Reducing Inequalities.! - Ripple Effect 7.0

 

Ripple Effect 7.0, organized by AIESEC in University of Moratuwa, set out to reconstruct and uplift the infrastructure facilities Damana Maha Vidyalaya, Ampara with the generous support of Millennium IT.
Ripple Effect is a project organized by AIESEC in Colombo South (AIESEC in University of Moratuwa) which is focused on uplifting the low facilitated people in Sri Lanka.
The 7th initiative of the project took place on the months of January and February consisting several events.
The School renovation project was the final event of the project and this is one of the biggest initiatives taken by an AIESEC entity in Sri Lanka.

The School Renovation project spanned a period of 2 weeks, starting from 24th of January to 5th of February, and concluded with a closing ceremony, where renovated facilities were handed over to the students to use. Damana Maha Vidyalaya is an underdeveloped public school in Ampara, with 293 students and 28 teachers and with classes from grades 1 to 13.
Upon initial contact with the principal, Mr Yaparathna Kodithuwakku, the school was identified to be in need of support to provide infrastructure for IT education, a library and sanitation facilities. Also, it was revealed that there were many students facing financial difficulties.
Hence the project was planned around the aim of providing the required resources for the school and students, with the help of 25 volunteers from AIESEC and with financial support from Millennium IT.
The following project objectives were achieved successfully upon completion of the project.




1. Renovation of the school premises and donations to the school.
 Donating 4 desktop computers to the computer laboratory
 Donating racks and books to the library and renovating the library
 Installing playground equipment in the play area of the primary section
 Preparing an area for hand washing for the primary section
 Painting the classrooms
 Painting the desks


2. Benefits to the students.
 Conducting mathematics workshops for the ordinary level students
 Giving away gift parcels to the grade 5 scholarship students as a token of appreciation
 Giving away gift packs to the selected students with financial difficulties
 Giving away shoes to selected students with financial difficulties
 Giving away a general gift pack for all students of the school

Phase 1
The first phase was carried out from 25th January to 29th January with the participation of 12 volunteers from AIESEC.
The tasks accomplished were as follows.
Painting the Classrooms and Desks All classrooms of the school as well as the Computer Lab, Home Sciences Room, Agriculture Room and Dancing Room were painted by the volunteers.
This task had to be paused due to the adverse weather in Ampara on the 26th and the outer walls could not be painted due to rain. The principle of the school managed to bring laborers to get the classrooms fully painted by the 04th of February. Around 20% of the desks were painted on the 28th and the rest of the work was completed by laborers over the week that followed.

Installing a Hand Washing Area for the Primary Students Work commenced on the plumbing of the hand washing area on the 25th. The design for the hand washing area/sink was carried out according to the requirements of UNICEF which was carrying out a project to provide equal facilities for all schools in Ampara.

Conducting Mathematics Workshops Four workshops were conducted by the volunteers to cover the areas of the syllabus, as requested by the teachers, for students in Ordinary Level classes.
Regional Education Directors of Ampara District visited to inspect the work at the end of the first phase.

Phase 2
The second phase was carried out on 4th and 5th February with the participation of 14 volunteers from AIESEC.
Renovating the library The old library of the school had been abandoned for a long time with books kept aside in boxes. Therefore a new room was selected for the library, cleaned, and two racks were donated along with 146 new books. The books were sorted according to the subjects and specific areas of knowledge and cataloged by the volunteers. The list of the books needed for the library was provided to us by the librarian in advance to make the purchases.

Preparing the Computer Lab 4 desktop computers with Windows 10 OS, including UPS, were donated to the school. The volunteers set up the computers and installed other software.









Play Area
Installed a slide and a double see saw which was made to order by a welding shop in Ampara.


Gift Wrapping
The employees of Millennium IT contributed to the gift wrapping for the general gift pack given to all 290 students of the school as well as the school shoes given to 20 students with financial difficulties. 16 parcels were prepared by the volunteers for the grade 5 scholarship exam passed students of the school. These gift packs included Exercise books, CR books, stationery, mathematical instrument boxes and school bags. 32 gift packs were prepared for children with financial difficulties which included CR books, exercise books, pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, rulers and lunch boxes.

Closing Ceremony
The closing ceremony was held with the participation of the regional education directors of the Ampara district, the principal, teachers, students and parents. The library and the computer lab were opened ceremoniously, allowing the senior students to enjoy the new facilities.
The gift parcels were given away at the ceremony as planned.
The playing area and the hand washing area for the primary school students were also opened by the guests, speeches were made by the educational directors, principal, and parents thanking Millennium IT and AIESEC.
The ceremony concluded with the dancing and singing performances the students had prepared.
We AIESEC in Colombo South along with the organizing committee of Ripple Effect 7.0, wish to thank everyone who helped us making this initiative a great success and we specially thank Millennium IT for their generous support.