Take it to the streets!

Friday, 5 December 2008 | posted by Rhadeena de Alwis

Hey everyone!

For those of you who don’t know me from Adam (let alone Eve) let me introduce myself and what got me involved in the Global Changemakers programme, which was then known as the ‘Road to Davos’.

I’m 19 years old and live in Colombo, Sri Lanka. At the moment I’m taking a gap year trying to figure out what I want to do with myself the rest of my life. Unlike elsewhere, in SL we leave school when we’re 19, which is old by most standards but unfortunately that just can’t be helped..sigh! Anyhow I’m juggling my options which at the moment include Law, Journalism and quite possibly Photography as an ‘on the side’ option. What I would really like to be would be a pilot, but my dad won’t hear even the start of it, plus I don’t have perfect eyesight!

My activism combines two of my favourite leisure activities, namely hanging out with children and developing my writing abilities, which makes it so much more of a pleasure. I volunteer with a non-profit organization that provides a secure environment and an educational base for underpriviledged children.

Just to give you a bit of a background let me say that in Sri Lanka, as in majority of South Asia, poverty is something that cannot be ignored. In comparison with the level of Relative Poverty found in the west, here the level of Absolute Poverty surrounds you even on the streets of the main towns, leaving the rural areas with much to be desired. In Sri Lanka we have also been subjected to a civil war which has lasted over 2 ½ decades and caused much devastation throughout the country. To add to our troubles, the 2004 tsunami still has a bearing on certain parts of the country and people are forced to live in refugee camps. Something that continues to sadden me is the fact that children most often bear the distress of these situations over which they have no control.

The Organization I work with helps women, children and the poverty affected in many different ways but the aspect I’m most involved in is the housing project, where young girls and boys are taken in, most often from the streets (but we also have those who were victims of both the tsunami and the war) and housed in a stable facility, where they are provided with clothes, regular meals, companionship and also sent daily to schools where they are encouraged not only to study but to develop skills and take part in all the extra-curricular activities of their choice.

I work with these children, or I would rather say ‘hang out’ with these children because I don’t view it as work, helping them with their home work, singing and dancing with them and just being their friend. You see most of them have an inferiority complex that I try to help them break down. I sometimes shop with the older girls and give them fashion tips or help them in whatever they need. Some of my most delightful times however are when I babysit the little ones. They can be quite a handful and I’ve had some less than pleasurable experiences as anyone who has handled little children will relate to, but it would be incorrect if I didn’t mention that they are also such a vital source of joy and encouragement.

I believe that a perfect world is a utopian concept and I know that I can’t ensure a better life for people worldwide, but I do believe and draw courage from the fact that if I can reach out to just one person, then I have made a difference. Some of my youngest charges who are between 3-7 years old have lived through situations that I can only imagine and seen things that a child should never even know exists. In some aspects they have been robbed of their childhood, in others their innocence is lost but to look at them you could never guess the scars that lie just under the surface.

It is these kids who teach me more than I could ever teach them and this is what I want to share with all of you. I am extremely conscious of the fact that had I been born to different parents, at a different time, in a different place, then I could be just like my charges. As a result my motivation lies in the fact that if it were so, I would want someone to reach out and be there for me.

I’ll be regularly blogging about how to look for the blessings in our everyday lives and also what we can learn when we expand our horizon to see what lies beyond the obvious. Something I have learnt is that so many ordinary blessings and life lessons pass us by because we’re too busy to see them. Most often I have deluded myself into believing that it’s the work I do that counts. Don’t get me wrong that is also important but I feel it is more important to be conscious of how you do whatever it is you do. If you can spill love all around, it’ll come right back and not only will you be the blessing but you will also be the blessed and at the end of the day who wouldn’t want to be that priviledged.