After three and a half years in Hope For Kids, which was a service where we raised awareness and collected resources for children suffering from cancer, I decided to join a new service. I decided to take this big decision as I wanted to challenge myself into a newer role as a service leader for a different service (LO2). However, while I join US Peace Corps as a service leader it does not stop me from participating and helping the Hope For Kids service group. I decided along with the service supervisor of Hope For Kids that I can lend a hand whenever needed and whenever I can come outside of the allotted service time on Thursday, and I was more than happy to do that (LO4).

As we start the new service group called US Peace Corps some of our first steps were to make preparations (LO3 and LO5) before we actually interact with the children over zoom. US Peace Corps is a service group where we are going to encourage a cultural exchange of ideas and at the same time give children from rural areas of Sri Lanka a chance to practice their English through conversations with us. It is important to understand that we are not “teaching” English but rather modelling conversations that can help them use English in their daily discussions (LO7). The first time the OSC members met we made a list of simple questions about their hobbies, home, etc. (LO3) that would allow us to know more about them and at the same time also give them a chance to know more about us. In the next couple of sessions, we actually met the children. We met students from 3 different schools with 3 different cultural backgrounds. With over 40 students in total, we break off into breakout rooms so that it is easier to have conversations and make connections.