I came to Sri Lanka completely unprepared feeling ‘okay, I will just go with the flow’. Just
eight weeks ago I was very busy. I was finishing my bachelor degree, volunteering and most
importantly very busy with my social life. As a result I was always running from one event to
the other. Sometimes I could not even tell my parents what I had been doing just two days
ago. Ofcourse, I enjoy all my activities very much, but at the same time it causes a lot of
worry. And for me, being a huge worrier already, it sometimes resulted in a lot of stress all
the time about little things, next to general worries about the past, the future, etcetera.
The most important thing I got from my experience in Sri Lanka, next to amazing memories, new friends and new experiences is a change in my mindset. And I am very grateful for that. I am still the same person of course. However, my experience in Sri Lanka learned me to relax more, to live in the
moment, to focus on things that are really important to me and it also made me realize that I am so much stronger than I realized. I am back in Holland only for one week now and my busy life
started straight away. But I can already notice that it feels different now: I feel more relaxed,
I worry less and I feel stronger. I also learned to speak up about things that are bothering me,
to take action when necessary and to relax when nothing can be done.
What contributed most to this change are the amazing people I met in Sri Lanka. From day
one I felt so welcome in Sri Lanka. Madhu picked Carien and me up from the airport and
invited us to her house. We could not wish for a better and warmer welcome than the
welcome Madhu’s family gave us. I felt at home in Sri Lanka straight away and gradually fell
in love with one of the most beautiful and diverse countries I have ever visited.
All the aiesecers of our team have been very nice to us. However, some of them really stood
out. Madhu for example, has been next to a great team captain and friend in Sri Lanka, also a
big inspiration for me. Her positive vibes and mood inspired me to feel more positive as well!
Besides the people I have met, I loved to spend time in the country. Like I said, I really feel
your country is one of the most beautiful countries I ever visited. Not only, because of the
incredible nature, but also because of all the beautiful culture. In Sri Lanka I read two books
about Buddhism and these inspired me so much that I am going to take a course in the
Netherlands. Sri Lanka has been a big inspiration to me.
Funnily though, looking back I feel the troubles we faced during our project have been very
important to me. I have always understood that things in a project can go wrong and I have
never blamed Aiesec for that. However, ofcourse I felt bad about it and at times it made me
feel bad about myself as well. However, together with Carien (and help of Aiesec) I faced all
my troubles. It made me realize that I can handle so much more than I thought I could and
when I take action I am able to eliminate my problems in an effective ways (after some tears
sometimes, but hey we are girls).
A good amount of activities did go right though. And I enjoyed all of them. I loved to hear more about the Sri Lankan culture from the AIESECrs in the project, I loved the UN conference: very inspiring!, I loved the dancing and the good moments with AIESEC and the other EP’s. But ofcourse, we came for work. I am very happy that I got the chance to work for the NGO WERC.
I think WERC is a great NGO that delivers amazing work for Sri Lankan society. I wish I could have worked more for them and do more for them.
However, I enjoyed my time there and it gave me new ideas about work I
want to do in the future after I am officially graduated as a psychologist.
Before coming to Sri Lanka and in Sri Lanka I have been in touch with AIESEC a lot. Every
time I had an AIESEC activity everyone always speaks about ‘creating leaders’ and ‘giving
leadership potential a chance’. I remember feeling a bit skeptical about these things and
thinking: ‘okay, of course going abroad and working in a foreign country is a great
experience, but creating leaders in such a short time? I do not know if that is possible’.
Now I do understand what is meant by this. Like I said, the best thing I got out of this
experience is a change in my mindset and with this change I feel better about myself as a
person. But also, I feel like I am better able to help and lead other people. I started my
internship as a clinical psychologist yesterday and I hope it will help me in this internship and
working with these clients as well. So I think AIESEC and this experience definitely made me
a better and more confident leader.
To end this report, I just want to thank the team that helped me during my stay in Sri Lanka
and Madhu in particular. She has been great!
I definitely hope to return to Sri Lanka someday, because I already miss everything (except
the Kotthu). It has been an amazing summer that I will never forget.
Lieske Willemse
Netherland
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