Lavanya Indralingam

Trained by Caritas to conduct activities with children in asylum centers in the greater Oslo area. Activities include painting workshops, dance sessions, and interactive learning through play. All sessions are conducted in Norwegian to familiarize the children with the language in preparation for integration into the Norwegian school system.

Note: This was a volunteering opportunity that I participated in after working hours.

Project description:

Originally as a UNHCR volunteer, I started teaching a class of 3-6 year old Myanmar refugee children at the ACR school. The UNHCR toy-box project is aimed at engaging the children to learn through play. The class is conducted in English and has an attendance ranging from 9-15 children each week.

As the program developed through the months, I started to develop my own material rather than depending on the UNHCR toy boxes.

The learning method promotes… Vis mer

Project description:

Originally as a UNHCR volunteer, I started teaching a class of 3-6 year old Myanmar refugee children at the ACR school. The UNHCR toy-box project is aimed at engaging the children to learn through play. The class is conducted in English and has an attendance ranging from 9-15 children each week.

As the program developed through the months, I started to develop my own material rather than depending on the UNHCR toy boxes.

The learning method promotes sensory skills as the children learn through the use of learning tools such as building blocks and flash cards. The project also develops their writing and listening skills and the ability to take commands from a teacher that will help develop their minds when they begin school.

After a successful kick-start with the project, the class was then taken over by other volunteer teachers. I then moved on from the toy-box project and begun work with slightly older kids (7-12 year olds) teaching English at a higher level with a focus on spelling and grammar usage as well as daily conversational skills. Vis mindre

Coming across challenges in foreign lands and learning to deal with conflict on the spot taught me how to problem solve and to think on my feet. I gained an extensive international travel background, collected over 30 stamps in my passport and expanded both my economic and cultural views through this self-funded solo trip across Europe and Asia. This experience grew me in spades and helped me to adapt easily when it comes to working with and in different cultures. It also taught me one of… Vis mer

Coming across challenges in foreign lands and learning to deal with conflict on the spot taught me how to problem solve and to think on my feet. I gained an extensive international travel background, collected over 30 stamps in my passport and expanded both my economic and cultural views through this self-funded solo trip across Europe and Asia. This experience grew me in spades and helped me to adapt easily when it comes to working with and in different cultures. It also taught me one of life's greatest lessons- the shortest distance between people was a conversation.

During my travels, I also volunteered time through development projects with the UNHCR and the EU-based Travel2Change organization that took me across cities into rural villages. This allowed me to invest in myself while growing others. It taught me how important it was to empower others and to learn to adapt to the ways of the world no matter how different they were from my own.

The choice to travel in a way that connects with local communities is born out of my advocacy for equality and belief that the way to truly eradicate poverty is through proper access to education and by ensuring . Vis mindre

Took on the opportunity to educate children in a rural village in Sri Lanka about proper sanitation as a member of a team of international volunteers. Developed and coordinated education programs aimed at self-sustainability for children and their families, in addition to installing a water piping system and building toilets to boost attendance rates at the school.