Canadian volunteer force in community development in Meegahayaya

A Canadian volunteer group of ten are in the country to help develop a backward village,

The group volunteer to finance building a Bo-tree complex, donate a Buddha statue and build a community centre and library for children.

According to a spokesperson of the group, this is part of a learning and interaction activity of architecture and landscaping course in a developing country.

Canadian students co-sharing construction work of the Buddha worshipping complex

This year Meegahayaya village in Badalkumbura was selected, said Prof. Kelley Laureen Beaverford. All the students and two of my staff are staying in order to understand and learn the culture in Sri Lanka. While construction of the community centre is going on our students are learning the process under masons and carpenters involved the construction of the community centre in Sri Lanka.

The project is named as “Service Learning in the global community”. My university and students are also contributing financially towards the building. It is a pleasure for all of us in this learning exercise. They have been staying in local houses and reported that they are extremely happy with the hospitality of the villagers. Participation of women and their leadership is amazing in the village.

I am extremely thankful to Lakshman Malawathanthri, Deputy Director of the southern region of World University Service Canada (WUSC), Future In Our Hands Development Fund (FIOH) for coordinating this project with success. The Home stay in Meegahayaya with available local facilities for 22 days is memorable, she said.

Marc Mainville, staff assistant to Prof. Kelley said ‘for a day we work 8-10 hours. Some of the work entails heavy work, like transporting sand, bricks and timber. Members of the Shakthi Community Organisation in the village also contribute through Shramadana.

During the weekends large group of members of the children’s club also join us. We also have cultural exchange activities, as a result the work is carried out at a smooth pace.

Community coordinator, of the Shakthi Organisation in Meegahayaya, Dhammika Sandamali said the arrival of the Canadian students in the remote village of Meegahayaya was a blessing.

Female students work like men. Sometimes tears comes to my eyes when I see them at work. They eat very little, say that they are satisfied with home-cooked food.

The key learning process of this exchange program is that, coming from different religious backgrounds, they promote the idea of developing the Bo-tree complex.

As a result the entire village will be benefited because they have a beautiful shrine room to engage in religious activities.

What I learn from this exercise is how important it is to respect other religions.

Darius John Dias, Saira Abdulrehman, James William Frank, Dana Lynn Marie Peters, Michael Lucenkiw, Jennifer Gray Norrie, Jessica Joyce Fair Kost, Ryan Jeffrey Coates, Thilini Dhanupama Samarasekera, Christopher Yap, Kai Zhu and Marc Mainville, participated in this exercise.

Prof. Kelley Laureen Beaverford (left) and Marc, Staff assistant planning the construction work	Dhammika Sandamali with Canadian students