How it all started...
My name is Samalya Thenuwara. I reside in the United States but consider my home to be Sri Lanka. I was born there, and I lived there 8 years until 2008 when I moved to Iowa (U.S.A.). I am now sixteen and I have lived in the U.S. for 8 years as well.
I am very lucky because while I am fluent in English I have also retained a lot of my Sinhalese. This is so because every single summer I return to Sri Lanka for 2-3 months.
I was 13 years old when I first started toying with the idea of teaching some type of class in Sri Lanka. I was inspired after hearing about my father's childhood. He went to a very underprivileged primary school in the Southern Province. It's name was Dodampaya Vidyalaya. From what I understood - the school wasn't getting it's fair amount of support it needed and deserved.
My plan was to go to that school and offer my services. Initially, I wanted to teach a computer class -- show students how to use Microsoft Word, the internet and other computer basics. I later decided that that wouldn't be very useful - almost none of the students have computers (that kinda puts damper on that idea).
My other thought was to teach English. It was practical. English could open up a lot of opportunities for students. They could even go outside of the country! So that was the winning idea: a supplementary English class. It was just a 'spitball' of an idea. I had not thought that a year later my half-baked dreams would become a reality.
Things moved fast after I decided on a plan. I could speak Sinhalese well enough and my English was fluent so...why not?
In the summer of 2015, I was 14 going on 15, I started my project: English Aid to Rural Sri Lanka. For this project I hosted an English class at Matara Dodampahala Vidyalaya in the Southern Province; It was the same school my father had once attended.
I went down to the school and shared my idea for a supplementary English class with the principal. He was more than happy to accommodate me and gave me the space to hold a class. He even rounded up all the students to announce that I would be holding lessons! With everything set up so smoothly I easily completed my first summer of teaching - and it was a blast! My students became by best friends and I had never had so much fun in my life.
This has continued for the summers of 2016 and 2017. All of my adventures from those summers are documented in this website.
It all started as just a volunteering project but it has become so much more to me. I went in hoping to teach and inspire these students but they are the ones that have ended up inspiring me with their undying effort and focus despite their situation. I know teaching will be involved in my future and I also know this school and the students I have met will continue being a huge influence in my life.
I can't wait for the next summer!
I am very lucky because while I am fluent in English I have also retained a lot of my Sinhalese. This is so because every single summer I return to Sri Lanka for 2-3 months.
I was 13 years old when I first started toying with the idea of teaching some type of class in Sri Lanka. I was inspired after hearing about my father's childhood. He went to a very underprivileged primary school in the Southern Province. It's name was Dodampaya Vidyalaya. From what I understood - the school wasn't getting it's fair amount of support it needed and deserved.
My plan was to go to that school and offer my services. Initially, I wanted to teach a computer class -- show students how to use Microsoft Word, the internet and other computer basics. I later decided that that wouldn't be very useful - almost none of the students have computers (that kinda puts damper on that idea).
My other thought was to teach English. It was practical. English could open up a lot of opportunities for students. They could even go outside of the country! So that was the winning idea: a supplementary English class. It was just a 'spitball' of an idea. I had not thought that a year later my half-baked dreams would become a reality.
Things moved fast after I decided on a plan. I could speak Sinhalese well enough and my English was fluent so...why not?
In the summer of 2015, I was 14 going on 15, I started my project: English Aid to Rural Sri Lanka. For this project I hosted an English class at Matara Dodampahala Vidyalaya in the Southern Province; It was the same school my father had once attended.
I went down to the school and shared my idea for a supplementary English class with the principal. He was more than happy to accommodate me and gave me the space to hold a class. He even rounded up all the students to announce that I would be holding lessons! With everything set up so smoothly I easily completed my first summer of teaching - and it was a blast! My students became by best friends and I had never had so much fun in my life.
This has continued for the summers of 2016 and 2017. All of my adventures from those summers are documented in this website.
It all started as just a volunteering project but it has become so much more to me. I went in hoping to teach and inspire these students but they are the ones that have ended up inspiring me with their undying effort and focus despite their situation. I know teaching will be involved in my future and I also know this school and the students I have met will continue being a huge influence in my life.
I can't wait for the next summer!