.My name is Lucy Coy and in October 2018, I, and a group of students from my school, will be travelling to Sri Lanka in a 'Care and Community' aid assignment, organised by Projects Abroad. We will be going to an underprivileged village, close to Kandy and Negombo and as well as a number of community projects, such as painting schools and murals, we will be teaching schoolchildren sports and English including essential skills such as reading. We will embrace the Sri Lankan way of life and will experience many traditional activities.

I am really excited for the trip and believe it will not only be beneficial for the village but also for all of the students from my school. The trip will enable us to understand another culture by way of first-hand experience. This will make us more culturally aware and teach us to be more accepting of differences in peoples beliefs and traditions.

We will be visiting the Temple of Tooth, a Buddhist temple in Kandy, as well as an elephant orphanage. These are new experiences for us and will further open our eyes to life in Sri Lanka.

The overall price of the trip is approximately £1800, and it is my goal to be able to fundraise the trip myself. I will be organising and participating in a number of events to raise money. As I am only fourteen and will be fifteen at the time of the trip, this is going to be a massive challenge so any donations will be greatly appreciated.