A final exhibition...

Hasita helps us set up for our exhibition.

Our final day with the children was a celebration of their work. To show the people of the community all of the beautiful images that the children made these past few weeks we set up an exhibition in a space on the temple grounds. Displayed were a final selection of the photographers' prints with hand made "frames," their scavenger hunt posters, and their notebooks complete with picture dictionaries, photographs with captions, family drawings, and personal bios. We had a great turnout and we hope this attention instilled a sense of pride in our kiddos.. they certainly deserve it.

Photographs hanging in our final exhibition.

Kelum has a look at his friends' notebooks

Maleesha's bio.

A page from Rahdunu's notebook

Madusanka's notebook.

A lively exhibition turnout.

The film crew came, and the some of our kids got an impromptu video lesson from Phil.

Our photographers with Becky, Lacey, and SLWCS volunteers Emma, Rachel, Samantha, Ceirios, and Alli

Wasgamuwa National Park

With some of the extra contributions, we were very fortunate to be able to treat our students and their parents to a second field trip. About 5 miles away from their village lies Wasgamuwa National Park. This national landmark is a reserve in which herds of wild elephants roam, and tourists are guided through the park to spot and observe these massive and enchanting creatures. Because of cost and transportation most of our students and their parents have never visited the park which is a mere 15 minute drive from their homes. They were utterly ecstatic! It's hard to describe the energy as we packed into yet another bus in 100 degree heat, the kids and their parents three- deep to a seat, cameras in hand in anticipation of their first visit to a place they had always heard about. And then there's the level of excitement on the bus when they spotted their first herd.. there are no words. Their sense of wonder and awe coupled with the gratitude in their eyes made for a profound and unforgettable experience. To all who made this possible... you have enriched the lives of a whole community of gracious people. I wish you could have been there.

Our first elephant siting.

Our bus to Wasgamuwa National Park.

Kelum thinks this was a great idea.

The fathers were just as excited as their kids! Love it.

Photographers at work in the Wasgamuwa National Park Museum.

Deeba enjoying the ride.

Having fun on the bus ride back to the village.


For some of the children's photographs from this wonderful day, click here.

Sardines...

Our transportation to Hettipola.

Scavenger Hunt in Hettipola!

Sameera showing me his image.

Through our students' photographs and our experience here, we have found that in this rural environment, the people here engage in their families and communities very closely through school, temple, farming, cooking, and their evening washing at local water sources. This small community of families is wonderfully tight- knit and their relationships are reflected through thousands of the kids' pictures we've had the pleasure to look through.

The closest town center, Hettipola. Photograph by Ayomika.

Now that our photographers had the chance to visually investigate the people and places closest to them, we thought it time for them to have the experience of shooting in a busier and slightly more foreign environment. Our kids are on summer vacation now, so this allows us the freedom to arrange a field trip! With a lot of help from Chinthaka and Sampath at SLWCS (Thank you both!), we arranged transportation to the closest town center, Hettipola. About 6 miles away from the school and temple, many of the villagers make it here a few times a month to buy goods and clothes, and visit a bank, post office, or hospital.

Packing in for the field trip!

Rebecca helps Hasita, Sampath and Anil review their list of potential subjects.

With English vocabulary in mind, we posed a challenge for the children as they ventured into town with cameras in hand.... an English scavenger hunt! We split them into small groups and handed out lists of English words for them to search for as they explored the visual landscape of a bustling place of commerce. It was a thrill to race around with the children in search for each word, and we were amazed at how focused and intent they were in their purpose... very few of them shot photographs of anything other than the words on their list (which was astounding considering the volumes of images they have been shooting around their homes!). The pictures from the outing were both clever and precise. Have a look....

Anil finds a two-for-one! BANANAS and BICYCLE. Photograph by Maleesha.

Sameera photographing Flowers

FLOWERS
Found by Sameera, Rasika, and Sisil.

Ravidu and Madusanka teaming up to photograph a pencil.

PENCIL
Found by Ravidu, Ishan, and Madusanka.

AIRPLANE
Found by Rahdunu.

JUMP
Found by Kelum and Thushan.

RICE
Found by Deeba.

Maleesha and Sandhamalie framing an image together.

To aide in reinforcing their English vocabulary words and providing a visual tool for their school, our students categorized prints of their scavenger hunt images alphabetically onto posters. We hope that these photographs are a source of pride and confidence (and a reminder of a really fun day!) when our kids see them displayed at school.

For many more photographs from our trip to town click here.

Cap

These guys are always interested in sharing their expanding English vocabulary. Hasita just realized that he knew the word for his hat- Cap!

English Language Learning

Our students are eager to learn English and they take every opportunity to let us know. To expand their vocabulary we had the kids create a picture dictionary in their notebooks. In small groups they brainstormed words that they knew for each letter of the alphabet. We also took this time to introduce new vocabulary relating to the family and the camera equipment. The kids worked diligently, paying close attention to detail as they created their dictionaries, and as you can see they are excellent artists!

Ravidu's picture dictionary

Rebecca working on picture dictionaries with our students.

Vidovanga and Sameera

Vidovanga is a little shy with his English, but Sameera is eager to show off the images of his father.