Swimming has always been a big part of my life. I started competitive swimming at the age of 7 and have been doing so ever since so I have over 10 years of experience in the sport. Co-leading the Gecko Inc service group provided me with an opportunity to harness this experience and overall passion for swimming into helping the less fortunate, underprivileged kids.

The Gecko Inc. service group focuses on helping disadvantaged Sri Lankan children to develop basic water safety skills. Considering the fact that Sri Lanka is an island, a child’s ability to feel safe around water is critical to preventing drownings and improving overall safety. I try my best to teach basic swimming skills and tips to the kids in a fun and engaging way that gets them genuinely interested in the activity. Our group also provide them with the opportunity to have full access to the range of equipment our school has acquired over the years, things they definitely normally would not be able to use. Additionally, we host regular fundraisers to raise awareness while also collecting more money to put back into the service.

I started doing this service after already doing my previous service (Peace Corps.) as I knew I would provide be able to provide these kids with the lifelong skill of swimming which would in turn create a safer environment for them to live in.