Being a goCY!

It was not a strange feeling to be in Norway last summer as a goCY since I have been to Norway 4 times prior to the goCY exchange programme. But as the time went on I felt it is totally different from previous occasions since I had to adjust my life into the Norwegian way of living since I had to live and work within the Norwegian society for a longer period of nine months.

During the exchange I lived with a family in a small town called Brønnøysund in the Northern part of Norway. I had no friends and people who can share life at the beginning at this small place. So I felt home sick and it was challenging. As the time went on I managed to get to know many people specially with in my working groups which were the Church and the Scouts. It is a well-known fact that Norwegians are hard to get to know. It was true. I found that it is important to make Norwegians feel comfortable to be friends with me. To do that sometimes I had to act like a Norwegian and follow the Norwegian codes in the same way as they follow. In each societies there are different codes relate to how they talk, how they dress and how the eat and etc. Once you know those codes it is easier to interact with that particular society. I tried to learn those codes as faster as possible and tried to follow those codes. But I always tried to keep my identity as a Sri Lankan and I tried to explain Norwegians about the codes that we follow in Sri Lanka. Language became crucial fact when it comes to building relationships. So I gave priority to learn Norwegian at the beginning.

Hiking with Rover Scouts

I spent most of my time with scouts who were 11 to 19 years old. Even though I had some experiences of working with children and youth in my YMCA, I had to learn many new things to deal with those children and youth who came from a totally different society.Their needs and issues were totally different from Sri Lankan youth and children. I spent time talking to them and I always contacted experienced adult when I was not sure on how to deal with those kids and youth. I got the opportunity to learn a lot about different social issues which those kids and youth experienced in such so called developed country.

During my stay I had the opportunity of meeting new people and groups who work within the YMCA and YWCA. I used those opportunities to spread the word about the work of the YMCA Sri Lanka and the work of my local YMCA, Pamunugama. I believe that those kinds of first hand information and experience sharing about YMCA activities are crucial to strengthen the relationships within the YMCA network. I spoke with different student groups and YMCA - YWCA scout groups and tried to connect with our YMCA in Pammunugama while tried to be a bridge between the National level movements. It is hard and still little too early to measure the success of those efforts. It is important to follow-up those kinds of relationships and convert into partnerships in the future and I am up to the task.

Camp for Confirments

As an individual I got the opportunity to develop myself and learn a lot which will help me in the future both in personal and career.. This stay made me think more independently and expanded my capacity as a YMCA layman as well as in a professional way by learning new ways of organizing and implementing programmes and projects. Further I got the opportunity to learn a new language to some extend which will help in building relations with the YMCA YWCA groups in Norway and Sri Lanka in the future. Meanwhile I wrote number of articles for different magazines in the Church of Brønnøysund and Y Global which helped me to develop my writing skills. As a sum-up, I would like to tell my fellow YMCA friends that goCY is an excellent exchange programme where we can learn and develop ourselves while contributing a lot to the great movement of YMCA and I encourage you all to be a part of this programme in the future.

                     

Ridma Fonseka                                                                                     23. 006. 2011

goCY intern 2010-2011

Hendala Youth Honor Elders in the area

Youth of the Wattala Programme Branch of the YMCA of Pamunugama organized an elders day on 15 June, 2011 together with the Church of Palliyawatte to commemorate the YMCA day.  Programme was organized with a participation of 46 elders in the area at the Church Hall of the Palliyawatte Church.

One of the Catholic priests in the area attended as the chief guest while Mr. Shelton Peiris and a Justice of Peace attended the event as guests. Mr. Shelton addressing the event explained the objective of organizing the event and the Justice of Peace held a speech honoring the adults and the great things that they have done to take this world forward as parents and grandparents.

Two dances by a youth member and a children’s club member made the event colorful and elders were given the opportunity to enjoy by playing, dancing and acting. It was visible that all the elders enjoyed the day very much and their reactions showed it clearly and they were thankful to the organizers. All the elders were given with a gift packet and respected with the Sri Lankan traditional way by all the children and youth who organized this event. Following the event all the youth and children’s club members went to the community to sell YMCA flags to raise funds for YMCA activities. 

YMCA of Pamunugama to facilitate the Scout Leaders Training 2011

YMCA of Negombo organized the Scout Leaders Training for Southern and Central region Scout Leaders together with the National Council of YMCAs of Sri Lanka.
Programme was held at the YMCA of Pamunugama on 4th and 5th June with the participation of 14 scout leaders from Negombo, Pamunugama, Matara and Hendala. Training was conducted by the Scout Leaders in the Negombo District Scouts Association. YMCA scout leaders were equipped with the basic skills that required to lead a YMCA scout group. Colorful camp fire also was held on Saturday evening and the YMCA scout leaders performed with their dramas and singings at the campfire.

YMCA of Pamunugama commemorates the founder!

As customary, we organized the Founder's day celebrations to commemorate the Founder, Sir George Williams the founder of the great movement of YMCA. This year the youth of the YMCA of Pamunugama organized a Car wash campaign to raise funds for Youth activities while the other child and adult members joint for flag day campaign to make this special annual event.
First two flags were received by 2 Manciple Council Members (Mr. Kalisan Jayakodi and Mr. Shelton Babarenda) at the members gathering in the YMCA of Pamunugama hall. At this gathering Mr. Shelton the president of the YMCA reflected some of his thoughts on the day. He shared that "George Williams the founder of the YMCA movement was a young factory worker. We celebrate his answer to the Call of Saviour, When in the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) the young factory workers are agitating for their voice to be heard. These young girls and boys are among the major foreign exchange earners in Sri Lanka which keeps the country going and also keeps the luxurious life of the politicians going. The efforts of these young people have already been rewarded with one death. We in the YMCA must worry our hearts and heads where we are going to stand in this situation.". After the gathering at the YMCA all the child members with few youth leaders went house to house selling flags and distributing leaflets on the YMCA.
Car wash was held by the Mother Merry Statue at Seththappaduwa. Around 20 vehicles were washed and youth of the YMCA worked together hand in hand to make the event a success.