The kids
The kids of the hostel in Galle are from 6-20 years old. They are kids that unfortunately have some disabilities such as being blind or deaf. It is a hostel, where all the kids that have been abandoned in the past for their disabilities or simply for a question of money, have a possibility to live and study here. They are kids like the others and they are really talented. The girls have some great talent in dancing, making clothes and have a very creative incite. The boys have a lot of enthusiasm and passion in building, in fact they volonteered to participate in the reconstruction of their new classroom.
The kids in Unawatuna school have an enormous energy. They are willing to learn and very importantly they are passionate to learn. Mostly all the kids in galle go there.
Valeria Muratori:
"The Sri Lanka project is an amazing experience. It's an experience that changes you in every way. It changes the way you behave, it makes you more responsible and more confident with yourself. This experience lighted that part of me that I still haven't discovered. On this trip I started understanding my abilities, I started giving myself some goals and of course a motivation, and this motivation for me were the kids. We have been to two schools: The Hostel in Galle (NSS) and The Pre school of Galle (Unawatuna School). We have been only one day with the kids of Unawatuna School, because we thought that the kids in the hostel needed more help, but that one day was really significant for me. In the Preschool the kids had from 6-11 years old. As soon as they saw you they would see you, and say hi to you, with a really happy face. We played with them the whole day. We played duck duck goose, we played tag, we heard music, we danced, we jumped, we taught them some english words, it was really fun. The Hostel at Galle was the school that influenced me the most. There were kids from 6-20 years old and unfortunately they were blind or deaf. The first day we met the kids my heart was beating so fast. I was so anxious because I didn‘t know how to communicate with them, I didn‘t know how to approach them, but as soon as we arrived into the hostel I remember seeing this line of kids pointing at us and doing gestures towards us. There were these two ladies that lead us in and brought us to the kids. As soon as we were walking, Manoj and Suresh, the two guides, told us to sit down that the kids had to give us a sign language name, so that every time you knew they were calling you, or they were talking about you. If they did that gesture, you knew that you were that person. Manoj and Suresh told us that they pick the smallest detail that you have physically and they will identify you with that sign forever. They chose to call me with a curley hair sign, as a flying wave. Because of my curly hair. It was amazing how the kids immediately approached me, how they immediately made me forget all my useless thoughts, and just started communicating with me. Initially it was a bit difficult because I couldn‘t understand but after a while we started communicating in our own way. I have a bracelet here, on my left arm, that I made with this group of girls the very first day. They asked me the first letter of my name and my favorite color, and they made me this beautiful bracelet. With a V, for valeria and it's red because of my favorite color. I remember they also wanted to teach me how to do it, and it took me a while to understand how, but I think I can’t forget how fast I bonded with these girls and how much of an impact they had on me. They taught me to dance, they taught me the sign language alphabet, we had our own handshakes, we played our own games, it was amazing. One day we decided to bring the kids to a farm and then to the beach. They loved it. I remember playing with the water, playing tag, how the girls started braiding my hair, how all of the kids wanted to take pictures with my phone or take videos with my gopro. The last day we have been to the hostel and the kids did this amazing surprise to us. The made us a card for each one of us with a huge origami that they made at the front. I have this card in my room, with all the names of the girls I could really feel the love the kids had for us. In this card they thanked us for the new room, for the beach, for the farm, and many other things, but in reality I think that I was supposed to be the one that has to thank them because they changed me. I think I never met anyone as strong as these kids, in fact they will always be role models for me."
Nicholas Nadeau:
"We had the opportunity to interact with the kids at the hostel, while also learning sign language and experiencing the Sri Lankan culture. The first day we were all given sign language names in a special welcome ceremony. All the children seemed very excited to meet new volunteers that had arrived this year. For some of the children the house is their home for the entire scholastic period, and most of these children live there because their house is too far from the school. This place is like a bubble from the Sri Lankan society that ostracizes kids with diseases and classifies them as kids with no future and an additional weight to sustain. This can be seen by the lack of infrastructures for these kids and lack of tangible benefits given to the kids. It is at that point that the volunteers are essential, the NSS has received many renovations thanks to St.Stephens and also other organizations in the world."
Alex Joyce Johnson:
"I want you all to know that every one of you who purchased something from us during the year at one of our bake sales, has helped provide new materials and resources for the schools and hostel in Sri Lanka. With the 1000 euros that we raised, we were able to hire a carpenter in Sri Lanka to build a partition wall in one of the classrooms. The money was also used to buy a water tank and piping to provide the kids living at the hostel with running water. Three months before we arrived, they had no running water at the hostel. Everyone had to walk over a kilometer to wash dishes, clean themselves, and perform any task that required running water.With the money that we had left over, we donated it to a preschool that had been greatly damaged by a tsunami that hit Sri Lanka in 2004. We replaced toilets that did not work and we provided doors for the student bathrooms that were previously just open to the outside. Next year, the school would like to focus a lot of our efforts on helping their two blind students. We need to raise money to provide more learning materials for them, such as math boards and braille writing machines that allow them to study and learn at the same pace as everyone else. We also need to raise money to buy instruments for the school’s music program. The teacher of the blind students told us that one of the easiest ways for blind people in Sri Lanka to engage the community after they finish school is through music. It is one of few extracurricular activities that can be done without the use of sight, and the school would benefit greatly from new equipment. I hope this has inspired you to think about applying for the trip, and remember that even if you do not go, you can still have an impact of the trip by participating in the many fundraising activities throughout the year."
