A young United Reformed Church member, who travelled 5,570 miles to help a charity, created after a devastating tsunami, has written about her experience.

Thanks to a grant received from the URC’s children’s and youth work committee, Megan Bennet Moir, 19, was able to volunteer in Sri Lanka working with disadvantaged children.

Megan, a member of Augustine United Church, Edinburgh, arrived home in July after spending 11 months working in the developing country with The Senahasa Trust, on behalf of the Project Trust.

She reflects on her experience.

‘On the 13 September last year, I waved my family good bye at the airport feeling both excitement and trepidation for what I expected to be the most challenging 11 months of my life so far, volunteering in and around Unawatuna, a small village on the south west coast of Sri Lanka.

‘I was placed through Project Trust, who paired me with the wonderful Sri Lankan charity, The Senahasa Trust, set up after the Tsunami in 2004 which killed over 30,000 people in the southern province of Sri Lanka.

‘Senahasa run a variety of projects in this area of Sri Lanka, including delivering an English programme. My role was to teach English to the students of three different government schools in this area. I worked five days a week, had 20 different classes ranging from grade 1-5 (ages five to 11). In one week I would teach more than 500 students. Learning names was an enormous challenge!

‘Some students would arrive at school each morning with slick coconut oiled hair, crisp white shirts and lunch boxes stuffed with delicious rice and curry which would be heated and served from the school kitchen where all the staff were parents of students.

‘In stark contrast, some of my students had nothing. When I say nothing, I don’t mean they were poor but that they literally had no home and nothing to call their own …’

This is an excerpt from Megan’s story. Read it in full here.

The URC children’s and youth work committee welcome grant applications from both individuals and groups. These grants support the activities and experiences for children and youth, as well as the training of existing and potential children and youth workers. Information on how to apply for a grant is available here.