The Sri Lanka Experience by Guangjing Li

After a six-week-volunteering experience from Sri Lanka, I have returned to my previous living pace. Now recalling the days spent there, I am prompted to think what changes has been brought to me.

The most significant change would be the fact that I feel I have grown older. In a way the short six weeks of visit felt like a year. This peculiar opinion is explained by owing to the unusual challenges and hardships met in the island of Sri Lanka had me gained experience to an extent that it would possibly have taken more than a year’s time to reach a similar result if I had stayed in my comfort zone. Now holding this additional maturity, I feel very fortunate and a deep regret to the individuals who were not able enjoy such experiences.

The activities in Sri Lanka has greatly improved my communication skills. One can imagine communication in person is hardly needed when living in a world when everything can be done by a simple click of a mouse or a few typing onto a keyboard. Here in Sri Lanka, I would find myself constantly asking strangers for information and help. Perhaps asking people for information may not seem to be remarkable, but when venturing into an uncertain region and the local people are not proficient in English, to verify obtained information and to try understanding and talking to a person who completely does not speak English deems impressive.

Another contributing factor to my improvement is realizing the difference in the environment and the living conditions. I am aware of myself living in a comfortable place at home and possessing more than I need, so at the start of the project, due to the large difference of environment, I was so tempted to break away from the volunteering group in order to have a better living condition. By virtue of understanding what I was here for --- to volunteer and to experience a different place, I stood my ground, changed my aspect and accepted reality. Thus having a different perspective, I could appreciate surrounding matters more than I previously will. At present, if greeted by hardship, I can instruct myself as to what hardships could I possibly face since I have participated in volunteering in Sri Lanka.

One influence that I cannot forget are the new dozens of friends I met --- the organizing committee members and the participating volunteers. The concept here is that by talking and collaborating with these friends, I was able to grasp the excellence from their characters and revise the good qualities to myself while frequent conversation resulted in knowing more about others. Therefore after six weeks, a bond was shaped and everyone felt comparable to family. This was later proved by the great feeling of sadness as I left Sri Lanka for home as it resembled the same feeling of leaving family as I headed for Sri Lanka. Yet at the start of the project I was so not convinced by the fact we will become family, as time passed, I learnt that the family formed would give so much joy and at times so much sadness.

My journey may have ended but the impact on myself from the experience will never fade. My volunteering group worked well to end our project, additionally we have built a foundation and an entrance for the next group of volunteers. I give my best wishes to those who choose to join the next AQUA project. The journey may be difficult and there will be problems to solve, however the results will be satisfying and a valuable experience will be guaranteed.