ACS - June 2016 - Day 2

I was asked to describe today in a couple of paragraphs or less… I don’t even know if I could describe it in a lifetime. Since Zeina is standing behind me threatening to kill me if I don’t hurry up, I’ll try and make this quick.

We woke up this morning to Miss Skaff tapping on the door of the tent telling us to wake up. Obviously, I fell asleep again for another 15 minutes, and didn’t get up until I was smacked in the head by one of my friends and yelled at for being late. We packed our bags and went to breakfast, where we enjoyed a brilliant show of someone being “attacked” by a spider. It would be rude to say that we laughed, but we did. I’m sure the people in India did too, since the screams were so loud someone might as well have been murdered.

We left the camp later that morning, wishing the camp a brief goodbye and only packing the basics in our carry on bags. I really wish I could say that I absorbed the beauty of the country and the gorgeousness of the nature while on the hour long bus ride, but quite honestly, I spent the entire time asleep on the back of the chair.

We got to the school later in the day, only to be greeted with a surprise. All of the children were standing outside in two rows, waiting for us. This was already very sweet and welcoming as it is, I know I’m not the only one to say that we were shocked by something else. As we walked into the school, the children handed us leaves. Yes, leaves. Why? I’m not exactly sure. Maybe it was because they had nothing else to offer, maybe it was something symbolic. Either way, almost everyone took a leaf, and kept it the entire time.

The teachers and students of both of our schools got together and lit the oil lamp, which was supposedly a tradition of theirs. A group of girls from the school showed us a lovely dance, and I was so shocked to see that no one from our school said a word, and sat in a respectful silence until the very end. This was really surprising, since we happen to be the most immature group of kids in the world, and we laugh if the wind blows the wrong way. A few kids from our school also performed, and the other children were equally respectful.

We wrapped up the day with football and cricket, and were given a couple of hours to switch between playing sports and painting the walls of the school. We had time to bond with the children of the school, and overcome the language barrier to exchange a smile.

Overall, it was an amazing day, and I can’t wait for the days to come.

By Maysoun           

      

Today was an unbelievable day. When my teachers first told me WWW Sri Lanka would change me, I did not take it seriously but now, it is only our first official day and I cannot describe the amount of love the people have shown towards us. Today we went to a public school in an area in the depths of nature of Sri Lanka. I was shocked. The school’s condition is really disappointing because unfortunately the economy is not superb. But, if a random person looks at the school from outside, they would never imagine the children attending there. I think the children were in 4^th or 3^rd grade because they are very small but they are some of the most humble people I have ever met. We were greeted by two wonderful lines of children holding little leaves as welcoming gifts. That really showed me how much they want to offer anything they can. I was told to greet them by bowing and saying ‘Ayubowan’ to them as a respectful gest. Some of these kids as I was told, lost everything they once had prior to the mud slides and storms that happened a few weeks before our arrival, yet they seemed so happy and cheerful when we came. We gave them bags, books and playing materials because they lost so much. Then, all of a sudden, as they were handed these gifts, they bowed down to us. I felt my eyes widen. I was shocked. I really started thinking that these children lost everything they ever had yet, life kept on going, and they were not complaining; they are always smiling and want to give whenever they can. After today I can say that I have changed a lot. Seeing the condition of the school, and the very little that they had, they were so satisfied and thankful for whatever life had to offer to them, while back home we complain to our parents about how we did not want this phone, or how we never have enough clothes to wear, or even about allowances. Some of these children probably do not know what an Iphone is or do not have a proper pair of shoes. The nicest part of this experience was when I got to play with one of the little girls after the reception and she kept on saying thank you and hugging me, she even gave me a kiss before I left and told her bye. I will never forget what I witnessed today and will forever be thankful of the wonderful life I am offered compared to these kids.

Ok so, after a long life changing day in Sri Lanka, I am happy to say my life changed. As a summary I just want to mention what happened at the school today. We heard that the kids at the school were very sweet and kind enough that they prepared a dance for us. The song and the dance were very heart touching. It felt like they were actually professionally prepared children that performed to us, but the heart touching reality was that all of them are poor little kids that are less fortunate than us. I felt my heart shatter when we offered 18 children whose homes and basically all the belongings got destroyed by the flood, bowed down to feet level of our teacher and student who offered it. They had the biggest smile on their faces and it was so heart breaking that something so small (like a bag and some pencils) can make someone so happy. When Jad, Jood, Dahlia, and I had all out performances we all saw big smiles of appreciation for something as small as a song. I only had like 10 minutes to write that (thank you maysoun), but what I wanted to say is that after this day I have so much appreciation for everything I have and I think everyone has more appreciation now. 

By Reem El-Khalil
ACS - June - Final Day
ACS - June - Day 4
ACS - June - Day 3
ACS - June - Day 2
ACS - June Day 1