" pleasure is filled from the beginning to the end" Yiwei Li writes about her experience in Sri Lanka

It is a kingdom of gem, a pearl of the Indian Ocean. The whole island is like a tear reflecting the ancient and modern atmosphere. There you can experience the breathless beaches, the abundant natural heritage and the fascinating culture.

As for the people, it may be too mean if just describe them friendly. More than that, they are passionate and energetic. As a foreigner, I do not need a map. The passer-by will tell you the way positively and even lead you there then they come back. I can still remember the first time I go to the shopping mall in the downtown. I met a tuk tuk driver named Shifal. He took me to the museums, the gem store and the handicraft stores. No matter how long, he will wait me outside and every time he will not order the price. Oppositely, he will let me give him randomly. Before I leave, he sent me a message: do not forget me my friends. Truly, how can I forget you?!

Different from the traditional educational project, our project, AQUA, is an environmental project about protecting the water resource. We will not work in a constant place or in a constant style. We have been to the village and conducted the survey for the national water board; we have been to the beach to pick up the garbage on the beach; we have been to the schools to deliver the presentations including the drawing competition and games; we have been to the forest to plant trees which provide us a fresh new experience about living in the forest. We can see the sunrise and sunset; we will do the Yoga before the breakfast; we can have a afternoon tea and the wonderful meals.

About my life, pleasure is filled from the beginning to the end. It only takes me five minutes to walk to be beach from my apartment. I love watching, listening and feeling the sea. During the break of work, we will have a short travel to the near cities.

Piumal, Vishma, Damith, Dana, Don, Hashini, Dehan and those people who I cannot name. Thank you for the help you offer, for the project you guys design and for the positive spirit which moves me most. I promise I will never forget you guys. I enjoy every minute in the Colombo south, enjoy the dance, the atmosphere and the people. Sincere gratitude the Colombo South LC.

"I enjoy the project, the experience, the new friends, the foods and many other things during my stay in Sri Lanka" Marina's Experience in project AQUA

My name is Marina Nareswari, Exchange Participant (EP) from Indonesia. I was involved in a project held by Colombo South Local Committee (LC), named AQUA. The project was commenced from mid January to end of February 2014. I was working in a team of 14, consisted of Indonesian, Taiwanese and Chinese.

During the project commencement, I stayed in a local family house. I had no idea on how Sri Lankan live, their culture and everything so I was nervous when I first arrived. But, this feeling was immediately turned off by the hospitality that my host family showed me ever since I stepped into their house. They really shaped my impression on Sri Lankan people and I appreciate the work of the AQUA Team to find this place.

This AQUA Project was a project with outstanding concept. The main theme was about water conservation which I believe this is a main issue in every country. This project had several main things to do such as visit to water treatment plant, tree planting, support Sri Lanka’s water board in Bandarawela to do survey, leaflet distribution to public and presentation at schools.

My favorite activity amongst all those things was supporting Sri Lanka’s water board in Bandarawela to do quality survey to their customers. The water board was intended to expand its clean water supply distribution network in some areas. Before they build the network, one of the thing they would like to know was about the customer’s feedback on their service for all these time. This kind of survey had never been done before. Our team was going to several areas near Bandarawela and gathered data by interviewing some local people and taking photos. The output was a report consisting the data we took and our suggestion to improve the condition there. It became my favorite activity because I really felt that I actually did something directly related to the theme of the project, water conservation. However, it only lasted for two days, which I wished it could be longer.

As for the other activities, they were interesting too. I think, if this project is going to have its sequel, the goal can be designed to be more specific and have series of simultaneous steps to achieve it. It will create the feeling of having progresses when the team does the project. It is always good if we can see our progress and where we are going.

We had around six weeks to finish up the project, yet, the first two weeks we barely did anything related to the project since there were several events happened in the LC. Despite of the rush, the local team assisted us very well and quickly. There were always at least someone to accompany us during the project and it was very helpful. They always tried the best they could and they event granted my wish to play cricket! That was awesome.

Overall, I enjoy the project, the experience, the new friends, the foods and many other things during my stay in Sri Lanka. I really wish for the project to be continued because water is the basic need of humankind and it needs to be protected. The youth generation is the fuel of every change people need. I believe AIESEC Sri Lanka can do more things related to water conservation and make it as a sustainable campaign.

Live Like a Local! - Piumal's Unique Experience in Philippines

"It is an experience which you can gain countless values to your life, while having fun, adventure, memories and new friends."

The total experience was based on the help of AIESEC. AIESEC merged me between Sri Lanka and Philippines. Therefore the LC Davao (LC in Philippines) treated me as a member of a same organization than a complete stranger from a foreign country.

I worked for the Institute for Socio-Economic Development Initiatives (ISEDI). Its vision is to empower communities and sustainable organizations by nurturing people to reach their full potentials and maximize their resources.

Basically I Completed 2 projects and got involved for a community project. I Made a leaflet on the topic of “Climate Change Adaptation and Natural Disasters” to give to the community to improve their knowledge on the topic and to make them aware about the ways that they can save themselves from natural disasters.  Philippine is one of the top countries in the world which gets affected by natural disasters frequently. (Eg: The Yolanda Typhoon) Therefore it’s a must for the citizens to know about the topic. The leaflet provides info on how to get prepared, how to face and how to overcome the natural disasters. Yolanda victims are the main target group of population, since the area is more frequently get attacked by disasters.

Then I Made reports for few selected entrepreneurs on how to improve their business and maximize the potentials. The team visited the business several times to collect info and to conduct interviews and the suggestions were made by discussing with the team. We, the Exchange Participants with the help of the TNM, organized a half day event for street children with full of games and fun. There we gave free lunch, snacks, toys and gifts for everyone. Children had an awesome time with us.

Philippine is a Christian country, and the people are much more progressive than Sri Lankan, mostly women. Activities like drinking alcohol, smoking, clubbing is considered as very normal in the society. The relationship between parents and children is weaker than Sri Lankans. Most of the families are dependent on the male. Hospitality of the locals is same like Sri Lankans.

Not each and every citizen in Philippines speaks English, mostly the villagers don’t and it came as a huge challenge for me; Communication.  . Therefore when I wanted to travel to some village areas, I needed some pre plans as in the name of the place and the roads written in their own language on a piece of paper. Also I learnt some commonly used Philippine words like “how much?”, “How far?”, “Please”, “Thank You’ and etc. Still it was a great Experience. I would have never experienced this if I was ever to step out from my comfort zone.

It was fun and memorable. I just loved the freedom I had over there. It’s totally about you and the confidence you have on yourself. Just had to manage everything by myself, sometimes according to the interest of others, time and specially the budget. It feels awesome to have new friends from all over the world. I’m pretty confident that I have improved my English and communication skills from the internship. That’s something I really wanted to happen, a unique experience that you can never match with anything else.

Piumal Tennakoon

Undergraduate in Electrical Engineering
University Of Moratuwa

What it takes to be a Global Citizen? Dehan's Internship Experience in Malaysia

"Through the Global Citizen Program I had the chance to add a momentous experience to my life and have impact on the lives of others. " 

I worked in a NGO named Amitabha Malaysia. In that NGO, we worked as a fund raising team. We supported them for their kids’ orphanage project, old folk home project and recycle project called Yellow Bin. In Yellow Bin project we helped them to find buyers for buy used clothes.  And also we distributed food and other home appliances for a native.

In AIESEC UTM, the university I was doing my project; we had to go the university at least 3 times per week to participate for their AIESEC projects. Most of the times, I worked with their TM team. They helped me a lot to build up my career as an AIESECer. In these projects, I’ve met different type of people and learnt how to deal with them. In my intern team, there were interns from India, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Germany and Vietnam. So this diversity helped me to develop to have impact on others’ lives

The biggest Challenge I needed to play was with People in Malaysia mainly because of the language. They speak in Malay and Chinese. In my internship, I worked in a Chinese NGO. So most of the time I had to communicate with Chinese people. Mainly It was too hard to understand their pronunciation. During free time, Intern Team was supposed to teach English and also to do a drama with Chinese Orphan kids. But they didn’t understand any single word of English and didn’t get the meaning of the drama. So we decided to do a comic movie for them. Finally it was a big success. You can see the video from following link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtEvFLLi7i4&feature=youtu.be

Going abroad through AIESEC gave me an instant network of students my age. Ultimately the network I build with AIESEC has inspired and challenged me to learn, explore and constantly strive for excellence. Working abroad is a tried and true way of becoming a Global citizen. During my time as a volunteer I learned about different cultures and customs. I learned to adapt to a new environment and improve my communication skills. A Global Citizen experience is every time a unique opportunity to get perspective on life around the world. Additionally to personal development, unique experiences will help me to differentiate myself in the job market. Many HR specialist agree that volunteer work in a CV is at least as valuable as paid work experience.  

Last but not least, AIESEC Global Community Development Program exchange was not just 6 weeks of my life. It was a life in 6 weeks.

Dehan Vithana
Undergraduate of Electrical Engineering
University of Moratuwa

"Those seven weeks in my life gave me bunch of experiences which would help me to live rest of my life." Dananjaya's Life Changing Experience in Malaysia

I'am an Undergraduate of University of Moratuwa studying Engineering and during our two month vacation during the 1st year of University I thought doing something different and to start fresh. Then again AIESEC gave me this golden opportunity to go for an Internship in Malaysia and I must say that the credit should go to our lovely OGX team in AIESEC CS. Without them this life changing experience would be a dream for me. Those seven weeks in my life gave me bunch of experiences which help me to live rest of my life.

The major cultural difference I had during my Internship was Malaysia itself; the people, the Religion and their traditions. During my Internship I have met people from fifteen different nations. The main similarity among us is we are all humans and we need to love and respect others to gain it back. It was just amazing!I got that chance to mingle up with lots of people, so it helped me to develop my communication skills, team work, leadership qualities, decision making, time management, presentation skills and specially I learned how to balance my budget during that period.

The journey I went through during my internship was simply awesome. I have met friends from almost fifteen different nations and it was the best thing happened to me during my exchange. Whatever happened inside that period was counted in to my real life experiences. Those seven weeks in my life gave me bunch of experiences which help me to live rest of my life. I did enjoy my exchange program in a big way.

Dananjaya Weerawansha
Undergraduate of Faculty of Engineering
University of Moratuwa

"Feeling Lanka" by Caro Cervantes from AIESEC Pacifico,Peru

What mean "Sri Lanka" after my exchange? Definitely is my second home, Feel Lanka  was one of the best experiences in my life.

When I arrived every single thing was new, different from my culture. My new house, the others interns... 8 different countries, 8 different cultures... All together, here. My project "Feel Lanka 4.0" was about the promotion of the handicraft in Sri Lanka. At the beginning, it was a little bit complicated because we didn’t knew each other, our different point of view, our different lifestyle always made a interesting discussion. But when we spent more time together and we understood each other.

In my project we had to travel around the country making interviews, videos and photos. So, this part was the most challenged because we really felt Sri Lanka.... I mean, the buses, the traffic hum, the spicy food, ooohh yeeaaah, THE SPICY FOOD!, the jungle, the beach, the amazing people. Definitely, was the most exciting part! we had so much fun together, enjoying the country, their culture and making a friends forever.  

My experience in Sri Lanka showed me a lot of things, like how to get out of my confort zone, challenge myself, to know me better, be more tolerant, patient, team work and enjoying every moment with happiness.

Now, I know more about 9 countries around the world, I have a new family, my lovely team and all the AIESEC people to support us during the project. 

As i said, this experience changed my life and made me a better person.

So…Enjoy the AIESEC exchange and come to Sri Lanka, come to Colombo South! 

http://feellanka.aieseccs.lk/

https://www.facebook.com/FeelLanka

Tahlia 's story in Sri Lanka

              

              

     The story is kinda funny. It was actually unplanned when I finally decided to go exchange to this beautiful country. (Un)fortunately, I got rejected from a project in other country. So I started looking for another one in Sri Lanka and I got accepted in Guru Gedara project from AIESEC Colombo South. I’m kinda glad that I didn’t get accepted in the first place, because my 5 weeks in Sri Lanka was the best 5 weeks of my life.

                The project is a about teaching English to the Sri Lankan school children. I’ve never teach english or anything ever before to a school students, but I always want to share my knowledge to others and I think this is my opportunity to make it happen. By doing this, I know that I can develop myself.

                 Since I’ve never done this before, I was a little bit nervous to teach in front of all the students at the beginning. But the teacher is really helpful and the students are cooperative. As time passes, I’m getting comfortable with it.

                Not only cooperative, the children are

very lovely as well. On my first day teaching here, one of the students gave me a pen, the other day some students gave me a flower. They keep giving me stuffs almost every day. I never knew such small thing like this could make me happy.

   From this project, I made friends with the exchange participants (EP) from other countries. There are from China, Taiwan, Pakistan, Bahrain and New Zealand. Beside the “Guru Gedarians” people, I also met EPs from other project. They are from Brazil, Peru, Greece, etc. At first we didn’t

know each other at all. Then we start to understand each other and respect our cultural differences, and suddenly in a short period of time, we become a family. This is actually the best part of going exchange.

                Besides doing the project, I also traveled a bit in Sri Lanka. One of the places that I visited was Kitulgala. I went there for water rafting along with all the Guru Gedarians and the AIESECer. The place is really breath taking, and the rafting was so much fun!

  

I’ve traveled to several countries in this world, and I always think that people from my country (Indonesians) are the nicest people in the world. But I changed my mind after I visited Sri Lanka. All of the people in here are very nice and lovely! Wherever I go, all of the people are smiling to me sometimes I even feel tired that I have to smile all the time :p

Thank you so much AIESEC CS for giving me this kind of experience, I’ve had the time of my life :)

Maida's experience in project eGurugedara

Lanka; the land of coconuts and magical beaches has provided me with the best experience for my exchange. I would have never thought for a different country whose culture and values are closely knitted to Pakistani culture and values. As far as the project goes, it was an opportunity for me to work with students with such a diverse pool of talent which had it perks. English language was the only way to communicate with them which is the project all about.

I have never in my life had a chance to be a member of AIESEC but meeting AIESEC CS was a joy ride and made me want to go back to Pakistan and join my LC. It’s commendable that despite of being undergraduates all the AIESECers left no stone unturned to make my stay fun and comfortable in Lanka. From conferences to exploration of Lanka, from having meals together to parties, from my stay with a host family to meeting other interns, from jam packed bus rides to walks on the most exotic beaches each and every day left a print in my memory which is never going to go away.

Sadly, everything comes to end and it’s time to go back to my life but I am not going alone to Pakistan I am taking my friendship with the AIESEC CS and my recollection of all the amazing moments I spent here. 

"For me was one of the best. I’ll never ever forget it" Prscila's experience in FEEL LANKA 4.0

My name is Priscila, I’m from Argentina! I came here to work on a project to promote the handicrafts production and the tourism of the country. The name of this project is FEEL Lanka 4.0.

The coasts of this beautiful country offer beautiful long beaches with palm trees, white sand, and transparent sea. In these beaches you see families, teenagers, couples and friends having fun, rest and relaxing.

All over the country you can appreciate many national parks, reserves, sanctuaries for conservation, wildlife observation and a lot of temples; they are added as territorial assets for tourist use too.

Here you can find many souvenirs, original creations, arts made by Sri Lanka people. I could have the chance to see how they make it, and it’s incredible, you can see how people are dedicated to their work, I’ve never seen this before.

The people here are really nice and helpful, and I had the opportunity to find them, especially AIESEC Colombo South people. They helped me in everything that I need, before came here, and here too!

My experience was awesome, more than I expected. The only thing that I suffered a lot on the first week (and I think all of the people in my groups) was the spicy food!!! But now I get used to eat it!

I met people from other countries (Greece, China, Pakistan, Peru, Brazil, and Ukraine), they were so nice! At first it was difficult because in some things we think different and live with people who you don’t know very well it’s really hard in the beginning, but we could solve all the problems and work together!! 

Then we shared all of our traditions, food, feelings and also knowledge so now we know more about other cultures and this is great because with this kind of things you grow up.

If you really want have fun, know other culture different than yours, have adventure, meet wonderful people and eat spicy food. Definitely you must come to Sri Lanka!! Don’t lose your opportunity, for me was one of the best. I’ll never ever forget it.