Cindy's experience in Project Hodiya!

I was a volunteer in Sri Lanka when I was 17 years old.That's a great experience in my life.I worked and taught kids English at a pre school.

The children are so cute and teachers are friendly,so I did have a great time with them.I also went to the cancer hospital to see the children.We drew pictures,made cards and sang songs together.That day meant a lot for me.

Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with lots of natural views and the historic sites.I enjoyed taking the train to everywhere.I had ever been to Galle, Hikkaduwa,Horton Plain, Sigiriya and son on.I like the sunrise at the top of Adam's Peak and the sunset on the beach.When I was visiting the temples,I was deeply impressed by the Buddhist culture.

But I think the most biggest surprise is meeting lots of nice friends there.We worked together,lived together,traveled together.We were a happy family.

I miss everything in Sri Lanka so much,and I will go back  there one day.

Cindy Chan
Exchange Participant
Project Hodiya

Dwelling on getting an intern for your company? Look no further than AIESEC Colombo South

Why get an intern when you have perfectly experienced workforce who exceed expectations in their deliverables? or you might be one of those companies who are oscillating on the idea of interns. Yes taking an intern may seem daunting and as a tedious task.  Some might even say the investment is not worth it. We at AIESEC are here to ease your qualms and offer you the ideal solution, the farfetched idea of offering you not just any interns but an international intern.

AIESEC is the largest youth-led global organization that truly embodies leadership and entrepreneurship development.  We create opportunities that groom leaders who thrive to surpass borders and constraints.  We take pride in saying that as a youth run organization we have been able to supply superior interns to  leading companies as well as startups. Those interns that we deliver to you are those who realize that they don’t want to become another safe ship in a harbor and those who get out of the safe zone where the real journey begins. And that is why even your experienced workforce would benefit from  interns.

Presentation of a token of appreciation for Dell 

Hiring international interns has often been seen as a complicated process and somewhat of an extravagance that only large organizations can afford. However AIESEC is ready to provide you that luxury  in the most cost-effective manner. The global talent program of AIESEC is renowned worldwide as the preeminent path of getting foreign interns, which enables local companies to use differentiated talents across the world.

We provide young, passionate individuals that can bring strategic perspectives to your company while operating in a fast-paced environment. International interns who has experienced life in different cultures can bring new viewpoints to your companies. Not to mention that tapping into the international network of undergraduates will help you build up or strengthen your ties with the world. Our network includes over 100,000 members in 126 countries and territories from which you can pick interns for any of the sectors in your company. Be it management, technical or educational we are confident that we can cater to your needs not only as an affordable and hassle-free HR solution, but as a way to change the way your company works.

Among all the committees in Sri Lanka, AIESEC Colombo South (University of Moratuwa) occupies a prominent place.  AIESEC Colombo South reached the peak of completing 36 intern exchanges during last year alone, thus recording the highest number of exchanges in the term 2013/2014 in AIESEC Sri Lanka.  Having a sound set of corporate partners is a major reason why AIESEC CS could able to reach the pinnacle. We are currently partnered with a spectra of companies functioning in hospitality, entertainment, manufacturing, engineering and different other industries. Jetwing Travels, Aitken Spence travels, Microsoft, Eco Team Sri Lanka and HNB Plc, Dell and Exotic travels are to name but a few of or our most renowned partners.

Presentation of a token of appreciation for Aitken Spence Travels

At AIESEC Colombo South, we trust in the transformation power of entrepreneurship and cultural exchange to bring about a better world. Being the best in what we do is not only a promise but what we have proved over the course of time.

Contact: 

Thathsara Radeeka 

Local Committee Vice President - Global Internship Programme

e-mail : thathsara.radeeka@aiesec.net

Supuni Gunasekara

Faculty of Engineering

University of Moratuwa

Experiences that keep getting better and better! - Malitha shares "3" of his AIESEC Internships

I could say that AIESEC changed my life completely. It would take pages to write how much fun i had in all 3 internships I took. It all started with a GCDP project .

I still remember my first AIESEC Internship in Russia like yesterday which i took to have some for a vacation . But it ended up being not just fun which changed me to a different person in a good way and more confident , It motivated me to look for more International experience which lead me to take a GIP in Lithuania . 

Having stayed there for 1 year i realized how much I have developed meeting new people , learning new things everyday and exploring new cultures .

It was a struggle at first to get used to new cultures food , weather and also to make friends and more importantly cooking with what you have in the country .But that is also one skill that you learn once you have that kind of experience already and that is why I took my next GIP internship in Estonia.

And here I am applying all that experience what i learned while gaining more!

  Malitha Gamage
  oGIP EP - Estonia

Want to create your own experience? (Click here)

Pawan's Amazing Experience in Malaysia!

When I first stepped into the departure platform in the airport, I was bit nervous as well as in tense since it was my first journey abroad all by myself. I was thinking of what would happen to me, how I face if something arises. Since I had never gone through the standard procedure in the airport all by myself, I always had my dad to take care of those things. 

And to be honest I hardly had any idea of my project and what I had to do. But anyways my curiosity and my confidence that I can do anything by myself enabled me to get through all the challenges. When I first called my exchange participant (EP) manager for the first time after I came out of the Malaysian airport, I was so confused and perplexed since I couldn’t understand a single word he told me as I wasn’t familiar with their accent and all. Fortunately I managed myself to go to the station he asked me to come. Then we travelled to our university, “UKM”. When I went there I met a bunch of AIESECers which gave me some relief that I was in the right place. Next morning I was so anxious to see my group members as from the moment I woke up. When I went to cafeteria I met a bunch of strangers from all around the world whom I never thought that they would be a part of me. But then I realized after our first info session that I was in a mix cultural family and I was part of something bigger than myself.

I had never worked with a bunch of foreign students just like me before. My new family members were Aiza from Kazasthan, Adzhara from Kirigizthan, Milk from China, Abira from Pakistan, Bilal from Pakistan, Astitva from India, Donavan from Taiwan and Saiveer from India. 

When it came to choose a leader within ourselves, I was wondering where I would fit in this team of mine. Even though I wasn’t voted to become the leader I determined to contribute my best to my team. Then came our first workshop along but we basically didn’t prepare for it that much since we went to some mall to have some fun Fortunately we managed to get some slides from the AIESEC which helped us immensely in our workshop. In our first workshop we had to spread awareness of recycling specifically e-waste recycling to the students in the age group of 12-15. It was literally a disaster since we weren’t prepared and hardly anyone was interested in what we were saying. But to the end of it we pulled ourselves back from the hell and finished with a bang. But as soon as we came back we reflected back ourselves and recognized what went wrong and how we should improve ourselves for the better. It was such a team spirit I never had felt before since we worked hard and made all the slides by ourselves by handing over different sections to each and every one of us. 

Then came our first weekend which everyone desperately anticipated. At the time my new family had grown to 30 members including all the exchange participants from all the 3 projects. We decided to go to the Cameron Highlands as a family since it is rather better than splitting us and going to different places. At that time I was so overjoyed and was feeling so crazy since after we went there we enjoyed a lot and did some ridiculous things which I never ever had thought I would do. In the next week we had to teach the basic knowledge of e-waste and IT to an orphanage. Until then we never thought or experienced that kind of a thing. They were so keen on learning and here and there were cracking some jokes, we became so bonded with them throughout the week. 

After toiling hard all the week long to teach kids and make their lives for better, we went to Lankkawi island for 5 days since it was the festive season. We enjoyed and had an awesome and a nostalgic time in our lives with the beautiful beaches and breathe taking small islands. Then in the next two weeks we had to teach about Photoshop and video editing to another orphanage which even we weren’t that good. So we had to learn them by ourselves at first by watching some tutorials in youtube and staying up the whole night. Since I was good at teaching, I had to conduct the first session. When I went there suddenly a bunch of little girls and boys gathered around me and called me,” teacher teacher” with their sweet voices which I had never heard from kids. 

They were absolutely so eager to learn which inspired me so much to use all my energy and effort in teaching. I have to say that I had never seen such a bunch of kids who were interested in learning. Their affection towards me motivated me to strive hard and teach all throughout the two weeks. The look on their eyes is still is in my heart and their sweet little voices still is echoing in my ears. I then finally realized the real purpose in my life, I had gain a lifelong satisfaction which I can never earn by money or whatever. At the brink of desperation and at the time I had lost hope in myself and the world, those kids gave me a new purpose a new life a vision to worth living for. We were so much bonded and attached to them since we played with them, shared our experiences with them simply we spend all of our time with them. At the end , just before we had to leave , some little girls asked me ,” Teacher teacher are you coming back?” , which brought some tears into my eyes and for the first time I felt that much of an agony which burned me of love affection to them. So reluctantly I had to say good bye to them. Then they hug me and thanked me for teaching. 

They were the best days of my life and they are the best students I have. Then I determined to come back in the future and make heaven for their lives. In that weekend we travelled to Pangkor Island with our mentor Vincent for our project work. Second day morning we cleaned the beautiful beach of the pangkor and then we made some new innovative stuff by using waste. It was so much fun for the team since we came up with the most crazy and ridiculous creations ever. Then at the night we had to collaborate with the local children and help them to make some upcycling creations of their own. In that situation we faced the most challenge of all was that none of the children could understand English not even a little. 

Then our saviours, our Chinese guys came into action and helped us get through that challenge as well. In the next morning we had to spread awareness of recycling to the locals by distributing leaflets to houses. So I teamed up with Milk since she could speak Chinese so I had to do nothing while 
she did all by herself. Then we came back to our university again. Next two weeks went into flyer and the days literally flew. When it came to the last 3 or 4 days I was beginning fell afraid to go back to home since then I would lose my new family. Again I was in a confused situation and was in two minds whether to go back or not. At that time we were like a real family, we shared everything and we knew everything about each other including all the darkest things.

Then came the global village which we had to maintain a stall for our respective countries by ourselves. I, Insaf and Yasiru did a great job in preparing and making ours the best stall in the event. At then I realized by seeing all the stalls and my mates what was the meaning cross cultural experience. We all were dressed in our national attires and our stalls were filled with our cultural trifles. It was a wonderful and a marvellous event. In the next night we were given the certificates in the award night. It was the last night we all were together as one family for the last time. At the end of the night everyone became so emotional of leaving one another and almost everyone cried that day. And then with a broken heart I came home of losing my second family. 

"Through my amazing experience thanks to AIESEC I have gained the life essence of friendship, love, passion, affection. And I have realized the purpose of my life"

Want to know more about going on an exchange?

Pawan Samarakoon

Faculty of Engineering

University of Moratuwa

"I experienced something beyond a normal project." - Erandi Galappaththi from organizing Committee of Fuegosticka 2.0 shared her experience

As a member of team Fuegosticka 2.0, I came across with many worthy experiences. At the   beginning of the project I contributed to process of collecting sponsorships, banners and other external relations stuff. This process helped me to develop my communication skills in various ways. After EPs arrived to our country from the very beginning I developed good relationships with them. It helped them to work in our project successfully. This was a brand new experience for me.

Though this was an android game development project, I experienced something beyond a normal project. Our project continued for 6 weeks and every week we had a session on android technology and many kind of workshops. As an undergraduate of Information Technology, this technological sessions really helped me to develop my android and game developing field. This project directly connected with the IT industry and it helped me to get a good exposure to the industry and professional bodies, especially because most of the sessions and workshops were done by professional people whose expertise for android in the industry.

I was fortunately privileged to have the best organizing committee in my project Fuegosticka 2.0. Especially our team leader Sehan Rathnayake had a great capability of leading this project to the success that we achieved. He guided us very well and that’s the secret of our success. Not only him every other member had a huge contribution. For myself they helped me a lot to cover up my work and they were always a helping hand. This team spirit lead us to the pinnacle of success.

"Fugosticka is one of the unique concepts and initiative by AIESEC – Colombo South." - Shafraz Rahim from Dialog Ideamart shared some thoughts about Fugosticka 2.0

Fugosticka is one of the unique concepts and initiative by AIESEC – Colombo South. This competition encourage teams build competitive Android based games, critically analyze users experience with the game, market an application, application monetization, working with stakeholders, building team spirit, enrich and empower  tech entrepreneurship. This time we had 16 teams competing for one title and the games which were produced encouraged to market within two months’ time. Dialog Ideamart is proud to be the main sponsor of this event since we provide support for app development life cycle to taking application production live to funding.

We would like to wish all the very best for future endeavors of AIESEC – Colombo South.

"It was really an honor for me to join Fuegosticka 2.0 group."- Ela Zhang from China shared her experience in Fuegosticka 2.0

When I arrived in Sri Lanka lately in the night, a pile of local AIESECers had already been waiting for me out of the international airport. At that time I didn’t think too much. I just followed them and sat into the van, without any awareness of that it was the beginning of an life-changing experience. I didn’t expect anything before I came to Sri Lanka. But this country is so tolerant. She welcomed me with her best parts: golden beaches, waving sees, shining stars, bitter beers, tasty coconuts, original trains, beautiful sunsets, roof parties, sacred mountains, ancient cities and those warm-hearted, enthusiastic and passionate local guys. All of those were beyond my imagination. It was really an honor for me to join Fuegosticka 2.0 group. It is a project aimed at promoting Android Games developed by local students. By doing presentation on marketing & monetization and doing interviews and evaluations, I knew a lot more about marketing strategies. It was because of this project that I gained friendships, teamwork skills and sense of responsibility. It was because of this project that I got courage to walk out of my comfort zone. It was because of this project that I regard Sri Lanka as my second home.

Yes, I love this country.

I love Sri Lanka, the ”Pearl of the Indian Ocean”.

Because I love you guys from Fuegosticka 2.0 group.

 Because I love you,  AIESEC Colombo South.

" I can say that I found myself in Sri Lanka" - Artur Mayoral from Brazil shared his experience in Fuegosticka 2.0

I spent 2 months in Sri Lanka, and i can say that i really wanted to have had more time there. I had the pleasure to be a part of Fuegosticka 2.0, and interact with lots of students of Moratuwa University, along with my fellow interns. The project was a real challenge and demanded a lot in terms of responsibility, commitment and leadership. But we faced those challenges with the great help and support of the OC and delivered a great project! The experience was amazing, the share of thoughts, ideas and culture affected me a lot; more that I can even imagine. I can say that I found myself in Sri Lanka, the project showed me that I really love marketing and now I can pursue this passion with much more confidence! It’s unbelievable how much I miss those days and the friends I made there. The culture, language, people, places and tuktuks seem like a dream now that I am back in Brazil; so again, I really wanted to have had more time there.

Charana shares his exchange experience

Hello, I'm Charana Udugama from Sri Lanka. I'm studying Computer Engineering in University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Thank you so much AIESEC in Sunway for selecting me as one of the Exchange Participants for your project THUMP 2.0. Being a non AIESECer, I got to know about this opportunity from an info session conducted by the members from AIESEC Colombo South collaboration with AIESEC Pera. There I met Sandaru Karunasiri (My Exchange Participant Manager). He suggested me Sunway since he was there for his own Internship Programme. I asked my parents about it. Usually they don't allow me to travel. But surprisingly they agreed. So I took it considering the fact that this being my only vacation until my retirement. It was a bold decision and it eventually paid off. I'm proud to say that I'm the first Out Going Exchange realization from my university.

 

It all started with an interview by Ms. VeeVian Yong. I was so nervous. But it went well. After couple of days I got the news that I was selected. I took a flight on 30th November early morning. I was kinda scared and shaking because it was not the best of the times in terms of airplanes. I reached Kuala Lampur International Airport at about 0700h. VeeVian, Abraar(Exchange Participant  from Mauritius) and also Tan Chee Lin was waiting for me. Came to the EP house which was a really nice place to stay. And also I got the master bed room. 


 
The very next day we started the planning right away. A meeting with the Organizing Committee President and my fellow Exchange Participant . After two days Vivek (Exchange Participant  from India) came and we carried out the project. Couple of workshops by Michelle Lee and Tan Chee Lin. We had such an awesome Organizing Committee. Esther Yong, my beloved Organizing Committee President  who was always there to motivate and help us in everything. Yip Vyona, VeeVian Yong, Onnyi Lam Su Zanne and Celine were the other Organizing Committee members who helped us in every way for THUMP and also for the experience in Malaysia. 

The urban mapper project took place in a PPR named “Kota Damansara”. Whch was 1 hour drive from Sunway. My part was to facilitate the Engagements, a presentation relating to “Critical Thinking” and also teach them Chess. I also need to thank Chris from UNDP who taught us Chess. Having a 3 months of experience in teaching maths and science to kids in my home country, it was not too hard to get along with them. I taught them how think critically and find answers in tough situations in their life through my presentation. I used some puzzles and riddles as practical examples. Esther helped me in translating it to Malay. After that I conducted a Chess session using a presentation and interactive sessions again with the help of Esther. 

Actually dealing with kids was a sensitive job. Teaching them something and seeing them learning it, is such an amazing feeling. I consider my self a good teacher. So I did my very best and after 5 engagements they were really good in Chess. 6th engagement was a Chess competition. 

Besides the project, living in Malaysia was such an unique experience. It was my first time abroad. I should note something about people in Malaysia . They are really friendly and helpful. They don't honk and they are very patient. Transportation there is costly but comfortable. A lot of people prefer driving rather than using public transport. Cities are very clean and highly developed compared to my country.

I explored Malaysia with my fellow Exchange Participants and Organizing Committee members. Specially Esther took us around KL and did her very best to give us the best experience by making us try different kinds of food. Being a part time photographer I was lucky enough to capture some great pictures and moments. 

 

The best part of this experience was mixing with the culture. I learned some phrases in BM and it was fun using them with local people. Actually I learned a lot about people of different cultures. How they talk, eat, dress, behave etc. 

It was truly a life changing experience. I was a different man when I was leaving Malaysia.

I've developed my skills in handling a workshop, delivering presentations, working with a team etc. I took a step from my comfort zone. And it wasn't easy. But I made it through. Even though almost all the people I worked with are younger than me I learned a lot from them. Relating to the profession and also relating to life. Above all I gained some good friends from different countries. 



The project wasn't a walk in a park. We faced many hardships and obstacles. But most importantly we sticked together. I need to thank my fellow Exchange Participants and Organizing Committee members for that. Without them this project won't see the end it saw. From my point of view the project was a SUCCESS. 

Thank you Esther for being the best Organizing Committee President ever. Thank you Vyona, VeeVian Yong, Onnyi Lam Su Zanne and Celine for being such an awesome OC. Thank you Abraar Surooprajally and Vivek Khan for being good partners and also better friends. 

Also I need to thank Michelle Lee, Tan Chee Lin, Figo Chin WH and other AIESECers who helped us to get the best experience in Malaysia. 


At last but not least. Thank you AIESEC in Sunway for being such a great host. 

Now I've already started my AISEC career. I've joined GCDP function,which will be starting a 
project in next month. And I applied for the TL OGX for the next term in AIESEC Pera

 

Best of luck AIESEC Colombo South for your future goals and aspects. I will not hesitate to recommend your LC for my fellow AIESECers for an internship in future.

Best Regards,

Charana Udugama
Faculty of Engineering,
University of Peradeniya