SOS Village: Welcome to OSC!
The excitement, joy, felicity and at the same time fear: cocktail of emotions could be seen on their faces. They didn’t just jump into the pool but experienced something they probably desired to experience for a long time…

I cannot tell exactly what prompted me to join this service again. To be honest, it was always a challenge for me to deal with children (especially if I don’t really know them). You never know what will be their reaction, what they will like about you and what they won’t like. Do they consider you a friend with whom they can be open and trustful? Or do they think you are scary? Are they bored? Do they understand you? Yeah, sometimes these questions still appear in my mind but much more rarely in comparison with the previous year. During one year of being engaged in this service I became more confident, open and initiative. Now when I am aware of specialties and features of this organization and children who are the part of its community, I can be more creative in terms of my work with these children. I prepare different educational games and exercises before the day we have service. Moreover, I’ve introduced some incentives such as stickers and candies in order to motivate and inspire children in their learning.

The group of children we are dealing with this year is quite different from the previous one. This is what indeed amazes me! Last year most of the girls were so modest and unconfident about getting into water compare to the boys who, on the contrary, straightaway jumped into the pool without thinking of any risks. Unlike my first group, this year children switched their roles. Girls being so excited and emotional got into the pool without any hesitation while most of the boys were much less confident.

Even though I feel sad sometimes missing the children from the last year, I’ve already attached to this group especially to two boys Prianga and Sasanku which are my ‘hoodies’ and are under my supervision during the 15 minutes of educational activity before swimming. It is utterly interesting to observe their behavior; how different they are and at the same time alike.

I am looking forward another exciting and interesting year journey with these children! Also, I hope when our service group will be visiting the SOS Village abode in Colombo, I will have a chance to meet the children from the last year and see what they are up to. 

The first swimming session with the children. I am on the left top side of the the pool showing a kid how to move legs properly. Photo credits: Charulatha Pitigala



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