Project Week
Unfortunately project week had been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, I think it is still very important to show and see the progress that me and my group had done. This project seemed very exciting and a new experience for me because I had never planned a trip to another country by myself (not completely but without parents) as well as contact hotels and partner organisations. Even when planning, this project was a challenge. I had a few issues with groups and everything was uncertain but in the end, we were ready to go even though we didn’t.
I was first in group 30 which was planning to go to Nepal and the activity was supposed to be rafting. I was first set in charge to find hotels and later to start planning out our timetables on what was going to happen on each day. Our proposal was accepted and we started to actively complete each of the flag sections on the main doc, we were also filling out the action plan. However, all trips going to Nepal were cancelled and told to pick another location due to the rise in prices although we were under the budget.
Our group then decided to go rafting in Ladakh, India. We continued to fill out the action plan and the main doc with the help our supervisor and the head of the project. However, my parents did not take the news very well and were very concerned about me going to the country that they did not deem safe for me to go. This resulted in me having to transfer to another group.
I was transfered to group 42 which needed another person after one had just left. The group was planning to go diving in Phuket, Thailand. I was on board as I had done some diving before and was eager to help out with what needed to be done. I integrated into the group and we were able to complete the action plan , the main doc, and we also created a week plan of activities spreadsheet to keep track of our timetable. We printed out the forms that our partner organisation, Seabees, had needed us to fill out. We had also filled out Project Week 2020 Agreement and the forms were signed off by our parents. Right as were to set up a meeting with our supervisor to go over the safety kits, as well as the discuss the forms and check our docs, it was announced that the project was cancelled. Of course, it was heartbreaking. There was nothing to do but accept what had happened and learn from what we did do in the project.
Within group 42, we didn’t have set roles for certain jobs but whenever something did need to be done, it would be a collective effort. This way, everything that we had to complete would be done efficiently. We did agree on the roles that would be assigned once we had landed in Thailand were actually doing the activity. One was in charge of technology and daily reflections (this would occur on our Instagram page where we would have posted photos of our experiences), one was in charge of communicating with the supervisor, one was in charge of having the map/GPS so we wouldn’t get lost as well as handling the documents and I was in charge of the aid kit and of everyone’s well being. I did help fill out forms and docs whenever I could and in the end, we were almost ready to go. Even though we couldn’t go and complete the project in the end, it was still a valuable experience which taught me about communication and collaboration especially with people who I didn’t know that well.
LO3: This experience was entirely new and the idea of planning a trip on our own was new as well. After we first understood what we wanted to do, we had to plan out a rough outline of what we were planning to do and with which organisations we had to get in touch with. This would then get approved by the head of the project by the form a proposal. Then docs had to filled out which would ask the contact details of the people within the group and the partner organisations, the flight details, the hotels and accommodations, the map, insurance, nearby hospitals, detailed outlines of activities and the budget for the entire project, Multiple forms asking for the aid kits, information regarding the budget, and other important details that would have to be approved by our parents and our supervisor. According to the timeline of the project, we would have to have had training days for aid and receive aid kits though we didn’t get that far until the trip was cancelled. We had initiated and defined our idea (this being the trip and activity), we had planned the steps necessary for the trip to happen but we didn’t get to execute the idea.
LO5: Collaboration was extremely important in planning this experience. Everything that had to be done was a group effort and we were dependent on each other when planning and discussing ideas. Everyone’s voice had to be heard when coming up with a decision or a change of plan regarding the plan. This could not have been done alone. However, there were some challenges of the collaboration. For example, arguments on which hotels and parter organisations we were to contact and it was hard to come to a compromise. But in the end, we were able to make big decisions in this experience.
LO7: At one point we had contacted many accommodations and it was a bit unusual knowing that whatever we say to those replying to us, every action would be noticed and it was very essential to remain respectful to those people. Although we weren’t able to go on the trip and see firsthand how we impacted the people around us in Thailand, we were still able to come into contact with those organisations and impact them even if it was minimal.
