On 26th December 2004, I sat in the comfort of my home in England, watching the aftermath of the tsunami unfold. I felt so helpless. I desperately wanted to do something to help those affected and decided that after my graduation I would go to Sri Lanka and do just that. But I didn't just want to help by rebuilding homes or donating money to families. Whilst these are all incredibly gracious and noble acts of kindness, I decided that I would like to make an impact and be remembered for helping the people in a different way. And I knew that I had something I could give the people that would fill these criteria: teaching karate.

I once heard something that forever changed the way I look at life:

"The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work"
~ Emile Zola

The way I see it, everyone has a gift, whether it is to teach, play football, cook or even just the ability to make others smile. I believe that everyone has something special inside of them and if they nurture it, it can be shared with others.

Having trained in Martial Arts since the age of seven, I desperately wanted to be the best in the world or, at least, a world champion. But I knew inside that no matter how hard I trained there would always be others much faster and much stronger than me because they had more talent. I felt that even though I had become a member of the England Karate Team and had been recognised by all the top coaches, there was nothing I could do to become what all serious sportsmen want: to be number one. So I decided that there must be something else out there that I was destined to achieve, that was staring me straight in the face, and for years it escaped me. Then, one day my instructor was touring with England's National Karate Team (as the National Physiotherapist he was quite often travelling) so he could not teach. The second-in-line senior black belt was also out with a serious injury, so it was my turn to teach. I was barely 16 and very nervous. After the lesson one small boy came to me and told me that he had really enjoyed my lesson and that I had explained everything very clearly to him. He thanked me and shook my hand and from that moment I knew that I wanted to teach karate. Whilst it may not have been possible to be the best Martial Artist in the world, who said I couldn't be the best teacher? So I took Emile Zola's advice from his quote and worked hard on nurturing my gift of teaching. I taught privately, to students of all ages and abilities, and I jumped at the chance to teach the class whenever my Instructor was unavailable. After some time, I became very confident of my teaching abilities.

I arrived in the coastal village of Seenigama, Sri Lanka in February 2006 not really knowing exactly what my role would be because I had no idea whether the concept of a karate class in a Sri Lankan village would sink or swim. If it were to sink, well it would be a long wait from February to June, and if it were to swim, then it could be something incredible - obviously I was hoping for the latter!

For the first three weeks, my friend, Phil (who came with me from England) and I lived in the tourist strip of Hikkaduwa beach. But it wasn't until we moved into a house in the village that we felt like a part of the village family. Whilst living away from the village, it was very difficult to associate ourselves with something we knew very little about. Eventually, we became fed up with the physical and emotional detachment from the village and managed to find ourselves a house in Seenigama. Moving to Seenigama was the best choice we could have made. It gave me a chance to meet the children, talk to them outside the lessons and get to know them, not only as my students but also as my friends. Living in the village also helped me to organize my classes and events with greater ease, as I had direct contact with the right people, people who I will forever be indebted to for their help: Asanka, Udara, Phil and Shane, to name but a few.

The children are amazing. For me, this is the most alluring aspect of the village, not the cricket ground nor the celebrities that visit every year nor the swimming pool donated by Bryan Adams - for me, it was all about the children. They gave me so much gratitude for the work I was doing in the village, which was so important to me. I constantly felt like I was making a difference to their lives and indeed I have letters and drawings every week from the children reminding me so. I had a huge connection with the children that actually made it so difficult to part with them when I left.

I taught for up to ten hours a day, including privately. Lessons were highly sought after before the competitions I organized because the children so desperately wanted to win trophies. The gratitude and appreciation that I received from the children made all my hard work and hot sleepless nights worthwhile - their smiles, kindness and small gifts were heartwarming signs of appreciation that I shall never forget. One day a bunch of bananas, one day a flower, one day a chocolate or a drawing; I was always reminded of how grateful the children were for me coming to teach them.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Foundation of Goodness for all the assistance and support they provided me, and to my sponsors who helped to arrange club t-shirts and trophies for all the competitions. I would also like to specially thank the Founder, Kushil Gunasekera, who never forgot to give me words of kindness, gratitude and encouragement. Who better a person to spur me on than a man who has done priceless amounts of work for the happiness of others himself! Also, a thank-you to Shane for spending so much time on my video so that I could take with me a permanent reminder of my time in the village. And finally, a thank-you to Phil, Asanka and Udara without whom the competitions and lessons would never have run so smoothly.

Seenigama Karate Club will always be a part of me. I have strong aspirations to go back to Sri Lanka as soon as I can and teach again, time permitting of course. Yet for the time being, I will continue to smile at the photos and videos of my experiences in Seenigama that remind me of undoubtedly the most amazing months of personal growth in my life. If you have a gift that you can share with the children then become part of that magical aura that fills the air in the village. Try and make a difference to the worlds of those children who have lost so much but are willing to do anything and everything to gain just a little back.