Acts of kindness, more often than not, come from the most unexpected of places. And 3 families in the village of Palagala Kanda experienced this kindness from students and teachers who had flown all the way from Doha, Qatar to help build up their homes into decent and safe abodes.

14 students and 2 teachers from American School in Doha arrived at the build-site on the 13^th of November 2010 in the Southern province of Galle, to help build homes of three families over the week. Those families are –

Family 01 - L H Manori and Sirimal Kumara with their children Achini Irushika and Tharushi Nawodya.

Family 02 - Priyanka Sanjeewani and her son W. K Thaksala

Family 03 - LH Gamini and his wife W R Kanthi with their 3 children Manoj Ranga, Shalika Sewandi, and Sachintha Dilshan.

These students and teachers had come to Sri Lanka on their first visit to the country, to build alongside the families they were helping, in order to give them a decent, safe and secure place to call home. Everyday brought new challenges and experiences for the team involved in the build, but they did not deter in their task and by the end of the week had completed the work they had come for. The students and teachers divided into two teams, each working on a different house at the same time. They dug and filled foundations, cleared debris to build walls, tried their hand at masonry, shifted more than 7500 cement blocks and loads of sand to the work site, and built walls for the houses, which had been nothing more than mud huts before. Even with the tiring work they were involved in, the teams managed to squeeze in a few hours of sight seeing, when they visited the historic Galle Fort. They also found time to visit a Children’s home in the area, run by the Mother Theresa nuns.

The team did a fantastic job helping these three families, specially shifting construction materials to the site, which was very difficult task. If the home owners had tried to do the same task by themselves it would have cost them a great deal of money and labour, both which they do not have as luxury. The students did all the hard work without a word of complaint.

On the last day, the team was treated to a farewell event held in their honor and were also presented with hats made of palm leaves, as a token of appreciation from the homeowners. What can be certain is that the friendships formed during this one week are what will always be remembered and treasured by all!