ROSIE IN SRI LANKA

In August last year, Rosie, one of members, went to Sri Lanka to work as a volunteer for six weeks, working with disadvantaged children with an organisation called i-to-i (see i-to-i.com for more details). Rosie speaks After several months of planning and fund-raising, I had a fantastic six weeks working in Sri Lanka as a volunteer. It was an amazing experience, living and working alongside the locals. I was helping at an orphanage and teaching English in a primary school and a youth centre, south of the capital city Colombo. I loved teaching my pupils – they were so keen to learn, very hard-working and had a great sense of humour too which added to the lessons! I shared a house with six other volunteers and our host 'mum' was a great cook! Rice and many variations of curry! I was kept very busy with work during the week: primary teaching in the mornings, orphange work and teaching English to adults too - I'm enjoyed all of the classes (and the lesson preparation which needs to be squeezed in as well!) During the weekends I was able to travel around the island – I visited an elephant orphanage, the Temple of the Tooth, (the home of the tooth of Buddha), and saw some traditional Kandyan dancing. I saw some of the devastation from the Tsunami, it was so sad seeing people still living in tents in such meagre living conditions, but also touching to see their resilience, strength and hope. I organised several events to raise funds for the trip, including a cake sale, Sri Lankan themed dinner parties and a treasure hunt round London with the City of London Round Table and Ladies Circle. It was great fun and I for one learnt some new facts about our capital city! Rosie Smith City of London Ladies Circle