Hello avid readers!
It’s Geeth here! Oh, it feels so good to be writing another piece that will be added to the awesome set of Avinya blog chains.
My blog starts with six unique characters who came to Avinya in 2023 searching for a change in their lives. And indeed they found it! Six extraordinary individuals from my beloved first full stack development batch—Chamikara, Dewmika, Irushika, Anushari, Isuru, and Deshan—helped me set up a special project to foster IT knowledge within the kids and adults in our Bandaragama community. The project was named TechExplorer by our executive director, Anju Moses.
Over the past four months, I saw bright-eyed kids coming to Avinya every Sunday, holding onto their parents’ hands. Beautiful friendships formed, and the look of amazement in their eyes when they saw the Windows logo for the first time was unforgettable. It was all so beautiful to me. The cherry on top was seeing how far the six Avinya graduates have come—from wanting to change their own lives to now changing others’ lives as teachers. How awesome is that? After four months of effort, 41 students graduated on June 19, 2023. It was a beautiful evening with a successful closing ceremony. I still have glimpses in my heart of a small boy showing his certificate to his mom with a smile all over his face, and three little girls with classic ponytails enjoying a good old round of hand clapping games, knowing it was their last day at Avinya.
Part two of my story begins with an amazing colleague of mine who, as we have discovered, has dedicated 90% of his life to working on community projects. He is none other than Isuru. He and his customer service class students took the initiative in hosting Avinya Academy’s first-ever Dansela. I saw how dedicated they were from start to finish to make it a success. I remember how Isuru came to me and pitched the idea of making Dansela a project for Customer Service NVQ students, providing them with a full learning experience in planning, budgeting, calling for sponsors, good customer service, and post-service. I immediately thought to myself, “What an amazing idea!”
On June 22, I witnessed old students, CS students, IT students, short-term course students, and Avinya staff working together as one beautiful team. It reminded me of the true spirit of Vesak. It felt so nice to see the same little ones from the area coming back for more ice cream in different outfits, thinking we wouldn’t notice. Smiles on faces—that’s really something…I’d also like to thank the rain for showing us kindness during both of these events!
On that note, this blog entry is a wrap. We’ll see you again in the next installment of the Avinya Scoop!
– Geeth