Annie Visits Sri Lanka

Annie Visits Sri Lanka working with Child Action Lanka

Our youngest member at Halmer End Methodist Church, Annie Smith, has recently visited Sri Lanka with a group of students from Lancaster University where she is studying medicine. Annie tells us a little about the work she and other volunteer students undertook while in Sri Lanka.

I am part of a student run charity organisation called SKIP (Students for Kids International Project), which allows students to work internationally with disadvantaged children. My branch of SKIP is currently working with a charity in Sri Lanka called Child Action Lanka, a charity that works with homeless and disadvantaged children. This charity works to obtain adequate nutrition, hygiene and education for children in several different locations across Sri Lanka.

This year our volunteers worked with two branches of Child Action Lanka, one a newly established branch in the rural area of Batticaloa, and the other one of the original branches in the city of Kandy.

We delivered basic teaching to the children on hand-washing, dental hygiene, female health and Dengue Fever, as well as giving basic first aid and medical training to the staff members. We also recorded data in each location to allow us to plan interventions so that in future years more students can implement more targeted interventions.

Working with the children and seeing the difference that this charity makes to their futures was extremely rewarding and I hope to continue to support the charity in the future.