President Scout Evaluation Camp – July 2012
I was fortunate enough during the summer vacation to participate in the President Scout Evaluation Camp which was to be held in Koswatta near Avissawela for 3 days. I was representing the 52nd Colombo Open Troop. We together with a few other Lyceum Scouts hired a van and we set off. When we arrived at the campsite we were very surprised because this was beside the Menik Ganga and was near a forest and it didn’t have a power supply. We all knew that we in for a new challenge and we were ready to face it. When the scout masters arrived we were divided into patrols. There were about 30 scouts in the campsite. Each patrol had to pitch their own tent and had to cook their own meals. During the course of the camp we learnt and developed many new skills.
We learnt how to swim across a river.
We learnt how to cook food in backwoodsman style.
We learnt how to climb trees.
We learnt how to build structures such as bridges across small streams.
One of the most important things I learnt to do was to work collaboratively with other people and to show perseverance and dedication in whatever I did.This camp has helped me learn to value the comforts I have at home and how to be independent in life.
Goals For Grade 12 – Semester One
* As the leader for the SOS Village Service Activity I plan to lead my team with utmost dedication and I am going to show perseverance and commitment in my activities activities
* Since I am a member of the Executive Commitee of Colombo Mudel Untied Nations 2013, I will persevere to do my best and to work collabaratively with the other EXCO members. This is really important since I will be engaging with issues of global importance.
* It has always been my dream to start a scout troop in OSC. This will help me to undertake a new challenge and work collabaratvely with others and show perseverance in the activities that I do.
* I hope to initiate a new service activity which will actively help the local community. It was my intention to collaborate with the organistaion – My Wish Charity and help thoses poor children. This will help me understand the suffering these children undergo and I will be working collaboratively with others to help these children out.
* I intened to do my best in all my classes and commit myself to the fullest and try to be on the honour roll this semester.
OSC Staff Vs. Students Badminton Tournament – 22/05/2012
This year’s badminton season was to my utmost disappointment a very short one. Badminton is my favourite sport and I am pretty good at it too. The season began in mid-April and we have been having practices for the past few weeks.
Not many people had signed up for Badminton. The current captain of the school team – Uthpala, was having his exams so Mr Nimal – our master in charge gave me the wonderful opportunity to be the captain of the team for these few weeks. Being the captain helped me develop my leadership skills and take responsibility to my shoulders.
By the end of the season Mr Nimal, wanted to give us all some good games to play. Since we didn’t have time this season to organize any friendly matches with other schools, Mr Nimal organized a Staff Vs. Student tournament for us.
The tournament was to consist of a total of 12 matches. I was to play one single and two doubles. I was fortunate enough to get Mr Pradeep as my singles opponent, since he was one of the best badminton players in the school and I was longing to stretch my muscles. Eventually though I played my best Mr Pradeep won. But I was happy I fought back and did my best. I really enjoyed the game and this tournament was a good break from the rigorous IB course I was following.
By the end of the day nobody had won the tournament because it was a draw both the staff and students had won equally – 6 matches each. This tournament was undoubtedly the highlight of our short badminton season and I really enjoyed it a lot.
Uthpala And Teru Playing A Double With Mr Thithira And Mr Rajiv
Mr Nimal With Some Of The Staff
Mr Lockwood Playing A Single With One Of Our Studnets
Music Makers April 2012
This year I was fortunate enough to participate in the succesful Music Makers concert. The concert was really well organized but unfortunately not many people arrvied to see us perform. This was the second time I had been up on the OSC auditorium stage. I performed Enrique Iglesias’ Hero a very heartfelt and touching song. I was to be aaccompanied by Mr Smith playing the acoustic guitar and Mr Reihm playing the bass guitar.
Perfroming like this gave me confidence and courage to face new challenges. This is something which I will find really useful in my future.
This is the You Tube link to my performance.
Saisa Track And Field – 2012
This year I was very fortunate enough to participate in Saia Track and Field 2012 to be held in Chennai at the American International School. I was participating in 5 events high jump, long jump, 100m, 200m and the 400m. This was the first time in my life I was faced with such a wonderful opportunity; I was determined to do my best. We left on the 15th of March. We arrived in Chennai in the afternoon. We were immediately taken to the school; it was from there that we were introduced to our host families. This was a first time experience for me. I was very excited. Me and Bharat were roommates. We eventually ended up with a really nice family. I was happy to be a part of all this. We went to bed early to rest for our events tomorrow.
The next day I had my 200m, even though I had a problem with my leg since I pulled a muscle a week ago I did my best. The same day I had my 400m that too I ran as fast as I could. I wasn’t able to come into the final six but I was extremely happy that I did my best. After all our events we had a pool party where we were given the opportunity to socialise with the other students. It was a very interesting evening. I made many new friends.
On the second day I just had my high jump and long jump. I did my best once more, even though my leg was hurting really badly. By the end of the day I was totally exhausted. We had one more day full of events to look forward to tomorrow, when I arrived at our host’s house; I just flopped on the bed and fell asleep.
I was looking forward to participating in my final few events. I had my 100m and my 100m relay. The relay was a really good way to show our collaborative skills and teamwork. This was my first time ever running a relay and even though we weren’t able to come in first place. I was happy that I had done my best.
Overall I was extremely happy with my performance at my first ever SAISA tournament, I really enjoyed my experience in Chennai and making new friends. I also learnt many new skills which will undoubtedly help me in my near future for example teamwork, collaboration and fair play. I am looking forward to my next SAISA where I hope to perform better.
The High Jump Event
Warming Down With The Team
Recieving The Baton During The Relay
Preparing For The Relay
Warming Down With The Team
The Long Jump Event
Visit To The SOS Village In Piliyandala – 10/05/2012
Today we were all very excited because this was the first time we were visiting the SOS village. It was always the children who came to see us and this was a great opportunity to engage with them. We left school at around 2 50 and we arrived at the village at about 3 30. The village was undoubtedly very well maintained and when we arrived we were greeted by the children with bouquets of flowers. After a brief introduction by the secretary of the village we were divided up into teams to play cricket.
It was a lot of fun being able to play with these children like this and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. This was a totally new experience to many of us, being able to visit these children and engage with them. After the game of cricket we were taken to one of the 16 houses where the mother there had made tea and cutlets for all of us.
I wish we could have spent more time in the village. It was a really wonderful day but we had only one hour to spend with these children but they made sure had a great time. It was a really wonderful experience not only to me but to the whole CAS group. I learnt how fortnate I am to have such a wonderful family and to have the opputunity to attend such a good school like OSC. This visit to tis orphangae has made me appreciate my life and made me want to help these kids even more.
The welcome given to us by the children
Dividing into teams to play cricket
Ms Huijinen recieving flowers
Playing cricket with the children
Playing cricket with the children
A visit to one of the 16 homes where the children live in
The ‘mother’ of the house had arranged a delicious tea for all of us
The ‘mother’ of the house had arranged a delicious tea for all of us
29th Asia Pacific and Sri Lanka Centenary Jamboree March – April 2012
Scouting in my opinion is one of the very few CAS activities which help you develop into a complete human being. Throughout all my years in the Sri Lankan scout association I have learnt many new skills and learnt many lessons which have undoubtedly helped me thrive during these past years. Camping is a very important part of scouting and this camp was a really special camp because this national jamboree was organized as a tribute to the centenary of scouting in Sri Lanka and was the 29th Asia pacific jamboree. This massive jamboree was to be a venue for about 7000 scouts from many countries and was to be held in Dambulla, close to the birthplace of Sri Lankan scouting in Matale. Even though OSC doesn’t promote scouting as a CAS activity. This hasn’t given up my passion of being a scout. I joined one of the many open troops in sri lanka. This was how I managed to be a part of this camp. Fortunately for me the scout master in charge of my troop was also the scout leader for the lyceum scout troop which was a great relief and didn’t make things complicated for me. I was very happy to hear that I was to be camping with my old fellow scouts.
We all assembled at Lyceum at around 5 00. We climbed aboard our school bus and settled in fro the long ride. It was really fun to be with all my old friends again. It took us about 7 hours to get to Dambulla. We arrived at the D.S Senayake College in Dambulla. One of the very few schools in Sri Lanka where a Jamboree of this magnitude could be accommodated. There were hundreds of scouts already at the camp site. Our first task for the day was to transfer all our gear to the campsite which was about 1 km walk from where our bus was parked. It took us an exhausting half an hour to take everything to our campsite. We were then instructed by our scout master to clean the camp site. This too took us about an hour and a half but we were all very happy with our progress. Our campsite was too accommodate another school – St. John’s College from Nugegoda. One of the leading schools in the area. It was a great experience being with a school of this repute. We had our lunch and we then got to work on our tents since it was about to rain. By evening we had our whole campsite set up and we had some time of our own. What we all first needed was a nice wash. The showers were about a kilometre from our campsite as we went for our shower we had the opportunity to gaze at the rest of the campsites. Each school had their own unique designs and it was really interesting to see how they had in cooperated elements of nature into their campsite to make it look more natural. After our wash we all had our dinner and tucked in for a good nights sleep
Unpacking our gear
Heplping to set up the campsite
The bus we traveled in
Me playing the guitar while we in the bus.
Me playing the guitar while we in the bus.
At first light I was up making tea for the rest of the troop and preparing breakfast we were to have bread and dhal curry. I was really obliged to do most of the cooking since I do not get the chance at home. After our breakfast we went for a campsite visit and we were totally amazed by the magnitude of the whole place. We were told that the campsite was a total of 15 acres and we were situated beside the beautiful Kandalama Lake. The place was very scenic and I am sure most of the foreign troops thought the same as well. There were troops from all over Asia and troops from Australia, Sweden, and United Kingdom. We all kept on visiting their campsites since this was a totally new experience to all of us. The week passed very quickly and we all the opportunity to participate in the various activities organized for us by the International Service Team. The various activities we engaged were very exciting and thrilling. For example we were able to swim in the Kandalama lake, we were able to able to slide down a rope in a harness, we had many hikes, we were able to go canoeing, sailing we even had something called the millennium development goals poster challenge. This camp was the best I have ever experience so far. It just kept getting better with each and every passing day. I learnt many lessons throughout this week of intense camping. I learnt to cook many new dishes, learnt a bit of Mandarin, learnt to row a boat properly and most of all I learn to “never let my fears obstruct my progress forward”
The beautiful Kandalama lake
The “Down to Earth” challenge
The activity site
The camp site of the scouts of China
The camp site of the scouts of Malaysia
The camp site of the scouts of Maldives
Our campsite
Our campsite
Week Without Walls – 2012 – A Complete Reflection
Reflection On WWW 2012
Day 1 – 23/01/2012
We left school at around 7 : 50 am. We then started heading towards the Southern Exprees way. It was very interesting to see the rapid development Sri Lanka had undergone. I was very proud of my country. We arrived at the Peacock Beach Hotel (http://peacockbeachonline.com/) in Hambantota at around 12 :30 in the afternoon and checked in. After having our lunch we went on a premilinary visit to the two schools we were supposed to be working with. It was a heartening experience when we saw the schools. I was very suprised when I saw the schools these children were in. I considred myself to be very fortunate to be in such a wonderul school like OSC. We carried out inspections and we made a list of what we have to do and what equipment we needed to procure. Then we headed back to the hotel and we then had some time off for our selves. We then had dinner and then we had a reflection on the day’s activities. Then we headed back to our rooms looking forward to tommorrow.
The Prelininary Visit To The Two Schools – School 2
Some of the children in the schools we were working in herded cattle when they were free
The school I worked on – School 1
At the hotel discussing with Mr Lockwood regarding the schools and the work to be done
Day 2 – 24/01/2012
We got up early today eager to get to work at the schoools. We had breakfast and we were taken to the schools. When we arrived at the schools we were greeted by the children with lotus flowers. It was a heartening and lovely experience. We then proceeded with the games we had arranged for the children. We played with them for sometime and we helped them draw and colour, we also played some gmaes with them such as ‘duck, duck, goose’ After the marvellous welcome we were all very motvated and immediately started work. We were divided into our groups which we were done painting, maintainence and the murals and began work. I started to clean the surrounding of the school bulidings and raking everything up. The ground was hard and very uneven and I was determined to make sure that by the end of the day that we all would be able to make the playing field as safe and as enjoyable as possibel for the children there was alot of work to be done. Such as removing big rocks from the ground and smoothening the ground using a hoe. But we all pushed on. While we were working outside the rest of the children were working on the murals and painting the walls of the of the school. At about 12 30 we broke off for lunch which was provided by the hotel. We resumed our work at around 1 00. I finished off my raking and then started to help with the painting of the playing equipment. We painted the see saws as well as the swings and the meri go around. After i had finished my share of work i went to help with the murals by painting the unreachable areas which were relatively high. At around 5 30 we finished our work for the day and we then headed back to the hotel. I played a bit of cricket and then went to have a wash and dinner. We then had our daily reflection and then we headed to bed for a well deserved rest.
School 1 – Before Work (Playing Field)
Games organised for the children
The warm welcome given to us by the children
Me working on the playing field (Picture by Dharshana Abeysekara)
Day 3 – 25/01/2012
We all woke up to a new day once again ready to give our best since this was going to be the last day that we will be working on the schools. We were hoping to put up a fence to protect the school children from the road. This was one of the main objectives for the maintainence team. We had our breakfast and we then went to our schools. We then had a few games for the children like a treasure hunt and we had musical chairs too. After the games we resumed our work. Me, together with Nikita and Janik were painting the climbing frame as well as the see saws and we able to finish it today. I then started to paint the fence poles with Janik. After we had finished that we broke off for lunch. As we were having our luch we decided that the school looked really nice now compared to what it was before. After I had my lunch, me together with Satyanshu started to paint the tyres planted into the ground for the children to play with. It was really enjoyable and i also painted the barrel whcih was used as a ‘hide and seek’ tube. I was very happy with my work today because i knew i had given it my best. As soon as we had done our work we had our items to presesnt to the children which we had rehearsed yesterday. We sang ‘ Stand by Me’ as a group and then the sinhala children sang a baila. I too sang a song about mothers for the children. The children put up a stunning and very nice dance for us which we all throughly enjoyed. We were all very sad when it was time to go. But we were happy that we helped these children as much as we could. We all wished we had more time to spend with the children and more time to finish off our work and do a better job. We then headed back to the hotel exhausted. We had a wash and dinner. After dinner we had our daily reflection. We were also briefed by Mr Lockwood on our outing to Sithulpawa and Yala tmmorrow. We then went to bed for a goodnights sleep.
Me painting the walls of the school building.
Me and Janik painting the fence.
Me painting the fence.
The tyre I painted in the playing field
The tyre I painted
The swing frame I painted together with Nikita
Me helping with translations. (Picture by Dharshana Abeysekara)
The dance performed by the children. (Picture by Dharshana Abeysekara)
Our group song ‘Stand By Me’ (Picture by Dharshana Abeysekara)
Me playing the sinhala song about mothers. (Picture by Dharshana Abeysekara)
Week Without Walls (WWW) – 2012 – Goals
Goals For WWW 2012
* I will be entirely dedicated and help complete all the tasks that have to be completed during this trip.
* I will be obdient and be vigilant at all times.
* I will be an active member at all times.
* I will face all challenges confidently and develop new skills to succeed in the main goal of renovating the school.
* I will remember that me and my firends are all ambassadors of the OSC community and must behave extremely well at all times.
OSC’s Got Talent – Decmber 9th 2011
I performed at the annual Talent Show which gave me yet another opputunity to display my creativity. I sang “Like I Love You” by R.I.O.
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