‘Teachers’ and ‘students’ bond and learn
We do not have to spend thousands to be philanthropists. It can be done through simple means. A group of five from the Liverpool University, UK came to Sri Lanka on September 3 to do their bit to help a school far from their own home. Their 12-day stay was mainly at the Piliyandala SOS Children’s Village and their aim was to provide SOS Hermann Gmeiner School with an English Activity Room.
Getting to know them: The volunteers and SOS kids
The group was headed by Dr. Salman Al-Azami and also included Chris Langton, who contributed with photography, Rebecca Warriner and Fern Brooks, who are currently following a degree in Education and Nicola Graham, who is in her third year of teacher training. They came here under the project “Global Hope” which is an educational charity programme at Liverpool University.
“We came prepared for the obvious language problem. The children were just great. Most of them are shy to speak English but they can read and they understand,” said Rebecca, adding that when they were excited about something the children would automatically shift to their mother tongue and they had to figure out what they were saying from their tone and gestures.
“This would also be a benefit as, if it was a local teacher teaching, in a situation like this, she too would shift to the native language. But if the teacher doesn’t understand what the child says in its mother tongue, the child will want to speak to the teacher in what little English they know so they get attention,” said Project Director, Earline Barthelot.
For Dr. Salman who hails from Bangladesh, the visit to Sri Lanka kindled memories of home.
“It’s been so long since I have been to my mother country but coming to Sri Lanka helped me to relive the memories. The people, the climate; it all feels familiar.”
For the three girls it was their first foray out of Europe. “It was wonderful. The people seem very friendly. Trishaw rides were like rollercoaster rides,” said Fern.
Dr. Salman Al-Azami
The “Global Hope” charity has strong links with partners such as SOS Children’s Villages UK, the Tibetan community in India, the Sisters of Notre Dame, Mountains of Moon University and Missao Ramacrisna. They have been working hand in hand with Sri Lanka SOS Child Villages for the past decade.
‘SOS Children’s Villages’ is a worldwide programme, operating in 133 countries, with more than 2,100 facilities. At present there are five SOS Children’s Villages in Sri Lanka. During their stay, the team also visited the Anuradhapura SOS Children’s Village.
The new English Activity Room will be utilized not only by the children of the SOS community but also students from the neighbourhood.
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