Week Without Walls (WWW) is a co-curricular programme which challenges students to get out of their comfort zone, think critically, communicate effectively and bond with the rest of the group. We could choose to go on 1 trip out of 4 interdisciplinary micro trips. Each of these trips focus on one area:

• Highlands– hiking, photography, environmental systems and societies
• Cycling– challenge and skills, initiative and planning
• Hambanthota– Housing and habitat, service
• Northern Narratives– Visit to the SOS Villages in Jaffna and Anuradhapura.

My first choice was to go to Jaffna as I had never visited the northern part of the island. The SOS Children’s Village is a place for children who don’t have parents. There are around ten children living in a house with a mother and the mother looks into the needs of the children. This is a good system for the children as it helps to build a home environment for the children so that they don’t feel like they don’t belong anywhere. The boys move out to the boy’s hostel after they turn 13 for various social reasons.

Day 1

Our group of 10 took the train from the Fort railway station at 5.45 am and left for Jaffna. It was a fun 8-hour train ride and it was nice to see how the landscape changed from lush green forests to dry barren land. We reached Jaffna at around 12.30 pm so we first went to the hotel to drop off our luggage and went out to lunch. The place we had lunch was an authentic Jaffna restaurant. The food was very different, it had ghee in almost everything and it was similar to South Indian food. After lunch we headed off to the Keerimalai Temple with the healing water. People believe that the spring at the temple has the power to heal people. We dipped our feet in the clear blue water to cleanse and heal ourselves. Our next stop was Point Pedro, the furthest point of Sri Lanka. On our way we passed many abandoned houses, cemeteries, boats and bare land. It was sad to take a picture of the four DP1’s that were on this trip as this is the last trip for some of us before we leave school.

The main focus of this micro trip was to visit the SOS villages, so we then visited the SOS Children’s Village but weren’t allowed to go inside as we were a bit late and it was time for the children to study. The manager let us visit the boy’s hostel. The hostel had places for the children to study, a common room, bedroom, kitchen, bathrooms and a small garden space for the boys to plant. It was fascinating to see how the SOS Children’s Village functioned unlike most orphanages in Sri Lanka as it really provides a family environment for the children. We then went back to our hotel after a very long day keeping in mind that we have to complete a reflection and write a six-word story about an experience or anything we learnt that day.

Day 2

After breakfast we headed off to the Nagadeepa islands. We passed the Jaffna fort and the Jaffna library which was burned down during the 30-year war on our way. There were roads connecting the islands which was easy for us to get across from one island to another. We took a very small ferry from Nagadeepa to the Nagapooshani Amman kovil

. It took us about 10 minutes to get across because the ferry was overloaded as it is the only way for the people living in the Nagadeepa island to get to the mainland.

The kovil was very vibrant with different colors and a lot of devotees. There were many customs that we had to follow once we entered the temple. The boys had to take their shirts off and wear a sarong and everyone had to enter barefoot. There was a cow at the kovil for the people to worship as the cow is considered to be a God in the Hindu religion.

 

After visitng the kovil and the temple we headed out to lunch. We went to the same Jaffna restaurant we went yesterday but we ordered Masala Dosai and it was spicy! Very very spicy! So, we had to rush to Rio Ice cream and simmer the spice out. Afterwards we visited the SOS Children’s Village. We had to agree to the terms and conditions of the SOS Children’s village and sign an agreement before entering to make sure that we treat the all children equally. The kids got very excited once they saw us. We played cricket, netball and tag with the children. The teenagers looked very small for their age, probably due to malnutrition and so they started calling us aunty and uncle even though we were the same age. After playing we got the children some soda and chocolate bars. The children came running like a swarm of bees when they see honey to grab a cup of soda because they don’t get to enjoy candy and soda. It was sad to leave the children as I had bonded with them and they loved me. We then hurried to the Jaffna fort to see the sunset which was amazing with the calm sea at the bottom. The Jaffna fort was beautiful with water surrounding the area and it was very relaxing to see the sun go down. It was our last day in Jaffna and we had to make a lot of memories to never forget this trip. So, we stopped by at a gas station to get some treats and chilled out when we got back at the hotel not forgetting that we have to complete a reflection and write a 6-word story.

Day 3

Our teachers allowed us to have a dip in the pool after breakfast before heading off to Anuradhapura. It was another long ride but everyone in our group had bonded well so it was a fun ride. One our way we got a chance to stop by at the Elephant Pass war memorials. There were many abandoned houses on our way and many areas weren’t yet being inhabited by the people. It was interesting to see what was written in the plaques of the war memorials on the Jaffna side of Elephant pass and on the Anuradhapura side. The messages were biased and had two different perspectives.

After taking a look at the war memorials we jumped back into the bus and started moving again passing acres of paddy fields. I had not been to this part of the country before and I was fascinated to see that Sri Lanka offered such beautiful places.

We reached the hotel, dropped off our bags and visited the SOS Children’s Village in Anuradhapura. The children at this SOS village were very different to the children in Jaffna. These kids were very welcoming, and they weren’t afraid to come and talk to us but the children in Jaffna were very conservative they didn’t open up to us like the kids in Anuradhapura. Aditi met a mother who spoke Hindi and she offered to make us Poori. The children were very energetic. We played netball, cricket, football, jump rope, hide and seek etc. there were a lot of older children as well. In this SOS village the older boys played with their younger sibling’s but in Jaffna the older boys weren’t allowed to play with the younger kids due to social reasons and culture plays a major role here. We were sad leave the children as everyone was touched by the children and how much they loved our presence. Before this trip I was not keen on playing with children, but these children changed my perspective and I still miss the children to this day. I will never forget the experience I had with the children. We knackered when we got to the hotel and yes, we had to complete another reflection and a six-word story.

Day 4

We were headed off to see the Ancient City of Anuradhapura. It was amazing to see how people had sculpted the rocks and made these big beautiful temples a thousand years ago. I don’t have words to say how beautiful it was. You have to visit to understand the beauty, culture and the meaning behind these places.

Everyone in our group decided that we should get the SOS children some toys to play with so after lunch we went looking for a mall on Google Maps. After getting the goods we visited the SOS Children’s village and it was a very fun experience that I will never forget. We got the children some soda and chocolate bars and all the children came running like the children at the SOS Children’s Village in Jaffna when they saw the candy. We were very sad to say goodbye to the children. Some of us even had tears in our eyes. We will never forget this wonderful experience. I was very fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to come on this trip. We headed back to the hotel finished our reflection, completed the six-word story and started packing. Only three girls went on the trip and we became good friends and we still meet up during lunch or break to catch up.

Day 5

Today was our last and it was sad to leave end this trip. I will never forget the long bus rides, the karaoke sessions, runs to the supermarket, late night chats, recording unboxing videos and cooking Maggi with the boys. I learnt so much over the trip. At first I thought it’d be hard to communicate with the kids in Jaffna due to the language barrier but what I learnt was that gestures are enough to show people how much you care for them, I also learnt to do very  simple things such as  waking up on time, packing all my belongings without leaving anything behind, to care for the less fortunate, to appreciate what I have and much more.

I must thank the teachers, Mr. lambert-Knott and Ms. Leddy-Cecere who accompanied us on this trip and took great care of us.

Before I embarked on this journey, I was very worried because I didn’t know most of the children and the two teachers who were going on this trip and I was very nervous at first but I did it anyway because from my past experiences I have learnt a lot form the challenges I have faced. This trip also helped me to open my eye to the problems the society in which I live have to face. I can very confidently say that every second I spent with the children at both SOS Villages brought happiness to them which make me very happy and has encouraged me to spend more time with my service group who are a couple of children from a local school near my school.