Back to Service

My last semester at OSC! This also means it’s my last semester of service with the Hope for Kids group. To start off service this year, we included the school in a celebration of international cancer awareness day. Each student was given a ribbon to pin to their shirts or bags as a symbol of solidarity. Each student was also given a leaflet explaining some of the symptoms of cancer, and the importance of taking quick action if you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms. This initiative was quite successful, and it was so nice to walk around school and see everyone bearing the symbol of support on their chests, bags and wrists. 

The next thing we decided to do, was brighten up the children at CCC house’s Valentine’s Day by sending them some gifts! During last weeks service session, our group made heart shaped Valentine’s Day cards for every child at the cancer hospital. We wrote positive messages on them in Sinhala, English and Tamil so that every child felt included and loved today. 

What was especially fun was that we used all the scraps from the Valentine’s Day cards to make a large paper chain which they could hang up in their dormitory. Since the card paper was pink and red, the chain turned out quite beautiful and will hopefully brighten up the atmosphere in the hospital. 

We also sent them each a packet of biscuits. The nurses at CCC said that this is something they like to give the kids on a daily basis, and that they were slightly short on biscuits. So, we bought and sent 50 packets of biscuits to them along with the cards! 

The next project we are getting started on is organizing curtains for the hospital rooms. They recently had the whole place renovated. They just finished repainting the walls, and are now looking for some help with organizing curtains for the large windows that fill the halls of the hospital. One of our service members’ family works with fabrics and clothing textile manufacturing, so hopefully we’ll be able to get that organized really soon for them!

I really hope that we were able to make the children happy. It’s so unfortunate, what they are going through, and I am so grateful for a chance to contribute to their joy. 

Learning Outcomes:

5. Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively – The Hope for Kids service group is a team. It’s a team that works together to bring joy to children in need! We work together to achieve all our goals and reach a wider audience.

6. Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance – Cancer is definitely an issue of global significance, as it impacts millions of people all over the world. By participating in this service group, I am demonstrating engagement with the issue.

7. Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions – My choice to join this service group, and the actions we do to bring joy to the children at the cancer hospital are all ethical. It’s truly beautiful to know that we are making a difference in someone’s life!