Sri Pada

IThis past weekend, my family and I traveled to the central province in Sri Lanka to climb Adam's Peak.

Adam's Peak is believed to be where Buddha put his footprint and where he step foot on Sri Lanka. Adam's Peak is a very important experience for all Buddhists throughout the country and it was a price late to climb. 

My family and I woke up at around 1am so that we could arrive at the base of the mountain at a decent time. Our whole reason for going there so early was so that we could see the sunrise. We started our hike around 2:15am. It started out as a relatively easy climb until about halfway. Then it got difficult. But it was all worth it when we got to the top. 

We arrived at the top around 5:10. So we were hiking for about 3 hours. At the top, there was a temple, and it was truly amazing. There were a couple hundred people at the top praying to Buddha and waiting for the sun to rise. Everyone was all gathered around and facing the east so we can see the sunrise. And at around 5:45am it happened. The moment everyone was waiting for. It was truly amazing. 

Climbing Sri Pada was an amazing experience and I am glad that I got to climb it! It was really nice to get more involved with the Sri Lankan culture. 

This photo was taken at the top of the mountain at the start of the sunrise.

A little later when the sun was coming up.

This photo was taken at the top of the mountain while the clouds were rolling in and the sun was coming up.

The reservoir and the sunrise.

A panoramic view of the valley and sunrise.

Adam's Peak on our way back down the mountain.

This was the view of Adam's Peak from the bottom of the trail.

Football

This past week during practice we have been practicing this new defensive covering technique. I have been talking with my other captain and we have been Planning and Initiating the types of plays to be used during our matches so that we are well prepared for our final season SAISA Tournament. 

This year we have a really strong team. Everyone on our starting squad has been playing football for a long time and we have been playing together for a while so we understand each other and our playing techniques. All of us have a really good feeling about placing in our final tournament. 

Every week on Friday we have practice games. We play these games so that we get maximum practice and opportunities to play against people other than us. So far we have played three matches and won all three. We have scored 15 goals in these three matches: Nikita- 5, Devin-4, Me-3, John-2 and Christian-1. This just shows how strong our forwards and midfielders are. We have only conceded 6 goals to the opposition. This ratio shows us that our defense is also very strong. HOWEVER, there are still things that we need to work on such as our covering and man marking. We need to Develop these Skills so that when it comes time to perform at SAISA, we will be the most prepared and best team out there. 

SOS Service Meet: Swimming

The children from the SOS Children's orphanage are still coming to our school every Thursday. Us service members are still engaging with the Issue of Global Importance of the orphans around the world. Our goals are still the same, we are creating elder sibling bonds with the children so that they feel like they have a family outside of the orphanage.

Every week we complete activities with the kids to help them better develop their English. This helps me to Develop New Skills because I am not a Sinhalese speaker so it is hard for me to communicate with these kids. But I am managing and it is really fun! After we are finished with our English learning activities, we go to the Swimming Pool to swim because this is the kids favorite activity. When we get in the water, we teach them how to swim and then we play various games.
Seeing the smile and entertaining them is one of the best things to experience. We as a service group are making the kids lives a happier place and providing a 'family' outside of their orphanage and this truly is a blessing. I love these kids and I am glad that I am a part of this service group.

Photo Credit: Alo Lenk

Local Volleyball Tournament: Event Crew

This past weekend our school hosted a mini volleyball tournament with 3 other local schools. For this two day event we had an event crew of 4 people. My job was to make sure that the judges were all set up with their screenshots and everything. To do this, I had to work collaboratively with others because I had to go to each of the teams and make sure that I have their rosters so that I can fill in the the score sheets. I also had to work with my team because each of us had a different responsibility to ensure that the event went smoothly. Throughout the day I was taking initiative by always doing my job and even other people's when they were not. On the second day of the tournament, I was all alone due to the fact that everyone else had other commitments. So i undertook this new challenge but I also showed perseverance by not giving up when a problem arose.
This was a good experience because it taught me how to manage an event all by myself but it also taught me the importance of team work and having a team.

Ravin and I during the volleyball tournament!

Weekly Football

We have still been playing football every week (perseverance) and each time I seem to improve my skills and gain new ones. I have been improving on my dribbling and shooting skills so that by the time our actual season comes along I will be the best that I can be. 

Each week we arrange the teams differently so that we all get to experience new teams and players. This helps us all to learn how to work collaboratively with others. With each new team, there is a designated captain and this captain is in charge of organizing the team and designating people specific positions. (planning and initiating). 

Kai and I congratulating each other for our good performance.

Going up for a header that i scored!

Slowing down the game and waiting for the right opportunity to attack.

SOS Meeting 4

This past Thursday our SOS group met with kids from the orphanage again! Our first activity that we did was to help them learn English. I asked my two new buddies, Ishara and Maric, basic questions in English and had them write down their responses in English so that they can learn it faster. Through this process I also got to know them better and I also developed my communication skills since they do not speak that good of English and I do not speak that good of Sinhalese. 

We planned on going swimming but sadly it was storming outside so instead we all went to the computer lab and let the kids play on the computers. They all rushed in their and asked us to out on their favorite gaming website. And for the rest of our session they played various games on the computer. 

Playing with these kids is a really fun experience and it also helps me engage with an issue of global importance.. This one being the the issue of many parents leaving their kids to become orphans. 

I can't wait to hang out with these kids again!

SOS Meeting

For our second SOS meeting we met with the orphans. They came to school and each of the SOS members picked two kids to focus on. We will stay with those kids for the rest of the year so that we develop a strong relationship with these kids. The two kids I get the privilege to hang out with for the whole year names are Maric and Ishara.
Once we got to know the kids names, me had them create a poster about stuff that defines them. They drew their names and things that they really like. After we drew the posters, we gave them food and drinks to have and then we just had a little social gathering.
For our next meeting we are planning to go and play some games in the pool. This will be really fun for the kids because they told us that they love to go swimming.

Maric on the left and Ishara on the right

These are the posters they drew.