We are delighted to share a blog written by student Menalie Jayasuriya from Lyceum International School, Panadura, Sri Lanka, who is part of a team delivering a Global Goals project for the 2019-20 Global Goals Competition.
Their project is among over 957 social action projects currently running as part of the GSL movement and we are excited to be supporting them to design and lead positive social change in their community.
As the leader of the team ‘Lend a hand’ I feel delighted for being able to work as group with my team mates and engage in a community service project to help a set of underprivileged children from a rural school.
Project Overview
Our project ‘Lend a Hand’ was started with an aim to increase the quality of education for 128 students at the Udugama Primary School. Our initial reach was identifying many sentimental problems of the Udugama Primary community such as lack of motivation, no proper teaching and learning environment and high level of absentiseem.
Our reciprocation was met with numerous positive support from our School community in the form of several campaigns and donations. Thus our initial aim was fulfilled and hereon we further vision to positively impact on their primary education.
Our Journey
“Global Goals Competition laid the foundation for me to identify and develop my hidden talents. As the leader of the team ‘Lend a Hand’, I learnt to work as a team, to plan and organize my work , presentation skills and leadership qualities. I also gained knowledge about the hardships faced by underprivileged children of our same age in our community and learnt to sympathize towards them. It is indeed a great pleasure for me to be able to lend a helping hand for these innocent children of Udugama School and spread the message of the importance of quality education to the community.”
I would also wish to share some opinions from my fellow team members about their experience in participating in the Global Goals Competition.
“Global Social Leaders project touched hands and hearts at the same time it reminded me that there are children just like us without privileges or the right means of education. After all a kind gesture can reach a wound only compassion can heal!” – Tavinya Gamage (secretary)
“I’m very proud to have been a part of this project. I really enjoyed working together with my teammates to achieve our goal of providing quality education to a rural school. I learnt a lot of useful knowledge and skills and hope to contribute to similar projects in the future.” – Bimandi Perera (Treasurer)
“Throughout this project I learned many lessons for life like: working in a team and helping those in need. Seeing those wide smiles on their faces was a great experience. As a team we helped other children to have a brighter tomorrow; which is an immense source of happiness for all my fellow team members.” – Sinethya Rajapaksha (overall operations)
“I believe that through the GSL Competition I have both discovered and developed many skills that are useful for my future. I’ve experienced and learned the value of teamwork, understood the importance and effectiveness of communication and furthermore polished myself as a responsible person who is open to new challenges.” – Mihara Perera (public relations)
“Working together with all my friends have showed me, that with teamwork and togetherness, we are able accomplish anything. I was very happy to work in this project, I thought to myself, that we are able to help others along with having fun. I am very glad and lucky both to have worked with GSL.” – Bihan Sudusinghe (overall operations)
“As a team member of the GSL group, I learnt lot of things such as teamwork, creativity and helping others around me in the society. I hope to involve in other similar projects like this in future.”- Poojana De Silva (public relations)
But unexpectedly, because of the Covid 19 pandemic our social action was to be postponed until the world overcomes this challenge. Momentarily our hearts wish a quick recovery for the global community but we are eagerly waiting to resume our social responsibility.
The Next Chapter
There are millions of children around the globe seeking proper education. Many nations are inflicted with poverty issues which makes quality education of minor importance to the society. Our age restricts us from influencing major communities but a small change can travel a long way.
By motivating other children to work harder or by providing a student with some school equipment you have in excess; you can join hands with us to create a massive impact on the society. So if you ‘Lend a Hand’ whilst helping another to learn, the happiness you gain from it will be endless. Even though, the Covid-19 pandemic stood as a barrier obstructing the flow of our project, we are looking forward to start and continue from where we stopped and fulfill our aim of bringing a smile to the faces of the brothers and sisters of Udugama Primary School.
The 2019-20 GSL Global Goals Competition is now open and runs until June 2020. If you belong to one of the 700+ teams of students currently delivering a social action project as part of the competition we would love to hear from you and feature your blog and project photos on our website to inspire others.
