Be The Change - Fahim's Story

Who is Fahim?

Fahim is a young boy from Oddamavadi who went to school at Brainthuraichchenai Sathuliya Vidyalaya and the transferred to Oddamavadi Central College for his A- Levels. Fahim did his Advanced Levels in 2019 and he had the best results in the Technology stream and was ranked first in the Batticaloa District and 21st in the national ranking. He ultimately got into the faculty of technology at Sri Jayawardenapura University.

I first met Fahim the first time we went to Batticaloa as Teach First Sri Lanka in March 2022. I had visited Oddamavadi Central College before, for a workshop that we had organised in 2018. I knew one of the senior students at the school who connected me to Fahim Ismail on my request for a contact from the school.

Fahim picked me and my colleague, Onlaie from Oddamavadi Central College and took us directly to his home where he introduced us to his family and friends. After enjoying his family's hospitality, we learnt more about what they were doing for their community and how they were working towards their personal development. They had started a youth-led organisation of volunteers who were committed to community service in Oddamavadi and the Batticaloa area.

The first time we met Fahim and his friends from Helping Wings

Inspired Community Service

Along with a group of Fahim’s friends from Brainthuraichchenai Sathuliya Vidyalaya, they started an organisation called Helping Wings. The initiative began with three students who topped their class in grade 10 at the school. When their Math performance dropped, their math tutor told them about a girl in a neighbouring school who faced many difficulties yet worked hard and did well in her studies. In the hope that they would be more grateful for the opportunities that they had in life.

Being the inquisitive young boys that they were, they dug and found out who this girl was. They discovered this girl had a ten-year-old sister and a one-and-a-half-year-old brother. They had lost her father in a fishing accident and their mother who had gone abroad for work and had gone missing, leaving only her grandmother to look after the children by begging for money. When they spoke to the grandmother about her predicament, she said that she could make hoppers, so they raised enough money to buy the grandmother a small stove, pans, and utensils to make and sell hoppers. This helped the grandmother find a means of living to support her family.

Helping Wings

This was the inspiration for Helping Wings. They left school growing this organisation into one that engaged young volunteers in the area to support their community through shramadana initiatives. Since 2019, they have led over 35 projects related to economic empowerment for women-headed families, youth empowerment, educational projects, environment projects etc. Over the years they have learnt to network with other organisations such as Sri Lanka Unites and IREX to support their causes. During the pandemic, they activated 25 to 40 volunteers for their work that was focused on supporting local businesses, conducting workshops, and raising funds for these causes.

One of the projects that they organised after they finished their schooling was a two-day seminar at the Abu Banquet Hall for village schools that very rarely had the opportunity to have access to tuition or good teachers. The seminar was conducted by the divisional director for the Batticaloa Central Province at the time who was Mr V.T.Ajmeer. The seminar was for children who were getting ready to do their Grade 5 scholarship exams. They invited schools such as Kawaththamunai Al Ameen Vidyalaya, Rithithenna Iqrah Vidyalaya, Thiyavattawan Arafa Vidayala, and 5 other schools. Some students travelled over 25 km to make it for the seminar, despite not having access to public transport.

At the end of the seminar, a small girl came up to Fahim and said she was sad that the seminar ended today and asked him if they could have more seminars like this because they do not have enough support in their schools. She said that they were keen on studying more but they struggled. As a result, they thereafter visited the school continuously for three weeks to teach these children.

Change in the Future

Although Fahim is committed to doing his best in his higher education, he still finds the time to lead his team in community service. Fahim is ambitious and believes he needs to be a leader who can support communities facing inequity. He also believes in the need to fight for causes that he believes in. Fahim is constantly getting involved in projects and making use of educational opportunities that help him broaden his network and learn interesting things. Things that help him gain and improve the proper perspective of what he wants to do in life. He has also been a part of the DreamSpace LifeCycle, where he designed a low-cost biogas digester that can create biogas from household waste and cattle manure. This is evidence of the fact that young people can lead and drive change, especially if they believe in the value of service above self at a young age.

Since the first time I met Fahim, he has helped us in many different ways. By making introductions, advocating for us and more than all else, he has been a good friend. On many occasions, I have been able to call him up and ask for help and he always does his best. I am privileged to have been able to spend time and get to know him better because Fahim gives me hope. He reminds me of the fact that there are young people like him, and children in these communities who have the potential to make a difference. If we could help them channel their empathy, courage and vigour into solving problems in these communities instead of leaving for better opportunities in the cities both here and abroad; we might just break the cycle of losing all the best talent from these communities and create a chance for young people to be the ones that deliver change.

Sincerely,

Jeremy De Zilwa.