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Contributing to the post-tsunami rebuilding effort turned out to be a learning process for both the Service Learning Club (SLC) teams from the National Institute of Education (NIE) and the Sri Lankan schools and communities. Read on to find out what the Singapore teams did to help the Asian Tsunami survivors and what memories they took back with them.
Project 1 – NIE SLC Tsunami Team in Welligama, Sri Lanka – 1-15 June 2005
Siva Gopal Thaiyalan, Project Leader and Teacher, Keming Primary School |
On 1st June 2005, our Service Learning Club (SLC) from NIE embarked on a two-week learning journey to Welligama, Sri Lanka, to contribute to the community’s post-tsunami rebuilding endeavours.
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The team got busy replacing broken furniture with newly made items.
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Our team’s primary objective was to refurbish Polwatta School, a small village school which was occupied and somewhat damaged by the people who took refuge during the tsunami.
Our secondary task was to make beds and shelves for the people at the Kathaluwa Internally Displaced People (IDP) Campsite.
Raising Funds
Although the Singapore International Foundation Youth Expedition Projects sponsored our team, we raised an additional $6,400 on our own through pre-trip fund-raising projects with 12 Singapore schools and the NIE community. Pupils from primary and secondary schools, friends and family painted messages of love and hope on 10X10cm plywood tiles for the children in Sri Lanka. Each plywood tile was ‘adopted’ by a donor for S$5.
We also set up an ‘Adopt-a-bed’ initiative, where donors ‘bought’ a bed for $20, thus funding the cost of a bed, mattress and pillow for a tsunami survivor in Sri Lanka. Eventually, we raised enough money to provide for 64 beds.
Rebuilding Polwatta School
The tsunami disaster caused extensive damage to Polwatta School. Basic facilities were disrupted and most structures had collapsed or were rendered unusable in the aftermath. After discussions with the Principal and teachers, our team got down to the task of rebuilding the school and restoring its learning environment as best as we could.
(Click to read more)
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A huge mural of Love and Hope from Singapore, comprising painted plywood tiles, went up on the walls of the school. |
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Sports equipment donated to boost the school’s PE and Sports programme: |
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2 sets of netball posts (custom-made in Colombo) |
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2 sets of netball bibs |
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10 netballs |
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10 volleyballs |
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10 soccer balls |
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3 bags (for storage of balls) |
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3 air pumps |
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Teaching resources for netball (books and lesson plans) |
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Teaching of various sport games, eg netball. |
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Collaborating with the school’s teachers on writing a concept paper to develop Polwatta School as a ‘centre of excellence” for netball in the south Sri Lanka region. |
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Purchase of 100 sets of new desks and chairs for all classrooms, to improve the quality of the classroom environment, and help the School re-gain its status as host of the regional annual examinations. |
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Purchase of new school shoes, socks, PE shorts and T-shirts for every child in the school. |
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Two-day workshop on Cooperative Learning & Counselling conducted by NIE professors for all teachers and school management. |
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Giving away new clothes at a makeshift stall.
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Helping Out at Kathaluwa Campsite for Internally Displaced People (IDP)
This campsite is a semi-permanent shelter that houses 24 families for two years before permanent housing is built. Our team made 24 beds and shelves and provided a mattress, blankets and pillows to each family in the campsite.
All materials used in the rebuilding efforts were purchased from the local community, thus helping to revive the economy. Drivers, carpenters and workers for the projects were engaged for the same purpose.
Follow-up Efforts
After returning to Singapore, we shared our experiences with the NIE community and pupils from the 12 collaborating Singapore schools.
The six-month project grew to involve Singapore schoolchildren in service-learning with their overseas neighbours, and its impact is still felt in the schools which team members now serve in.
In December 2005, twenty-one NIE trainee teachers followed up with Polwatta School and other schools in south Sri Lanka.
Awards and Recognitions
For our efforts and accomplishments, our team was awarded the Nanyang Award for Humanity 2005 in the Team category in November 2005. Team leader, Mr Siva Gopal Thaiyalan, was conferred the inaugural Nanyang Service Award by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong in December 2005 as well.
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