I was very pleased about my recent experience in Hambantota a few months ago. I think I achieved my goals regarding interacting with the children.
This is how I think I achieved these aims:
My first aim was to interact with the children in such a manner that they would feel comfortable around me (and the others in my group) as we were strangers to them. As mentioned before this was a weakness of mine i was aware of. It was important to me that they were able to enjoy our company for the three days we spent with them. As I do not spend much time around children in pre-school (or any young children for that matter!), and i am not very good at handling them or relating to them, i thought this would be a challenge for me. When i got there though, the children were so sweet and i did not feel uncomfortable or awkward around them at all. I found it easier than i thought to talk to them and i was happy to improve my Sinhala by doing so! I really enjoyed playing the games with them and surprisingly some of them didn’t seem as scared as i expected them to be which was nice to see. i usually find it difficult to work collaboratively with other people as soon as i meet them as i need to get used to them but I feel i achieved this goal to an extent as some children were scared and crying, however they had only been in school for a few months and were still not used to new people so I didn’t take this too personally! On the last day during the concert my camera attracted the attention of some of the children and two of the boys came and sat next to me and started looking at my camera and wanted their pictures taken1 I was very happy that they felt comfortable enough with us to approach us (even if it was for the camera!)
My next goal was to be co-operative and helpful to my team while working on our task. I thought the selection of people in my group was just right for a trip like this one as there were lots of people i was comfortable around and could converse with easily, but there were also a few i did not know very well and i thought this was a great opportunity to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones. I was happy that this happened gradually over the three days as i began to feel more at ease around people i previously felt awkward around. I think teambuilding experiences such as these are important to participate in, and i would like to do this again sometime.
Being someone who had only just learnt the skill of being organised i hoped that my team would be prepared to take up the challenge of getting so much work done in such a limited period of time, and be able to do it well. This needed organisation. Lots of it! An aspect of the task Mr Nimal had completely under control. If not for Mr Nimal’s planning and organisation, i do not think our task would have been completed half as successfully. Not only did we finish early, but we did everything so well and by the time we left, the school so different from it’s original state that i would not have been able to recognize it! I was happy about the way i was dedicated to one task until it was completed and i tried my best not to leave anything undone, so i was proud of myself for being able to keep up with the fast pace at which we were forced to work (we only had three days!)
Another goal was to be patient. Anyone who knows me knows that i am extremely impatient. I cannot wait long periods of time for things and i cannot do the same thing for a long period of time, as my mind zones out and i cannot concentrate at all!
This experience, if it was to be successful would require lots and lots and lots of patience! I needed to be patient while painting the school and the playground equipment as that took a long time and also i needed to be patient with the children, something i was nervous about. As i mentioned earlier, i tried my best not to half-finish a job and i do not remember doing so. I worked (along with everyone else) for hours on end, doing the same thing, and as i hate repetition, i found it a little difficult to stay focused on the task at hand. Yes, there were times when i lost my patience and felt like not doing anything but the thought of the children drove me to finish whatever i was doing and move on to the next task. I was extremely proud of all of us as we helped each other finish our tasks and we did so in such uncomfortable weather conditions!
Another goal was to not complain about things on the trip, whether it was the weather, the task etc. And i am happy to say that i think i achieved this goal! I did complain about it being hot etc but i did not make a big deal out of things i would normally have.
Overall, i was happy with my team and i was happy with myself and my contribution to this pre-school. it was such a rewarding experience and i really want to do more social work like that! :)
