World Volunteers day was celebrated on December 5, but the members of the One World community, practice and preach volunteerism on a daily basis. There is much hype about volunteering going around, with some stating the importance of it at an international level and being a part of a global platform, while others mention how good it would look on your CV – but, the members of the One World community have silently touched the hearts of great many people, young and old, right here in Sri Lanka.
A youth volunteer movement initiated as the community services branch of Sri Lanka Model United Nations 2011, ‘One World’ has evolved from a simple beginning to a mounting volunteer force of over 200 young members, aged between 13-20. The organization is currently in the process of registering as a non-profit organization, and aims at reaching out to the whole island, spreading its message of active volunteerism and the ability to make a change no matter how young you are.
“We found it easy to start up since most of us know each other very well through the MUN conference”, says a member of the volunteer force. “The enthusiasm at the beginning was amazing”. The volunteer force started with projects such as visiting the Victoria elder’s home, repainting and helping in the reconstruction of the Preethipura childrens’ home as well as raising over Rs 100,000 to fund the Alzheimer’s Foundation. Charity walks and car washes are the little things that bring the members of the movement together, and the next bright idea pops up from one of the volunteers. Indeed the next bright idea will ‘light up’ the CH and FC grounds as well as hundreds of lives up North, on December 18 where a mega carnival named, “Light Up”, will be held in aid of funding Kumar Sangakkara’s ‘Bikes for Life’ campaign. The carnival will be held on Sunday, the 18th of December at the CH and FC Grounds from 4.00pm.Tickets can be purchased by any of the volunteers and at the gate.
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