From laughing at the confusion arising thanks to Sri Lanka’s unconventional body language to playing with and teaching children at the Peter Weerasekera Children’s Home, Jessica Wildschut and Stine Jakobsen thoroughly enjoyed their three month stay in Sri Lanka.
The two undergrads following a Bachelor’s Degree in ‘Child Care and Welfare’ at the Oslo University College in Norway, had to complete a three month practice placement at an institution caring for underprivileged children. Their choice- the Peter Weerasekera Children’s Home near Yakkala. Here they share their experiences.
“Though we came to help and teach the children the experience proved to be very educational for us as well. Our assignments consisted of helping take care of the babies, attending Montessori with the toddlers and socializing, playing and communicating with the children in English. This was truly a valuable learning experience for us.
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| Learning with the children! Jessica Wildschunt and Stine Jakobsen |
“Our degree programme consisted of five main fields of study - Social Sciences, Law, Psychology and Health Care, Education and Educational Welfare work with Children and Adolescents. Our experiences at the Home proved to be a means of enabling us to understand our future profession more profoundly as well as discover our own strengths and weaknesses.’
“As we were staying at the Home, we were able to better understand and build firm friendships with the staff and children. We were touched as we witnessed the dedication and devotion of the staff who put forward their best efforts in working for the Home.
The difference in the body language proved to be a source of mirth and confusion alike! The way the Sri Lankans shake their heads to say ‘Okay’ is similar to the way we shake our heads to say ‘No’ in Norway! Further, the hand gesture used in Sri Lanka to indicate ‘Come here’ is the gesture used in Norway to say ‘Go away!’
“Thus, in writing the exam paper at the end of the programme about the experiences we gained, we emphasized on the cultural differences and cross-cultural communication. The Peter Weerasekera Children’s Home has welcomed foreign students in the past too and this has many positive effects especially in terms of nurturing cultural experiences and understanding. Though the differences in culture between our two countries were a barrier initially we were able to overcome them as we gradually got to know and understand each other very well.”
The Peter Weerasekera Children’s Home accepts children from the age of two weeks to 18 years. Though it is mainly a girls’ home, boys up to the age of five are also accepted. The home currently has 82 children divided into four houses which are the Nutrition centre for children from two weeks to three years, the Toddlers’ Home for three to five-year-olds, the Norway House funded by Norway for six to twelve-year-olds and the Main Home for 13 to 18-year-olds. |
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