In April 2022, a company called London Stock Exchange-Sri Lanka (LSEG-Sri Lanka) reached out to Let’s Build Great Things and asked if they could send interested volunteers from their company. What a godsend!!! Since then, they have sent us a band of volunteers who have contributed to keeping classes going non stop every Sunday since April. Here’s a highlight of Pulith’s experience. Interview conducted by LSEG-Sri Lanka.

June 01, 2022

Community Impact

What volunteering do you do and what was the positive impact?

Since I joined LSEG amidst the pandemic, I was not able to take part in many volunteer opportunities. But recently this wonderful project called "Let's Build Great Things (LBGT)" caught my attention out of the other volunteer opportunities created by LSEG Sri Lanka.

As this project is conducted with the motive of empowering children to voice their opinions and acts, to become self-initiated change makers rather than to wait on a ready-made solution. This project always takes me back to my childhood, where we were taught to think creatively. The education system in the country and the current society has forced us to act like robots or rather we have got used to perform certain things in the same manner over the years in order to ease our lives. But unfortunately, this has eventually stopped us to think or to look at a problem from a different perspective and to arrive at better solutions.

The specialty in this project is that, the children are given a weekly topic which we should describe and explain how the task should be completed and assist them during that time. The children have the full freedom to draw/craft the way they wish and be creative with their own imagination and make the given handwork even more interesting with their own additions.

Can you share a particular example or connection you made through your volunteering that can bring this impact to life?

While I was guiding these children with their work, one child who was next to me asked whether I would come on the following week as well. I was delighted to hear that on my first day, and they were confident enough to ask questions and to clarify their doubts, to get my opinions on their drawing/craft. As it was nice to see them taking my instructions and following the given tasks with enthusiasm. Which means I was able to make a strong connection with at least one child, and it made them comfortable enough to approach a person whom he/she has never seen but met few hours ago. And the most heart touching incident was that, they were excited to show me their creations and to be appreciated by me. Further, when I visited them during my next visit, they were able to recognize me and to interact with me even more.

Wellbeing

How did that experience make you feel?

As I have mentioned previously, this project always takes me back to my childhood. And I always make sure to take part in the activities such as to draw/craft along with the children and guiding them as well. Because that would bring out the inner child in you. Further, it is a good therapy for our minds since we have been working during the weekdays and it feels more relaxing and it boosts our energy to run the battle for the coming week as well.

How does volunteering, whether this anecdote or more broadly, benefit your sense of wellbeing?

Further, by considering all the factors volunteering can be considered as the missing piece of holistic employee wellness. Since it helps us to get rid from this monotonous lifestyle and to focus on the entire well-being of ourselves including emotional, social and physical health, while increasing our engagement and work satisfaction at the same time.

Self Development

How did it challenge and develop you?

During the introductory session, the organizers of LBGT told us that punctuality is a must as we are dealing with children and we need to be an example for the children. As the “children pick up these behaviors from adults, and it will help them respect timeliness”. I think this was the biggest challenge which I came across when attending this project, since I am not a very punctual person. But the words mentioned by the organizers were stuck in my head. Hence, I made it a habit to show up to those sessions on time and I was able to do it successfully.

Further, I was able to build relationships with the coordinators in charge and the children. These children were of different age groups and different backgrounds. But I was able to be friendly and from the way those children respond, I felt that they did not feel scared to interact with me.

Was there a particular opportunity for learning a new skill or approaching something in a different way that you experienced?

Since this opportunity is to deal with school children of different age levels, I did some research on ways to approach children and ways to deal with them. As it is not easy as dealing with an adult.

And another was that half of those children spoke in Tamil language, where I was familiar with Sinhalese and English. So, we took the help from students who can speak Sinhala/English languages and made them explain the children who understand Tamil. We also tried to show them visuals of what we are teaching and the children will get an idea of what we are delivering.  Thereby I had to approach these children in a different way, so that each and every child understood what we tried to deliver.

Also, I was able to conduct a session in an organized sequence and in a simple way so that they wouldn’t get confused as to how to go about with the given task and everyone would understand without a trouble. The smallest children were assigned someone elder to help and guide them which created a chance for them to share a bond and friendship. These different approaches made the sessions interesting and exciting for both the volunteers and the children which made them motivated to continue with the sessions each week.

Thank you Pulith for Sharing your Experience!