HKBN School Trip to – 10 Oct – 14 Oct 2018 Collective Reflection from Clio, Eric, Karina, Mikron and Regina

We came across (“RTR”) through the Management trip held in Ho Chi Minh last year in Nov 2017. A purposeful morning with John Wood has inspired many HKBNers and we raised enough funding to sponsor the Girl’s Education program and build a library in one of the schools located in Poloonarauwa, Sri Lanka. John chooses to pursue his vision and core purpose to improve education impoverishment and leave at his age of 35, a promising job where he could have climbed up the corporate ladder like everyone else, his courage and determination to make the world a better place really are jaw- dropping and too hard for us not support! John believes the “World Change Starts with Educated Children.” A simple but important act that benefits over 200 students, 20 teachers and changes the future of so many lives, that is just a no brainer!

The School’s library program sponsored by HKBN back in 2017 has turned into reality and became one of the key facility of a primary school in Polonnaruwa. Polonnaruwa is in the North Central Province. It’s about 5 hours’ drive from Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. The school provides education to over 200 students from the rural areas with

1 | P a g e the library contains hundreds of colourful story books mainly in local language. All students would be given library times every week. Storytelling and book reading games were conducted by teachers to attract students to book reading.

The school consists of primary and secondary school, from grade 1 to 6 and grade 7 to 13 respectively. Age range from 5 to 16. Each class has around 30 students. School activities start at 7:30am, each session takes around 30min. It ends at noon. Students will have lunch and return home afterwards. Homework will be given to students so they have the opportunities to interact with their parents at the same time reinforce learning outside formal classroom hours.

Our Donation: 4-year Project

RTR is one of the largest book publishers in the world. They write books and partner with local authors to publish books full of local culture. They provide reading materials to schools such as pencils, copy books, exercises, etc. These books are provided by RTR, and some are from local community’s donation. Storytelling is one of the powerful way to arose kid’s curiosity, drive them to know more words, read by themselves and the ability to write a story of their own.

Skipping school is very common especially in rural areas as parent do not have much support from the neighbourhood and often what parent care is about surviving today rather than building for tomorrow, not to mention the effort required for them to bring the kid to school.

Teachers & staffs are key to the success of the program as they don’t just teach but also act as a counsellor for students and parents. RTR equipped teachers with training, building up the skills and knowledge they need so they could teach students more effectively.

School Visit Program

1) Welcome ceremony 2) Participated in a Program (Phonics) 3) Observe the Library 4) Participated in a reading 5) Parents’ sharing 6) Group Photos

P a g e | 2 • Most wonderful moment

When we arrived school, students already waiting at the main entrance. We were greeted by the Principle, Staffs and young students. We bowed and showed our gratitude in return by saying ‘Ayubowan’ to them too. The young students were holding a pile of leaves and wish us all to have a long life and good health. It just amazing to see all these happening for real, we’ve finally met the students and that is just awesome!

• Most Beautiful faces

We joined two school activities. One of which was about phonics. Students learnt to decode sounds and words in a logical sequence. And workbooks were assigned to practice writing of words.

When we sat next to these young students, we also need to boost up our energy level as they are so energetic. We make use of our natural language (that is the body language) to communicate with them! Their smiling faces just warmed our hearts! • Learning together

In the second session, students were gathered at our library. Teacher promoted two-way interaction to capture students’ attention and imaginations. For example, teacher asked questions after story telling; students to imitate different characters shown in the story book…etc.

4) Parents’ sharing

With the help from RTR, we have a chance to meet up with the parents and their feedback make the trip all worthwhile.

“I was so happy and touched when my child came from school and asked me to stop cooking but listen to him. He showed me the story book borrowed from school and eager to tell me the story.”

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“I was grateful as my child has been given a chance to read and learn and he will thereafter have a better future.” “My son excitedly told me that he could start to read and write now”.

We were very grateful and there is “nothing more meaningful than meeting those who we have impacted.”

Sustainability

As mentioned by RTR and the teachers, the support from local community and student’s parents are crucial. Hence, school administrators and teachers will invite parents to visit school in order to have a better understand of what their children are doing and have learnt in the school.

Besides, RTR will also dialogue and work with the local communities to ensure they are well-equipped with necessary resources to run the school in the long run.

P a g e | 4 Reflection by Clio Ip

I know Room to Read in 2017 when John Wood the founder gave HKBNers a speech in our management trip in and I were so impressed by his mission and vision. Sri Lanka has over 20M populations and 30% is living in Colombo, the rest are farmers with poor education background. Parents have no choice but have their children to quit school early in order to support family living. I am so glad to have the opportunity to participate in one of the Literacy Program project in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka and witness all the changes.

Teachers are trained and supported by RTR to make reading a habit for the students. RTR believes the ability to read and write is the foundation for all learning. As reported by one of the teacher during sharing period, there is no student quit school last year. RTR will support this school for 4 years to ensure the continuity of the program.

Because of Room to Read I am now CONNECTED to Sri Lanka. I am so happy to meet a group of teachers full of passion and love; they want to make their students a better future. I am also happy to meet a group of students full of smile as they are the future of Sri Lanka. I am very pleased to meet up with a group of parents full of hope; as their children will make Sri Lanka a better place to live.

Reflection by Eric Ho

This trip in October 2018 has brought me back to the past when I was a kid. In those days, I lived in a hillside area in Kwai Chung. There was no electricity, no tap water but there’s hope. There was a small village school nearby where I could walk to the school every day. The village school gave me the opportunity to read books and started my education until primary one. Quite many of my then schoolmates turned out to be professionals. Though primitive it’s essential that the earlier the children could get in touch of books the earlier they would be attracted and continue with the education. The best weapon to fight against proverty is education. With proper education, ignorant kids will become decent yound girls/men and contribute back to their family and the country. One of the parent told us in tears that one day her son excitedly told her that he could start to read and write now. She thanked us for the donation of the library and the literacy program. As the CIO of Hong Kong Broadband Network working in the Kwai Chung region, I have witnessed the growth of Hong Kong and myself through education. HKBN’s core value to “make our HK a better place to live” has extended across the Indian Ocean to Polonnaruwa. I sincerely hope that the books and program will spark up the students desire to book reading and become educated to make Polonnaruwa a better place to live.

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Reflection by Karina Tsoi

After RTR's careful planning, our donation was assigned to a school located in Sri Lanka for setting up a library for the students there. As we appreciated what RTR has done and were eager to meet the students, we decided to make a trip and visit the school.

RTR has 3 local country management staff in collaboration with local government partners and the school administrators to make sure the different projects are carried out smoothly. They take care of total 80 projects at the region Polonnaruwa, including the one funded by our donation.

RTR seek to transform the lives of millions of children in low-income countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education which inspired many talents who made donation to support RTR right after the sharing.

We joined two activities. In the first session, the teacher taught students phonics and we could see that she is very experienced. In the second session, we participated in reading activity with students in a library.

Students are encouraged to borrow books to home and will be recorded. This helps the teachers to identify which kind of books are more popular and hence facilitates the school administrators to have better future planning.

As mentioned by RTR and the teachers, their goal is to make reading interesting and inspire children to read more and learn more. It was the most joyful and wonderful moment of the trip when I saw the students whom we have impacted with smiling little faces. I had a real feeling of “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

In order to “Create World Change” and help these little students to build a brighter future, we HKBNers will share our experience with our network and inspire more people to join our journey - a journey full of passion and love!

P a g e | 6 Reflection by Mikron Ng

It was a pleasure that we met John Wood, the founder of Room to Read at our Vietnam management trip in 2017. At the time, I was so surprised how Room to Read’s program can bring literacy, habit of reading, gender equality to the young people in the low-income countries and make the world a better place.

Today, I am so happy to have the opportunity to visit a school at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, we can understand and meet the young students who benefit from RTR’s programs. What’s more, we met a group of passionate teachers and grateful parents and witnessed how RTR’s programs get real data-driven results.

RTR’s core purpose – We Believe that World Change Starts with Educated Children. Their mission is not only to focus on children’s literacy, but also publish their own exercise books and provide trainings to teachers that make the program work in long run.

Last but not lease, I believe the education is the basic for the children’s growth, every child should have the chance to go to school for learning. I also remind myself it is better to give than to receive. Let’s contribute more to the society and make our Hong Kong a better place to live.

Reflection by Regina Auyeung

Looking back, if my parents did not support my education, I wouldn’t have the chance to reach this far or hearing John’s speech and also wouldn’t have this trip to Sri Lanka. That is the ripple effect!

We need organizations like RTR who provide quality training to teachers, publishing books and build up strong community with parents to reduce the school dropout ratio.

With the help from RTR, we have a chance to meet up with the parents and hear their feedback. They are aware of the importance of early education, they know the correct values, social, personal development are formed in young age and grateful to have qualified teachers who make learning like playing for their kids.

I believed the one who benefit from the literacy program will eventually help the next generation and those in disadvantage. Looking through their eyes I see joy and hope, I will never forget their happy faces. Let’s not underestimate your ability in helping others by opening your wallet and support!

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