Month: January 2019

Project Week Final Reflection

CAS

LO7-Recognise and consider the ethics implications of choices and actions.

The trip was a success. In the end, we managed to pull together all of our planning and implement it. Something we had to consider during the trip was how we would conduct activities with the girls at the shelter. We wanted to avoid voluntourism – it was important that our actions had a sustainable and lasting impact.

This was why we chose to do recreational activities such as playing sports, dancing, or reading with them rather than something like teaching english. We felt that these activities would allow us to best connect with the girls despite a language barrier while also developing the relationship between this NGO and UWC for future project week groups.

In the end, we also gave the organisation a donation from out of our budget which would be able to fund all the girls’ meals for two months.

During the trip, we also had to acknowledge other ethical considerations such as supporting local businesses. We made sure to eat in local restaurants with mostly traditional Vietnamese food rather than international food chains.

Ultimately, I felt that this experience really made us far more independent, resilient, and aware of the consequences our actions can have on others.

Project Week Planning Reflection (Preparation)

CAS

LO5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

The planning and preparation stage for this trip was one of the most challenging things that we had to get through as a group. I don’t think we would have been able to complete all the necessary steps if we didn’t work collaboratively. However, we encountered multiple challenges along the way.

As a group, we were very open to one another’s ideas and willing to work together – there were few internal problems. One of our strengths was also that we were very organised (for example, we immediately created a folder with all of the documents needed for the whole process). However external circumstances proved challenging along the way.

We played to our strengths and divided up the different parts of the trip (activity, service, accommodation) amongst the members. But there were many problems with communication along the way. Our NGO replied to us very sporadically and infrequently. This made it hard for members in charge of logistics, as they weren’t able to solidify any plans until very late in the planning process. Even though we tried to maintain clear channels of communication and tried our best to keep updating the planning document, this was a significant challenge that we only overcame after contacting the NGO multiple times as a group. I think that if we were planning this trip individually, it would have been much easier to give up and find alternatives. But since we were all determined together, it felt much easier to persevere after what we originally wanted.

Another significant challenge we faced near the end was the miscommunication between some of the members in the group. Not everyone was clear with the activity option we originally wanted to do, especially since some members still didn’t have parental consent. This caused a few problems in terms of logistics again, and there was some frustration. I think since we were a larger group, miscommunication was one of our biggest concerns. However, by the end of the process we learnt how to work together in an effective manner by meeting once or twice a week to discuss the updated plan while also using an online group chat.

 

Project Week Initial Reflection (Investigation)

CAS

LO6 – Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

The initial phase of project week was probably the most successfully we were able to achieve things as a group. We had grouped together based on our passion for pertinent global issues such as sexual abuse and women’s rights. We wanted to create tangible change and distance ourselves from the detrimental aspects of voluntourism. This was why we researched multiple organisations within the region to volunteer at while also considering some which would have existing relationships with the school. We felt that by choosing an organisation with this foundational relationship, we would create more sustainable and long-lasting change: perhaps future project week groups could go there too.

This was why we ultimately settled on volunteering at “The Little Rose Shelter” in Ho Chi Minh City. The NGO supports and cares for young girls who have been exposed to sexual abuse or human trafficking in some way. For a week, we hoped to engage in recreational activities with these girls while also providing some sort of donation out of our budget for the trip. As a group, we realised that Ho Chi Minh was a place a lot of groups wanted to go to. Since we cared deeply for this issue, we worked quite effectively together (by dividing up the work) to write up a proposal that we were proud of.

STEM CLUB: Final Reflection

CAS

LO5-Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.

In sessions, we were all working hard to publish our individual projects onto our website (https://stemclubuwcsea.wordpress.com/). Although the objective was for us to create projects independently, I realised the importance of relying on the people around you to edit, refine, and improve your own work. I found this out primarily through the process of peer editing we implemented.

It’s easy to get defensive over your work. But I found that there was real value in listening to suggestions from my peers about my work: what other ideas I could implement, advice to remove long-winding sentences from my writing, and simple grammatical changes. I also found that listening to alternative perspectives helped me broaden my own views on the issue I chose to write about.

For instance, in my article I chose to discuss the implications of asteroid mining. I was originally writing solely about the economic and social repercussions of this phenomenon. But after discussing with some of the members in the club, I found that there were so many more issues I could incorporate into my article such as the political tensions and legal consequences over ownership of land in space. I found it fascinating that my perspective broadened so much after hearing out others’ opinions.

Ultimately, this process really helped me achieve the level of breadth I was aiming to cover in my article. Here is the link: https://stemclubuwcsea.wordpress.com/2018/08/19/what-lies-beyond-us-the-implications-of-asteroid-mining/