the first time in my life. Hence, I was able to develop a new labour skill that will be useful to me in my future too. In the process, I also helped my peer Uvinconsidered its ethical implications on the pre-school community.
By the end of the work session, me and my team had been able to clean and clear more than half of the playground and also remove a majority of the obtruding rocks.
Later, after dinner at the hotel, me and my peers
collaborated together and rehearsed for the performance that would take place on the next day. It was a fun time as everyone sang and practiced happily.
Below are a few photographs taken during the day:
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| Receiving 'the flower' - A mesmerising welcome. Photograph by: Uvin Ranaweera. |
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| Children playing "Duck-duck-goose". Photograph by: Uvin Ranaweera. |
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| Me working at the playground and clearing the small rocks. Photograph by: Uvin Ranaweera. |
DAY 3 - WEDNESDAY
It was the final day for the pre-school work today. In the beginning, we were welcomed by the school children with flowers. We began the day by directly starting the interaction time. I was able to familiarize myself with my new friends Janith and Shashun. Both of them enjoyed my company a lot and also liked to get launched on the see-saw and the tyre swing while I made rocket-like sound effects to entertain them. I played with them and many other excited children for a long time. I enjoyed this a lot and had fun communicating with them using my little Sinhala knowledge and many sign language gestures.
Afterwards, I worked towards completing the landscaping with my team. We were able to accomplish our goal in approximately one hour. I was very satisfied and the children were happy too. After completing my work, I
collaborated with my peers and helped in digging a 2 feet deep and 2 feet wide hole, painting the fence, sandpapering the swing and the see-saw, painting the hollow cylinder, and completely painting two tyres in a four-tyre obstacle course.
At the end of the work, all the groups had successfully completed their works. The pre-school teachers were all happy with the work, and the children were very excited to see their renovated playground and painted classroom.
The day at the school concluded with dance performances by the children and then the song performance by our class. I felt that I had been able to engage in an issue of global importance by serving and working at the school, and contributing as much as possible on a personal level (even though it was small on a global scale).
Below are a few photographs taken during the day:
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| The hollow cylinder painted by me and Uvin. Photograph by: Uvin Ranaweera. |
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| The two background tyres were painted by me. Photograph by: Uvin Ranaweera. |
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| Me helping Janik to paint the fence. The fence will play an important role in keeping the children safe from the exterior barbed wire fence! Photograph by: Humza Usmani. |
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| Me and Humza levering an obtruding large rock from underneath the swings. Photograph by: Uvin Ranaweera. |
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| Our class after completing the work. Photograph by: Humza Usmani. |
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| The completed mural at the school wall. Photograph by: Humza Usmani. |
DAY 4 - THURSDAY
DAY 5 - FRIDAY
It was a very joyous as well as sad day today. I felt very happy because the purpose of the trip had been accomplished and I was going to be returning home. However, on the other hand, I did not want to leave as the company of my friends had been very special for me and the whole trip was a memorable experience. Our collaboration had resulted in an excellent improvement at the pre-school and I felt that this would bring a positive change to the school's educational and playing environment.
Other than the work, I felt that I was able to learn more about Sri Lanka. Meeting a Sri Lankan community, exploring the Yala National Park and trekking at Situlpahuwa were all great experiences which enabled me to share happy times with the country's jolly and friendly people, see the richness and diversity of its flora and fauna, become a part of mother nature, and also be amazed by the country's carefully preserved antique and unique cultures and traditions.
While departing, I reflected about this trip and with complete contentment decided to happily cherish these days forever.
Below are a few photographs taken during the day:
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| The natural paradise - Hambantota. Photograph by: Uvin Ranaweera. |
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| It was a memorable and amazing experience. Photograph by: Uvin Ranaweera. |
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