This semester was a stressful yet rewarding one. There were many planning sessions involved this semester, unlike the past semester where we were acting within our community to fundraise for the final and most important event of the year. However, to reach that point we had to plan intensely and communicate with organizations outside of school. Nothing would have been possible this semester if not everyone in our service group effectively initiated, communicated and collaborated ideas when it was necessary. Our group has grown closer and everyone has skills that contribute to great extents to our group. With the success of this year, I am excited to see what the group has to offer next year. As each of them are driven by their passion to help animals and make a difference in our community. The authenticity in their actions is evident which is the secret to all our successes. We took all the funds we earned from the events hosted in first semester to make the events in the second semester possible. Hence, we decided at the start of the year to use first semester to focus on initiating and planning, whilst second semester was for executing and collaborating. Please refer to the following link to read about the events carried out in the first semester, (http://dsamayawardhena20.edublogs.org/2019/01/17/service-reflection-semester-1/ )
This semester we didn’t initiate that many events, but we executed the most awaited event of the year our annual sterilization and vaccination camp. From the minute we got back from our winter break, we commenced planning for the annual sterilization and vaccination camp. There was a lot of thought that needed to be put in as we wanted to host it at the army tri force camp. For this we needed to get approval from the general due to the security measures taken. We wanted to host it there as it is notorious for the many stray dogs that seek refuge in that camp. We began by contacting Dr. Chamith from Future Vets of Sri Lanka, as we worked with them last year at our Asiri Uyana sterilization and vaccination camp. They were a pleasure to work with, so we wanted to collaborate with them. It took weekly phone calls and rough dates to make it all possible. As it was difficult to get directly in contact with them as Dr. Chamith and his team were going around Sri Lanka, sterilizing stray animals. Due to this busy schedule we had very broken communication with them the first few weeks, but towards the month of February we were able to agree on a date, the 10thof March 2019. With this in mind we had to commence planning collecting and purchasing the necessary resources as proposals needed to be sent to receive them. Rashmi my co service leader and I decided that 50,000 ruppees was a good allocation for the event, so that we would have enough money for our revaccination camp in Asiri Uyana. It was agreed that Dr. Chamith and his team would provide the tents and medications and we would pay them at the of the process. Water, transportation and food for the dogs was provided by us as agreed with the team from Future Vets of Sri Lanka.
In order to have the necessary food rations for the sterilization and vaccination camp we organized a dog food drive. This was our first official event of the semester. In this food drive we asked people to bring in dog food, canned fish and rice. As the dogs and cats would need the food after surgery since they wake up disoriented and weak it is a great way to sooth them back into a routine with strength. One our members Christopher has always made the posters for our events and with this effectively communication. We received an overflowing amount of dog rations, which we couldn’t have thanked our school community enough.
With the food rations, necessary equipment and the logistics all planned out with Future Vets of Sri Lanka, we were ready to host our annual sterilization and vaccination camp at the army tri-force headquarters. The day was extremely stressful as we had to ensure that everything went smoothly. So, one of the first things we did was allocated jobs to each of the members so that they a responsibility which kept them busy throughout the day. It was important everyone did their jobs properly so that Dr. Chamith and his team could focus on the surgeries. Which placed the emphasis on aftercare on our team Rashmi took the responsibility of recording all the treatments and I monitored the aftercare. We spilt the main responsibility between us two so that the other members could carry out their jobs with support. This made the day run smoothly and the event was an overall success as we were able to sterilize a total of 45 dogs and vaccinate a total of 50. Please refer to the following blog post that goes into the details of the event (http://dsamayawardhena20.edublogs.org/2019/03/13/annual-sterilization-and-vaccination-camp-2019/)
It was truly a moving experience as the impact we make on the impact is bigger than us. These actions that we take are to reduce the overpopulation problems in our country. It is amazing how we could be involved with such a global problem though it was locally. This event is a step towards protecting the animals and looking after their wellbeing’s as neglect is a problem in Sri Lanka though the issue has gotten better over the years. The army commander was impressed with our performance and wanted to collaborate with us again next year. These words resonated with our group as it was rewarding to know that our passion drove us to carry out such a positive act. We were also published in the local newspaper, here is a link to the online article (http://www.sundaytimes.lk/190331/education/oscs-care-for-paws-teams-upwith-vets-for-a-cause-342970.html )
We also planned a third and final event, our revaccination camp at Asiri Uyana. As this was the location where we hosted our sterilization and vaccination camp last year. Thus, we thought it was only ethical if we went and renewed the vaccinations of the dogs in the area and check up on their well-being. As it was a huge step, we took last year by directly affiliating ourselves with the community around us. For this reason, we preserved around 20,000 rupees from our account that we budgeted out of our funds to make this event possible. However, due to the unfortunate and tragic Easter Sunday attacks we were unable to host the event for the planned date and had to cancel all arrangements. This was truly appalling thing that happened to our nation, so we channeled our energy towards helping the community around us instead as it was what was necessary of us.
Overall, this year was a major success for our service group as we were able to raise a hefty amount of funds which were all allocated to the annual sterilization and vaccination camp but also to the re-vaccination camp though it did not end up occurring. None of this would have been possible if I did not have my co service leader Rashmi alongside throughout the process. I could not have been any prouder of how we worked as group, the amazing things we accomplished and the positive impact we had on our community.
I also created a video summarizing the essence of the sterilization and vaccination camp hosted, because no words would do just to describe the efforts each of the members.
(insert when youtube isn’t blocked)
