Temple School

In my first few weeks at OSC, I was given the choice of which service group I wanted to join. At first, I was tempted to sign-up for the Care for Paws group as their agenda was very similar to the agenda of the service-learning group that I co-led at AISD (My old school). However, while I was at AISD, I always envied the other service groups as they always got to work with children. It always looked like so much fun playing with the children and watching their faces light up when you work together. So I decided to look at groups that were involved with children. There were two groups that caught my eye. Temple School and the Hope for Kids service group. Ultimately I was selected into Temple School.

I was surprised at how small the group was. I didn’t think a group this small could get much done. However, my first meeting with the group was surprisingly productive. We managed to plan out the activities for the rest of the year and who was going to bring which supplies. I tried my best to participate as much as I could during this meeting as a way to slowly get out of my shell and become familiar with the people at OSC.

The following week was the first time I met the children. We planned to paint pictures with them in the primary art room. I had a lot of fun with the children. I started a conversation with a few of them in Sinhala in an effort to know more about them.

Here I am talking to the children about their colorful painting (Picture taken by: Hamda)

Our second meeting with them we made coconut rotis with the children. Each member of the group brought one of the necessary ingredients. We brought the children to the maker space and we gave each child a specific job to do. Once the dough was complete we let the children play again while Hamda, Anouk and I stayed behind to fry the rotis. We spread Nutella on the rotis and served them to children. As they ate, I and another member of the group attempted to tell the children a story in Sinhala, however, the kids were too busy enjoying their treats to even listen to us.

Hamda and I frying the rotis for the children. (Picture taken by: Anouk)

We got to visit their school once as well. It was an interesting experience for me. Before going I knew that their school would be really small. However, I was surprised when I finally saw the school. My expectations for their classroom were fairly low based on what I’ve seen from other local schools that I’ve visited. Anyhow their classroom closely resembled a PreK classroom from an international school. There was a separate area for toys and they even had a small library for the children too. There were colorful murals on the walls and the tables were in different colors. There’s were carpets and bulletin boards that displayed the children’s art. 

We performed a small puppet show in Sinhala for the children and in return they performed two songs to us. Afterward, we served the kids some cake and talk to a few of them about how they like going to school.

Being a part of the Temple School Service Learning group for around 2 months open my eyes to the world outside my own. Because I have only attended international schools for the past 12 years, I am rarely exposed to what local schools are like. I also realized that even though the children in this school did not have the same facilities that I did they were still really happy in their little school. It made me realize that happiness isn’t materialistic. 

 

IB Learning Outcomes:

LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

Being in Temple School,  I have to work with my other group members and plan activities for the children to enjoy and learn from. I hope that I can participate as much as I can in the conversation and work as much as I can for the group.

 

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