Day 6: The Final Hurrah!

Today's final blog from HKIS is brought to you by Nitya, Tara and Robyn:

"As we woke up to our last day at Borderlands we were all extremely sad that our Sri Lankan experience was nearing the end. We drowsily walked to or meeting point where we would find out what our last day of activities would be.

As we begun our series of small challenges, including building a boat, the adventure race and our boat race, we were full of energy and excitement, wanting each of our teams to be the most successful. As we built our rafts using only cardboard, tape, scissors and a tarp, our determination to win grew stronger.

Later on through the adventure ace our teamwork and leadership skills were truly tested. we had to complete difficult tasks, such as boiling an egg with only wood and matches, untangling knots and filling up tubes with water which had holes.

Finally the water was just high enough in the river to go white water rafting. We packed into the jeep and drove off to the starting point. We rafted over rocks, huge waves and other obstacles, all making the experience more fun. Some of us fell in as our rafts were capsized by others. As we returned to camp we all waited the boat race, where each of the rafts the three groups had built would race down the river. Unfortunately all the rafts did not make it in one piece but the whole activity was very exciting.

We can truly say that the whole day was filled with challenges and surprises that pushed us to use our skills we had learned the past few days.

It was a great end to our adventure at Borderlands"  

Day 5: "When Everything Seems Like An Uphill Struggle, Just Think Of The View From The Top"

"As the sun floated above the horizon, the start of the days of Sri Lankan adventure began. Hustling and bustling all the students managed to make it to morning stretches 15 minutes late. After the interactive games of passing five water jugs around and watching Kirk drop the bottles 50% of the time, we made our way to the teeth-chattering river. The glorious river bathing was followed by a scrumptious American breakfast.

The the mind-boggling, earth shattering activities began. As Oliver was detached from his Fantastic Four, two groups were split into rafting and kayaking. The kayaking group made their way up the river with blood, sweat and tears. As the last of their tears dripped into the river, the group made it to the white water section.

After lunch the rafting group engaged n an environmental yet uplifting classroom session in the river: River Science (aka Hydrology) 101. The class was filled with interesting topics including learning about eddies, currents, and hydraulics. This engaging lesson made a chaotic river turn into an infusion of flowing natural essence. With this extensive learning the group went to see how far the knowledge took them. Through flips and turns, paddling and river rescue, the group was able to defeat the challenges that the river put to them.

Although appearing as quite long, our journey is coming to and end soon. With a young group of people finally bonding as a family, the days that appeared like seconds, will be deeply cherished."


Daisy, Sagar, Sogu and Oliver

Day 4: What does Service Mean to You? To us it has always been a one way street. We would give an they would receive - today we changed the direction of that....

By 9am we reached the school which would teach us a lesson that could never be replicated back at HKIS. The school kids were already lined up outside waiting to give us a warm welcome. We experience generous Sri Lankan hospitality, giving us a deeper insight into the local culture.

We moved on to planting some fruit trees which was hard physical work, in hot conditions.

After lunch we started doing dances with the kids and interacting with them via sports and play.

Personally we had more fun with them than abseiling, canyoning and hiking. We saw a different side to people as they were given the opportunity to shine in their own comfort zones. While some of us proved to be extremely dedicated to planting trees, barely stopping for a break, others built an amazing rapport with the school kids who wouldn't leave their side. Of course we came with the intention of planting trees and delivered. But our true present to the kids was our company.

They taught us the importance of a simple smile and we were happy to return it.

Hopefully the sports equipment and wonderful rendition of "Duck, Duck, Goose" (played in Tamil) will forever remind them of the short but memorable moments we shared.

So again what is service? To us is it the kids giving us those memories and smiles, while we gave them the same. Different societies, languages, ages were not a barrier to today's experiences.

Kirk, Hyun Jong ("Happy"), Brianna and Salonee"