German team establishes new Sri Lanka child development center

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Dimbula, Sri Lanka

In just a few days, 14 German youth transformed a dilapidated chicken coop into a new child development center (CDC) that will serve 100 children in Dimbula, Sri Lanka.

The volunteers traveled to Colombo, Sri Lanka, on August 5 for the third consecutive annual Work and Witness trip for German youth called “paXan” (derived from the Latin word pax, which means "peace," and Pack's an!, German words for "Go do it!" or "Get active!"). paXan sent previous teams to Beirut, Lebanon (2010), and Berlin, Germany (2011).

The Sri Lanka trip immediately followed the Eurasia Nazarene Youth Conference in Chennai, India, which the paXan team members attended.

The paXan team used the first two days to determine what needed to be done to the room set aside by the community for the CDC. The team had much work ahead of them as the man who owned the room had been using it as a hen coop. They bought the necessary materials and equipment, and began renovating on the third day. 

During the mornings before the renovations took place, the team painted a local school building, which is also the home of a Nazarene Compassionate Ministries CDC. In the afternoons, the Germans and a number of local youth traveled to Dimbula, a small mountain hamlet close to Patana, where the largest Sri Lankan Church of the Nazarene is located.

Due to its remoteness, Dimbula is one of the poorest communities in the area and is underdeveloped. The paXan team spent five afternoons with 65 to 95 village children, playing games, telling and acting out Bible stories, doing crafts, and showing the children they loved and cared about them.

"It was great to get to know the children of Dimbula and spend a week with them," said Christian Bangert, one of the youth on the team. "Their singing and their laughter will remain with me for a long time."

By Friday, the CDC room had been totally transformed: the hole in the roof was fixed, the floor had been smoothed, all holes were filled with cement, and the walls were cleaned, repaired, painted, and decorated with Bible scene murals. The group also fixed several lights, completed the wiring, and built a new chicken pen for the home owner.

"It was amazing to see how four walls, a chicken pen, and a fireplace were transformed into a child development center in just five days," Bangert said.

After the group departed, local pastors and NCM staff added glass panes to the windows, fixed the door, and worked on final details to launch the brand new CDC in early September.

Thanks to various fundraising events leading up to the paXan trip, there were enough resources left to finance the CDC for one year. By that time, the paXan team hopes to have encouraged enough people to sponsor all the Dimbula CDC children through Helping Hands child sponsorship.

The German team's visit was not just a fun week for the children, but will effect lasting changes in their lives.

"What has really moved me is that, as the paXan team, we were part of the establishment of the Dimbula CDC, and knowing that for the children this means long-term changes even after our departure," said Anne Magin, another member of the team. "They will have a place to go to that they didn't have before, where their skills are improved and fostered and that offers them new perspectives.

"I know these children personally and that has totally changed my attitude toward the sponsorship program, because I can see that each sponsorship will make a difference to 'our' children."

The trip was a transforming experience for the team, as well.

"The paXan team has shown in a very impressive way how a group of Christians that serve God can facilitate transformation in people as well as in buildings," said Simon Bangert, who has served on all three recent paXan teams. "God has strengthened each one of us in our personal relationship with him and we have all been transformed by him."
--Church of the Nazarene Eurasia Region

 

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