Tag: Service

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Project Week

November 29th, 2019

Investigation:

At UWCSEA, we have a wonderful opportunity to go on a trip with others all by ourselves and planned all by ourselves throughout South East Asia in order to complete one or more of the CAS objectives. (maybe more)

For my project week, I am quite interested to do an activity, most likely hiking, but I would most like to do an environmental service, especially with my GC—Gili Eco Trust. This is because we need to maintain a relationship between the school and the NGO we are working with.

Initially, we had some mingle activities and introduction to what Project Week is. At first, it was difficult to find a group that had similar interests and groups that I could find myself working well with. However, almost to the last minute of the deadline, I found a group that I could work with and I have some hopes and worries. Fortunately, there are some people I know including one person from Solar for East and another a member of my GC (is the co-vice chair with me). They seem to be a group that will do work and won’t slack off. However, I am not so connected with them at the moment and I am worried because 4 of them are in a relationship and that could end in a disaster both for them as a relationship but also onto the rest of the group members. But hopefully, everything should be good. Our group are planning to go to Gili and with the GC and hike on Rinjani Dawn. So it that sense, it has really lived up to my hopes for project week.

December 5th, 2019

Preparation:

For our preparation, we have made a plan (and it got accepted) and contacted our supervisor. We are planning a schedule and draft email to the NGO among many things that need to be done. As of right now, our preparation is looking pretty good. In this group, I actually haven’t done a lot of work and it has been spread out, which is a positive and benefit in working in a group. Also, in this case, things are going much faster than if I were to do this individually and in this kind of project it is always better to be in a group assuming those group members not only work well with each other but are somewhat productive.

 

 

Right now, my only main concern with our plan is about hiking. I’m quite an adventurous person and don’t mind hard work so, if anything, I would like for the hike to be as challenging as it can be. Some of my group members are not as adventurous so we need to compromise a bit. So far, we have a provider that will help us, and I am a bit worried that they will provide us with too much, meaning that they will do all the cooking, carrying and setting up the tents. The only good thing would be that we are supporting mainly locals but for me, I would feel too privileged and lazy if this were to happen. So, my hope is that I can at least relieve the load on these providers and help them too.

#LO5

January 24th, 2020

Preparation:

So far in the planning process, we have done a lot, from contacting the NGO and action providers to picking hotels to plan flights to doing all the necessary requirements for medical information and lots more. A lot of forms have been stamped and signed as well.

The process has been quite hectic and there has been lots of planning that I never thought of when going on a trip albeit it is also an unusual trip with lots of hiking and working with service partners. But despite this, there is a lot of planning involved in this sort of trip, even for just a few days. I feel as though project week and the whole journey from planning to execution, is an amazing opportunity that will help me in future projects and really just planning and working together as a team. It is a very special and privileged opportunity and I am quite excited.

February 11th, 2020

Unfortunately, due to the 2019-nCoV situation or Coronavirus, the school has decided to cancel all overseas trips until August 2020. This was decided by the Singapore government in support of international crisis management. It is quite disappointing and it was a once a lifetime opportunity but one cannot get or do everything in their life, and I already have a very privileged life and so I perhaps shouldn’t complain. Although sure, it would be a great experience and I would love to embark on this exciting opportunity, the actual trip part was the only thing left we needed to do. We did a lot of planning and this is a great learning experience that I can use later on in life as planning and organisational skills that are similar to planning trips or just planning, in general, are essential to keep on top of things and in some ways reduce stress.
So Project Week will not be happening this year and hopefully, next year’s Grade 11s will be able to embark on this exciting opportunity.

 

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High School Urban Gardening (Propagation)

September, 12th, 2019

Investigation:

For parts of Grade 9 and 10, I was with the Urban Gardening service group and I really liked the experience, both because I was interested around the issue of the environment and because I liked the actual gardening part of it (it was a bit meditational). Unfortunately, I do not have the time to do the Urban Gardening service due to having other CAS experiences that cross over the time for that service, so I chose to do the parent service—Urban Gardening Propagation. However, this will be a slightly new service experience yet will still retain some elements of my previous service. I have some skills in gardening so I can develop and use these skills in this service. I hope that through this service, I can make some sort of difference at school in terms of the environment and gardening.

In today’s session, we just did a few Ice breakers to get to know each other as well as exploring the gardens at school. So today, was more about investigating what propagation is and what it involves in this service.

September, 26th, 2019

Preparation + Action:

In this session as well as the last session, is that we’ve been planning to give some seedlings and plants that we’ve grown from cuttings and seeds to some members of our communities that have asked for it and for grade 1 classes (where they will learn to grow their own plant). We’ve transplanted and propagated Thai basil, sweet basil, holy basil, parsley, peppers, and lots more. We’ve decided roles in each of our groups and the benefits of working in a group in gardening are that we get things done a lot faster when we work well. Below is some evidence of what we did in our sessions:

  

In these images, I have shown me planting and propagating some of these plants which includes the holy basil and sweet basil. I am also preparing the soil (the darker in the foreground has more nutrients and the behind where a member in my group is preparing with peat moss and pearlite which is good for propagating seeds).

#LO5

October 3rd, 2019

In this session, we made a video with Mr Erikson (A Spanish teacher here at school, is the head of the gardening services here and has a degree in horticulture) on the theory of propagation including propagating seeds and propagating cuttings from plants, a well as transplanting when the plants are big enough. As mentioned in a previous reflection, I can use some of my previous skills in gardening including that of transplanting and growing plants to propagating as well as learn new skills and develop those skills from it. In this theory session and in the process of making the video, I learned a lot about propagating plant including where one should take cuttings from so the stem cells will grow into roots and how to plant seeds. Some of this knowledge and skills, I had learnt before but others were unfamiliar and new to me, mainly the theory.

#LO1, #LO2

November 7th, 2019

During the last few session, we have been propagating a few new seeds and cuttings and mainly transplanting plans like chilli, aloe vera, dill, basil and other plants into bigger pots so they grow sturdier and larger.

Action:

November 28th, 2019

In the past few sessions, I have been continuing taking care of plants that we have propagated and in addition to that, I have been in charge along with another member of the service, to track the plants and seeds. Besides, we have made a few of our first deliveries to K1 students who have a unit on growing.

Although in a way, we are making an impact, I felt like by delivering these orders, was really the moment in which I felt that I have made a difference. And another project and client we are going to work with is from my friend’s service for an elderly home and we are planning to design a system in which the elderly can take care of plants which is good for both the planet and their mental health well being, which will be a great opportunity.

January, 23rd, 2020

For the past few weeks, we have been getting orders from various teachers, staff and grades. For instance, this week we have got orders from middle school about a few plants that we have propagated and that will be delivered after Chinese New Year. These plants include coriander, peas and lettuce.

Some plants have been successful such as the peas, watercress, dill and basil. While on the other hand, other plants such as lettuce, watermelon and other plants haven’t’ been as successful or have died. One really needs to get the conditions right and some plant that we have grown are not native to Singapore or the climate, so these plants are even harder to propagate and take care of.

This service has been quite relaxing and I think it may be because of the tranquil and almost zen-like experience of gardening. I feel like these sort of gardening environmental services are not only good for the planet or at least the school community, it helps also a lot with the mind and gives the mind to relax and not worry about any of the stressful environments and thoughts we mostly experience every day.

  

#LO4

February, 27th, 2020

We have got recruits and surprisingly my brother joined and it was actually a complete surprise but I guess we have common interests. Anyways, as a team-building exercise with the new Grade 9s and one FIB (Grade 10) last week, we grew together as a team and getting to know us better. The benefits of a fresh team are usually that they will work harder and listen more, however as time progresses, that productivity will get lower. However, I have a goal, along with the grade 11s to work harder and increase our collective productivity. Today we also had a little intro session into propagating, transplanting, planting and mixing soil for the new students. It was quite satisfying to teach and to realise we actually know a lot about horticulture and gardening.

With this new journey with the Jazz Band, which has rehearsals on Thursday after school at the same time as the service, there will be a clash. However, talking with both the supervisors and jazz conductor, we have come to an agreement that I will go to Jazz band every second week and perhaps a little less often if needed and during my frees and free time, I will plan the session and record any updates. I have free on Thursday morning so it will be perfect for that. Urban Gardening, as a reflection mid-way about, has been very meditational, fulfilling, relaxing and enjoyable. Of course, the environment is important to me and is a significant issue I think needs addressing, however, gardening is also quite relaxing after school and is quite meditational and relaxing. I am even having a lot of fun with the other students in the service so it really is an enjoyable time and something I look forward a lot. So with that good news, I will try to work harder to make more out of this amazing time I have with this service by building relationships with others and improving the sustainability at our school which makes me feel more valuable (and more valuable to life that I am doing something productive and helping others/nature even if it is quite small) I guess.

#LO4, #LO5

April 29th, 2020

SERVICE IN THE CIRCUIT BREAKER

During COVID-19, we are not able to reach our garden on the 6th floor, yet we are all trying to continue our learning progress at home. In the boarding house, the boarders in our group have collectively started a watering programme for all the green spaces at school to keep them healthy and alive during the circuit breaker. There is even a  herb garden where a couple of times a week, it is watered and weeds are removed. This is one way of continuing our learning and an act to keep our school and community green. Others from our service, including myself, are also working from their own gardens nursing the plants and experimenting with new species.

Examples of some of our gardens at home and the boarding house:

Mine:

      

 

We are all trying our best, and we encourage everyone else to do the same. Our service would under normal circumstances provide young plants but we also promote the benefits of being outside with nature which we should appreciate, especially in these times. A small pot in a sunny window is a starting point – use some seeds from the fruits and vegetables you have and try it out! We are all looking forward to returning to the garden and helping people again, but we are all trying to get the best out of the situation, and we would encourage everyone else to do so as well. 

#LO3, #LO4

 

Update on the garden:

I have learned a lot through gardening at home. For instance, the challenges of protecting seedlings from lots of water/rain, sunlight and other factors since they are so vulnerable. I think one has to take care of seedlings every day because one day they just might die and could have been prevented if one monitored them every day. In this environment, anything can happen but you get an amazing feeling when things grow really well. For instance, this week has been a rainy week and the mint looks amazing. So what I have learned is that mint and other herbs need a lot of water which I will make sure to do. But because of the rain, the snails arrive to munch on many of the herbs, especially the basil, which has been a bit of a problem. Also, by putting the papaya and banana into bigger pots, they are now growing extremely well and hopefully, we can get some fruits soon. There was one moment where the lemon tree produced more than 50 flowers but only two survived. Thankfully just today, I saw new flowers sprouting so perhaps more lemons will grow!

Beans grow really quickly and since they are sort of a vine plant, I have put a small bamboo stick so it can wrap itself around. Most of the other plants are still just small seedlings and it may take weeks until they will grow to a substantial size, making gardening also a patience exercise. I have noticed that plants do seem to grow a lot slower here than at school but that might be because the soil, pots and the irrigation system (I don’t have one at home) are of better quality and allow the plants to grow better and more quickly, despite myself having better access to the plants every day. So good tools are also important in gardening.

14th June 2020

In terms of the update of the garden, I’ve more lemons growing on the lemon tree and two are almost ripe so that’s great. The banana is growing as well as always. We got papaya but they died out really quickly and I think it was because there weren’t actually pollinated. All of the herbs are growing well including the mint, parsley and basil. I have eaten some of the lettuce and spinach that I am growing. They are difficult to grow as they have originated from Egypt and Persia modern-day Iran, so it is a different climate than here in Singapore. Anyways, I have got help from my Uncle who is an expert on plants on how to take care of tomatoes, and they are growing fantastically well. the beans, unfortunately, died out. My uncle said that the chilis need their soil to dry out but once in a while to be drenched in water. So I have done so with the chilis as they seemed to wither and they are still growing strong today. (add photographs later). What I will try to do is to grow more plants that are native to this region, not only to help the local ecosystem but these plants will most likely grow better than the plants suited for a European or western Asian climate that I am trying to grow.

In terms of the urban gardening propagation service, I am really disappointed that we couldn’t do much. As soon as the circuit breaker period began, almost nothing has happened in the service and a lot more could happen. I love urban gardening because of mainly two reasons. The first reasons are obvious, and that is that gardening is a really meditational and enjoyable way to in some ways albeit small to help the environment around me be growing own food instead of buying in stores where the air or freight miles have some carbon impact. Providing a small little ecosystem, if it is big enough, for a variety of species and provided it is big enough, may cool a building or the surroundings a bit. Also, it takes in carbon dioxide and gives fresh oxygen and cleans some the of pollutants in the air.

The second reason that I have noticed is that it has been really fun to work with others, especially when I find that I have common interests in gardening and other interests not even related to gardening or sustainability. I have made new friends and built existing relationships from being in Urban Gardening and working in groups hasn’t hindered much progress but rather made gardening more productive by bringing in different skills and help each other out. It has also made it very enjoyable. The benefits of collaboration have really helped me out in friendships and making gardening a lot more fun.

That’s why I was disappointed with the progress we have made. I missed the experience so much and not only did I think it was a great way to continue the service, which we were also asked to do by the service executive team but to connect with some of the people that I have found really fun to talk and work with. So within two weeks of the circuit breaker, I made a hangouts group with all of our members discussing what we could do such as weekly or occasionally google meets, growing our own garden and lots more. The response was great, as a few of us were interested and things seemed to go underway. Then it seemed as if nothing happened for a while but our adult supervisors than contacted us and for a while, we had weekly goals to complete like growing something new, eat something from the garden, take a picture of something interesting in the garden, share ideas or videos that could help with gardening and so on. I thought this was great, and it was for just a few weeks as we commented on each of our discoveries and updates and things seemed to be going great. However, not everyone contributed and after a short while, it died off. Of course, I can’t just bombard them with lots of activities and challenges to do or to get angry that there hasn’t been much progress. They might be busy with other things and don’t have the time to work on service.  But, next year, I might in some ways be able to continue the friendships I have built-in urban gardening. Now urban gardening has just plummeted and that really fun experience is now gone. I won’t be able to join the service next year I think so it has been very disappointing. I have liked my environmental services in the past, but urban gardening was the service I was always keen to partake in every Thursday afternoon. It was an amazing experience. However, we did do at least something productive, where we did attend a session on the service expo next year. Of course, not everything has been the most productive, but there have been elements of service despite covid.

Despite this, I have made progress in my garden but I have been worried about the minimal impact I am having on the environment. Of course, as I mentioned, there are many ways that gardening can help, but I feel like, at the small scale that I am doing, it doesn’t provide much help in the local or even global environmental issues and ecosystems. If a garden is big enough then yes it can contribute or if many around the community have their own small garden, that can also help. I am making some impact, for instance, I seem many grasshoppers (although I try to move them away from the lemons as they love them), dragonflies, bees, ants, snails, squirrels, bats and lots more that perhaps wouldn’t bee there without the plants and garden. But the impact I am having is very minimal. But ethically, it better to do something than nothing and the experience we have had in urban gardening has inspired many of us to focus on our own gardens that together have a much larger impact.

Urban gardening has been great, and I hope that the friendships, and learning that I have developed in this experience, can to be further developed outside the service and I will always remember the great times we had.

#LO4, #LO5, #LO6, #LO7

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High School Gili Eco Trust

September 10th, 2019

Investigation:

I have been with this GC (global concern, a group at school that works with an NGO) since Grade 8 and I am going to continue this service in Grade 11 and 12 aiming for a leadership role, which will most likely be vice-chair. As with many of the activities and services I am with, this has an environmental focus where we raise money for the Gili islands to help restore the coral reefs and taking care of the island through bio rock technology (a structure with an electric current that runs through it, that allows coral to grow on the cage-like structure), eco-tourism and waste management. (For more information visit their website).

Image 1

Image 2

Sources:

Image 1: Gili Eco Trust. (2012). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 10 September 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gili_Eco_Trust

Image 2: Gili Eco Trust. (2012). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 10 September 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gili_Eco_Trust

Preparation: 

I used to be the media advisor, where I was working on our blog (link), but now I will be moving up to a leadership role. The leadership team from last year (now in Grade 12) will remain in leadership until Swimdonesia which is an event that will happen on the 11th of October. This is an event where we work together with tow other GCs, Surf Aid and Jakarta Street Kids,  to raise money for our respective Global Concerns. During Swimdonesia Gili Eco Trust we responsible for the managing of the obstacle course named “The Destroyer”, selling our merchandise and products throughout the event by the pool, and providing entertainment for the visitors. The Chair, Vice-chair and I have already had a meeting with the other GCs, reflecting back on what we did and preparing some ideas for Swimdonesia this year.

During this session today, we helped the new members by teaching them about what the GC is and what are major events are. We asked them to create presentations about what the GC is, what our events are, what are some solutions to the problem we are addressing and a bit about the Gili Eco Trust NGO.

———————————————————————————————–

Sep 24th

Preparation:

Carrying on from the last session, we discussed some of our roles, contributions and ideas for the Swimdonesia event in October. Our GC has the role as the games and in a sense, the carnival manager at the Swimdonesia event to attract more people than just swimmers. Last year, the use of the Destroyer was really effective but we want a bigger audience. The other two GCs are head of the food and drinks, and the actual Swim for Life contribution.

Our GC will be there to MC, sell our products and be head of the games. Below were a plan and map of what we might be doing.

We decided to of course have the Destroyer where we will have lifeguards around it. We have also decided to add an area for pool games where the guests (mainly children) play around with noodles, balls, frisbees and more. We’ve also got two games and a quiz where if you win, you get a free express pass (one time) to go cut the line (because last year the lines were long and to incentivise people to learn about our GC and come to the event). These games include the water gun game and a ring toss. We also have a quiz on our GC and the event.

#LO3

October 11th, 2019,

Action and Reflection:

Today, we had the Swimdonesia event and a lot of things happened. Some things were better than last years and previous events, and other things were not as good. Anyhow, it was still a great event. To reflect on this, I will use a SWOT Analysis or Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

Strengths:

  • A lot of people showed up including a few middle and high schoolers which are quite unusual for such events as many students in this age range, mainly high schoolers, are not as willing to give up time to support a service event even if it involves something really fun like a giant obstacle course. Also, this was despite the quite short advertising period which I think was about two weeks.
  • A lot of young kids, mainly primary school, showed up to go on the destroyer and play in the water play area from, and there were still about 20 people who still wanted to go on the Destroyer (the obstacle course) at 7:30. So it was very popular. When we started the event, almost a hundred kids ran to wait in line and that was exciting to see
  • Our GC helped a bit in food stalls and we sold a lot of pizza and a few drinks as well as other food.
  • The Swim for Life went well as always.
  • Regular announcements as well as publicity on our cause and why we are hosting this event
  • Lifeguards and no one got seriously injured.
  • Quite a few people stayed back to help clean up.
  • Time was utilised effectively by cleaning up early

Weaknesses:

  • Almost no one came to our stall to buy our stuff and I don’t think we sold anything. Also, the only thing we could sell was Surf Mud (a zinc cream that is more sustainable than regular sunscreen). So from that perspective, we couldn’t help our GC or NGO (Gili Eco Trust), however, the sales from the tickets were really good.
  • Not everyone from our GC showed up or couldn’t make it (or perhaps skipped)
  • The lines were sometimes ridiculously long and it kept a lot of people waiting
  • The event was not targeted to parents, adults and older students (although some came)
  • Perhaps not everyone really understood the cause despite the announcements, which could be because of the Destroyer is a big part of the event
  • Although most of the Destroyer and stalls were set up, we were not as prepared as we could be, for instance, our banner was in the wrong place, it took a while for the event to start rolling and took a while to get the hose in place.
  • The entrance band would fall off in the water
  • A few issues in checking the wristband ticket as some parents just needed to pick up their children so a confusion there on who can pass.
  • We didn’t have that many opportunities to interview the swimmers because they were hesitant and they said no to us
  • The instruction for some roles was not clear-for instance people doing water safety didn’t really know what exactly to do in the water (or even where to start in the first place until asked a teacher) Additionally some roles were also assigned to people in our GC and another GC, communication was lacking in that there was an overlap of roles.
  • An excess of sugar for the candy floss machine – not estimating consumption well enough?
  • Switching roles-sometimes hard to find the next person after the 1-hour slot is finished
  • Wristband check seemed redundant because they were already checked by wristband sales

Opportunities:

  • There was good weather, lots of sun and no rain or thunder.
  • Despite the short advertising, it was effective enough to catch the attention of many people who came to the event.
  • Since the event was going on for a long time, most people could attend despite the activities they may have had after school as there would be at least some time on that Friday afternoon that they were able to come.
  • For food sales, collaborating with sustainable food distributors
  • Advertising to parents, using it as an opportunity to educate them on issues relevant to GET → spread it to the community through them
  • Communicate better with other GCs
  • Selling other products, finding other successes like Surf Mud
  • Starting advertising earlier so it is fresh in people’s minds at the beginning of the year
  • Perhaps the last meeting before the event can have all the relevant GCs meet together to clarify 
  • As an MC we are allowed to hype up the event and keep everyone’s energy going.
  • Merge the food ticket and entry ticket stall
  • Roles should be distributed to GC’s as early as possible, so that extra manpower can be calculated and games can be planned ahead of time with all variables in mind.

Threats:

  • Not everyone from our GC could attend and that could be because they were willing to, although a few came. The reason for this is that not everyone joins a GC because they are really passionate about the cause or want to help. Some people come because they have to or they think its a good idea, or their friends come. That is the consequence of having services so freely available at this school because there is almost a guarantee that not everyone will have enough care or will to do the extra or take part in events that we host. So that is quite a big threat meaning that we lose manpower at big events like this.
  • Some events happened on the same day as Swimdonesia such as Friday Night Lights and other sports events, as well as regular activities. Also, MUN (Model United Nations) had a conference on that day.
  • Only the near school community are allowed to join (due to Singapore regulations)
  • Unable to do all the activities we had hoped because of the short time frame.
  • Some disorganisation around sessions before the event (G10 and G11 3-way conferences causing confusion)
  • Need more merchandise to sell 
  • We had to work very long tiring hours, we stayed for the whole event which was a bit boring because we didn’t have much to do.
  • Didn’t communicate enough with other GCs – unorganised distribution of roles through time, as sometimes too many people (until 5) and then not enough (later on) – especially Water safety
  • The destroyer was the biggest attraction if it rains almost no one will show up.

In order to improve we need to:

  • Stricter rules and make sure everyone in our GC comes
  • Get of class earlier to help set up
  • Make sure we have more time to prepare, advertise and be ready for the event during the weeks leading up to it.
  • Have more time to prepare for other activities to cater for more people
  • Include activities and amenities that will attract a larger audience so more donations and proceedings going to our NGOs and cause.
  • Be more organised
  • Have a line system organised and more activities so the lines don’t have to be so long.

 

 

     

#LO3, #LO4

November 19th, 2019,

Demonstration:

Through Swimdonesia, I have learnt a few things and has evoked some important thoughts. Firstly, I have demonstrated as a committed member of the GC and I feel as though we organised the event really well, as there were not too many issues and we raised a lot of money. The biggest issue perhaps was that not everyone did attend and support with the event from our GC. The reason for this is that not everyone joins a GC because they are really passionate about the cause or want to help. Some people come because they have to or they think it’s a good idea (sometimes with intentions that being part of a GC looks good on a CV or resume), or their friends come. That is the consequence of having services so freely available at this school because there is almost a guarantee that not everyone will have enough care or will to do the extra or take part in events that we host. So that is quite a big threat meaning that we lose manpower at big events like this.

This does mean that even in our sessions, not everyone is involved and not everyone is involved productivity. In order to be productive, one has to either care for the issue or the work needed to be done (which could even just mean that you find it fun) or that you have a strong will. Unfortunately, this means that not all our GC members are there or can help as much as they can, however, that being said, it is always good to have more people helping out even if it is not that much, it can relieve the load. Or let them do menial tasks—just kidding. To be frank, there isn’t much I can really do about the situation other than hope that next year’s leadership is as productive and passionately as this year’s leadership. Although I am quite independent and usually like working alone as I find it both easier and quicker (as group work can involve people who don’t share the load with you or use you to do the work. Also decisions can take longer to finalise and sometimes, the work to be done takes longer), there are times when group work is beneficial. For instance, in design, working with other people is really important because you can bounce off of different people’s ideas and in turn make a better design.

This isn’t too different from this year’s leadership of which I am apart of. When you have people that you like working together and are as passionately and productive as you are, then working in a group is great and for me personally, it is quite relieving to take off the load sometimes. In addition, being vice-chair means that I’ll have to become more of a leader (which I am okay with but I do have difficulty talking or rather articulating my thoughts as spoken words, especially with people I am not as comfortable with or new with) which will be a new experience for me.

Our GC is there to both create awareness and to support our NGO (Gili Eco Trust) through fundraising. In the past and this year, our support has gone through events like Swimdonesia and Family Fest and raising awareness and selling products, where the profit goes to the NGO, as well as some minor ways we support the NGO. As you may have noticed if you’ve been reading some of my other posts, I am worried about the environment and in a way, strive to improve it. We’re taking action internationally in a different country to combat life underwater in the form of coral reefs and it’s an ecosystem as well as climate change and material waste on the island. There are many environmental issues but I feel like the biggest involves with energy—that causes climate change—our consumerism and related to that, the artificial nature of the materials we consume. Of course, there are other issues like soil erosion that have little to none correlation to energy or consumerism, and even if soil erosion is a critical issue, and it is, I feel as though our consumerism and climate change is really the biggest issues. In some ways, our consumerism is affecting climate change as plastics and other artificial products are made from oil which increases demand and therefore possibly both the degradation of the environment but even climate change as well.

That’s where a problem and the ethical issue lies in terms of the environment. Although our event is quite environmentally friendly through eco-friendly products that we sell to the reuse of glass to buy drinks in, and that we are supporting an NGO that has some significance although not large, to help environmental issues on the Gili Islands in Indonesia, we are sort of promoting consumerism, through the products that we sell. The best way to help the environment is not to buy eco-friendly products or recycle, but it is to reuse and repair those products. Product selling is not too big in Swimdonesia so we are focusing on Family Fair. So even if we are selling ethically produced products, it’s not the best solution. Yet we sort of has to raise money in order to support our GC. The environment is a complex issue and has many causes and effects and in my opinion, the environment is the biggest, most complex and most critical issue of all, if we are to survive and solve all other problems (which of course is impossible to solve all problems in the world).

Moreover, I also feel like awareness is no big issue here at this school because people are already very aware of environmental issues and the issues we are looking at to help even if it means that most people don’t have enough motivation or passion to help in a more significant way.

Furthermore, now I have become vice-chair of the GC along with another member of the GC. We’ve been working on goal setting, improving our portfolio/blog that I created and working towards finding new products to sell in Family Fair of next year.

#LO4, #LO5 #LO6, #LO7

January 21st, 2020

For the past few weeks, we have started to prepare for Family Festival in March, in which is a big bazaar and event at school where all the services try to raise money along with cultural exchanges through food and carnival-themed events mixed with outside small business to advertise their products or services. We have prepared by planning to make our stall more interactive through posters, presentations and videos. We have also been planning and preparing new products (of course as ethically produced and sustainably sourced and manufactured as possible) to sell at the Family Festival and future events. These products will help us raise more money and support our NGO on the Gili islands.

However, due to the coronavirus outbreak, Family Festival is cancelled. So we have been planning other ideas. Below is a brainstorm of some ideas.

 

Instead of planning for Family Festival, we might be planning something small for Ocean’s day and we have ideas to plan for some sort of sale of food to fundraise for our cause. It is a difficult tie as our regular schedule has been disrupted by the virus and we cannot have a group of more than forty people.

Furthermore, I have been in charge of the portfolio and making a variety of posts with a small team to comply with the service standards that we have been set and are targeting. This will be important for new recruits next and allows the school community to research into our GC and learn more about us. We will also improve our portfolio so it is more accessible to all and is easier to navigate.

Gili Eco Trust, although we perhaps make slower progress than my other services like Solar For East and Gardening, there are so many skills that I am learning that I haven’t been able to in other areas. Being on the leadership team, I have definitely progressed more in my communication skills as a leader and working with others to strive for a common goal. I haven’t been the best speaker nor the best leader, but through this service, I have at least improved on these skills which are important later on in terms of going into the working force as an adult and job interviews.

#LO1, #LO4

April 22nd, 2020

We are living in quite a unique time right now because of the COVID-19 situation and almost everyone around the world have had and are having similar experiences with COVID-19 such as working from home, school closures, lockdowns, social distancing and many other methods. In Singapore, we have had almost a complete lockdown where schools are shut down, non-essential business are closed, people working from home, mandatory mask-wearing outside and when outside, only for much-needed exercise and buying groceries. This, of course, will affect the organisation and our service in Gili Eco Trust but despite the Circuit Breaker (that is the name of the lockdown here in Singapore which was extended to June the first from May the 4th), we still do some of the work that we still can.

We will start to have some regular meetings online as we do for our classes and the Service Executive team at our school are going to collaborate with all other GCs and services with their portfolios and placing these portfolios in one place so the school community can find them easily and learn more about what we do. So far things are going well with our GC but of course, it will affect our ability to raise money and to support the NGO.

#LO3, #LO4

#LO1, #LO4

14 June 2020

Gili Eco Trust has taken a sort of a downturn as we haven’t been as productive as we haven’t achieved that much. However, we have recorded a presentation for the AGM or annual general meeting with the service exec team, made a few progress in contacting the NGO and justifying the environmental and ethical impacts of the products we might sell next year and so on. It is not like it has not been any progress but there are always more things to do.

Throughout the whole year, Gili Eco Trust has been for the most a great time and experience. A chance to do something for the environment at a larger and global scale than other services I partake in. We have fundraiser quite considerably though not as much as an average year, and we have had many successes in Swimdonesia and our portfolio. I will attend Gili eco trust meeting next year, but they’ll most likely be to hand off to new members in the service. Since I am considering a Gap year, great experience would be to help out the NGO in the Gili islands at some point so I am in some ways continuing that experience. Hopefully, things will turn out well in the service next year and our team right now will try to make most of it until the end of the year.

November 22nd, 2020

Now it is nearing the end of my time at Gili Eco Trust. Honestly, it has been quite an amazing time and has definitely been a helpful way for me to boost confidence in myself but also to further explore and develop, as well to take action, on the environment and my interest and passion for environmental sustainability. This is the service I have been with for most here at any time at this school. I definitely thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a great way to feel like I was making an impact not local but in some ways globally and locally in our school community.

However, there are things that I both wish I could have done and my worries about this sort fo service program. During university, my gap year most likely and definitely who I will be and what I will work with will have big ties and connections to some sort of environmental thinking and action. However, despite taking some action in this service, I don’t nearly feel like it was enough or that it contributes much to the society and world at large. Sure, we did raise quite a large sum of money and it has helped fund for bio rocks to build coral reefs, waste management schemes and aid to the local community in Gili after the Earthquake. However, there are definitely ways we as a service e could have been more productive and expanded our awareness and action. But the things is, of course, that is difficult especially with IB and the age that I am. I would have liked as my deepest desire to have taken a big impact in terms of the environment at this age but it doesn’t seem possible. This is because there is so much work that needs to be done in terms of school, relationships with friends, family and teachers as well as enjoying the life I have. I wish I could do more for the environment but for now, it seems that it has to suffice for small individual action and some slightly larger local and global action that may not be entirely so significant. Yes, I am part of a gardening service, solar installation service and this Gili GC among the individual action I have take and small campaigns I have done in Singapore with a few Swedish organisations like SwedCham and IKEA. I am not entirely convinced or content with my actions as I feel I could if I really tried, even though it is difficult here in Singapore, to reduce my waste to almost a minimum and take more environmental action.

Despite this, hopefully in the future, although if there is a future (but I am still optimistic despite Covid and lurking environmental issues especially Climate change), that who will be and my work/job will very much revolve around environmental sustainability.

#LO6, #LO7

 

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Solar For East

September 11th, 2019

Investigation:

I have pretty much always been interested in the environment and when I heard about how a few of my students in my grade that started a student-led group with aims to put solar panels on our school roof little over two years ago I was immediately interested in joining. a little more than a year ago, the leader of the group, Hemal Arora, decided to, I guess you could say, fire many of the students already involved as they were not interested or passionate enough to work and probably joined because they wanted their resumes to look good. He wanted to find hardworking and passionate students who would be willing to work towards this goal and I was soon accepted into the group.

September 20th, 2019

Preparation: 

I will be continuing with this group and hopefully will be able to put more solar panels on our school roof. In today’s session, we talked about our goals of:

  1. 100 Panels installed by January 2019
  2. Hand over the project completely by June 2020
  3. Reach 130 panels funded by June 2020
  4. Fundraise with the middle school (Event) and junior school (Month of Giving) – High School Presentation ( – Teacher Departments)

We have the money for about 80+ panels right now and 25 are already installed with about 60 or so that we have right now in stock. However, we just learned that not all of the money may not go to the solar panels and some may need to go for the inverters (the technology that converts DC to AC (the electricity current we use)). The inverter will be replaced by a new brand by our vendor (who helps set up the solar panels) and some support structures will hopefully be ordered by September. We are planning for an installation in January (we cannot do it earlier because the foundation group (which we work together with)  will have a solar specific appeal that will go out in November, more for new parents). We also work with the facilities team at UWCSEA and they want to get a clearer picture of the structure and layout of the panels. 

Today we got a surprise that we are actually loaning panels from Dover (the other campus of UWCSEA) and we didn’t know that previously. In addition, we might have a solar trip to India to visit a factory and learn more about solar panels, but this is more of a side project. One of our main issues to promoting ourselves and being visible in our school community so we need to work on advertising ourselves because it definitely improves the chance that someone will donate. Since this is a new year we might do some sort of refresh on videos, presentations and our website, but we’ve also missed important opportunities such as UWC day or a whole High School Assembly so we need to find opportunities as well. This might include—Screening of a certain film (by mother of two children in the school – she has a film on a vegetarian diet), 22nd April 2020 Earth Day,  fundraiser – ‘Let us be heroes.com’, family festival.

One of our members discussed some of the ethics of this project. In a way, we are sort of helping the school without them realising it or at the very least not in a way that they are involved. We are saving money for them by putting up solar panels and we are all doing this with some support of the foundation and facilities but not from the actual board of directors and the board of UWC worldwide. It’s like we are a group raising money for solar panels for another person house that we have connections do but ultimately it is their house that is benefiting because they save money. Since the school is a non-profit, it could be that a lot of this saved money could go to waste by spending on unnecessary renovations or salaries even and not back into the solar program.

#LO4

#LO7

October 11th, 2019:

Preparation: 

During these past few weeks, I have attended some meetings with some of Solar For East members and have written emails to each of the heads of grades in primary (elementary) school. I had a meeting with Ms Markey, the head of primary school who encouraged us to continue our class giving program next year (starting in January of 2020). We had this class giving program last year which allowed us to raise money for 17 panels. The class giving program, depending on every class, is a program in which students can donate money (usually about two dollars) for…(need more information).

We’ve got several small, side along, projects and we are trying to hand off the project to new and younger members. These projects include some college events, smaller installation events, fundraising push for the UWC Foundation and lots more.

#LO4

October 24th, 2019:

Action and Reflection:

Today, I installed a lot of solar panels during our October Break with a few of our Solar For East members and a volunteer. This wasn’t an event and instead, we did this so that we could actually set up the inverter and actually start producing energy because before today, we haven’t actually made a difference, it is only today when there are enough solar panels, that we can begin producing energy. Right now we have installed 82 panels but we have lots more in stock which we will either install soon or during an installation event with the school. Through installing panels, I guess I have developed the skill of both patience and the need for precision and accuracy because if one panel is off, down the line, that error will be great. Also, I have developed my skills in installing solar panels, which isn’t very hard but is still a relatively new skill.

Climate change is a global problem is the biggest environmental issue that we face today and perhaps even the biggest threat right now to us. Taking individual action doesn’t contribute all that much. Me taking the bus instead of the car or even putting solar panels on my roof will, of course, make a difference but in the grand scheme of things I and the vast issue that climate change looms over us, it doesn’t really help. However, if we all do individual action, collectively we make a difference. The plane will still fly even if I don’t take it but if we all try to reduce our air travel, then there will be less demand for flights and thus fewer carbon emissions. So, the solar project doesn’t make a huge difference (but still quite a lot) but it is the inspiration that is the most important in the issue. One of our mottos is to light up a brighter future and create a spark in people’s imaginations. What we have been doing is getting our school community involved, not just a facilities team doing all the work without the community knowing. When children and even adults see the work they have contributed they get inspired and are more likely to be more eco-friendly and environmentally conscious. One good example that I have is the Tesla. A few summers ago, my family tried a Tesla, we got inspired to hire a Tesla over the summer and now we only hire electric cars when we go back to Sweden. this has inspired many of our family members who some have got a Tesla and others are thinking of the same. It’s like the smartphone. At first not many had one but now almost everyone does. It is the inspiration and passing on of ideas that creates change not just individual action.

#LO4, #LO6

Demonstration:

November 29th, 2019

Today, we have officially been saving the environment. Now the system is up and running and we are currently offsetting (although very little but still a considerable amount) our carbon through solar power. Our plan is to get the section of the roof done before we graduate with the plan of handing off the project to new students which is an important task that needs doing. We can currently see how much power output we are getting from the solar panels and today is sort of a historic moment.

This week and next week, I have participated in a few presentations and workshops with grade 3s (and we are planning to do the rest of Junior school later on this year and next year) in order for them to get a hands-on approach and really engage themselves in the issue of climate change and the prospect of solar energy. It has been going really well and I have been the communications liaison, contacting and writing emails to the heads of grades and teachers so we can make these workshops happen. The idea is that later on, we will implement our class giving program again. This program (which we did last year) was a combination of 30 days of kindness (donate 2 dollars for every act of kindness a student acts) and raising funds together with a class to “adopt” a solar panel. This worked really well last year where we got 17 panels which were great but we hope for more next year. It is also a great learning opportunity for the students who are all in primary school.

January 24th, 2020

For the past few weeks, we have been planning presentations for Grade 5, 2 and Grade 1, created workshops and presenting to grade 1s as well as creating a recruitment process for Grade 9 and 10.

We’ve also been discussing with the Head of Sustainability to do workshops with middle school, perhaps in the SEED program, which is a program that every middle school class does for a few weeks that involves sustainability. During this meeting today, we have also been discussing about making solar for east a college service while still allowing our privileges (in the sense that we are not a normal service and require hardworking and committed members in our group as service at this school can sometimes lead to forced applications to different service groups so some may not be as interested or as hardworking or focused). We’ve been going in the dark and been in secrecy a bit and now the Head of Facilities may be leaving so we may have to be a service to ensure our survival at our school and that future generations of students can help make our school more green in terms of energy usage.

This is important because we are only Grade 11s and we need new students that can take over. In a way, I have been a part of the first generation of solar for east and it has been an amazing opportunity. But to ensure that we can install more solar panels, we are going to have to make our group into a service and hope that people will continue our work that has been done. As a team, we have decided to finish by the end of grade 12, our section of the roof.

I have been coordinating a lot with teachers and heads of grades about meetings and presentations and so far it has been quite hectic but definitely rewarding as this project is something I am quite interested in.

 

 

February 28th, 2020

Over the past few weeks, I have had more presentations with Grade 5 and planning soon with K2 and Grade 2 in March. We have also accepted our new recruits which are exciting and mean a bit less workload for us. It has been a bit tough trying to communicate with a few heads of grades but mostly it is working great. We have been doing a lot of other products that I haven’t been entirely aware of such as beginning with the Middle school presentations, working with the parent’s association, the Foundation and some promotional videos. We are in the process of handing off some of the work to the new recruits.

Through Solar for East, I have definitely been able to improve my management and communication skills both when it comes to emails and talking to a variety of age groups from adults to the youngest of school children. These are important skills later on in life and it has been a very valuable experience and journey for me. It has also been a challenging and productive journey with lots of work to be done and have been done. I consider myself quite a sentimental person and is nostalgic and attaches sentimental value to the most mundane objects and experiences one can imagine. However, we are almost nearing to the end, and for me, it is difficult to let things go especially something big like Solar For East and that will be very tough for me. I will still continue to work for a few months but already, especially after the Installation over the October break and thinking about the new recruits, I am already sad and am longing for the past. But of course, one has to let go of the past and move forward. Dwelling in the past and trying to repeat it is not the best solution. Anyways, Solar For East has been absolutely phenomenal and I just wish I had spent more time there. The more I am reflecting the more nostalgic I am getting so I will stop here for now.

#LO1, #LO4

April 22nd, 2020

We are living in quite a unique time right now because of the COVID-19 situation and almost everyone around the world have had and are having similar experiences with COVID-19 such as working from home, school closures, lockdowns, social distancing and many other methods. In Singapore, we have had almost a complete lockdown where schools are shut down, non-essential business are closed, people working from home, mandatory mask-wearing outside and when outside, only for much-needed exercise and buying groceries. This, of course, will affect the organisation and our service in Solar For East but despite the Circuit Breaker (that is the name of the lockdown here in Singapore which was extended to June the first from May the 4th), we still do some of the work that we still can.

We have some technical meetings where we have introduced the new recruits about the solar system on the roof and how it works and a few of the intricacies of how we work as a team. I have also been working on a United World Stories Video where we have sent a video the UWC community on tips on sustainability (many other services are doing similar things so we are focusing on energy-saving tips) during the Circut breaker period. We are also working on to build our portfolio and organising our folders which is really messy! We are are also going to have a meeting with the PA (parents association) to thank them or their continued help with our project and to also give them more info on how our project is going. We have been doing a lot with meetings online for the past few weeks and it is going okay, but of course, it is difficult to raise money for the solar panels but we are still planning for an installation in June we hope, but that may be difficult due to the pandemic.

 

#LO4

14th June 2020

Since last time, my main contribution has been to help the new recruits with their new plans to integrate solar and sustainability learning in High School classes, mainly helping those in the DT and maths department. I haven’t made a significant contribution to the website, but some of us in the team are building a website similar to that of other services we have. Solar For East, as I have mentioned before has been an amazing experience and I will definitely help and contribute next year. Unlike in many other activities, are productive hasn’t really gone down and we have achieved a lot. The only difficult is that fact that we can have a final installation with the junior school classes this year. I feel like I have contributed a lot to the team and to the sustainability to our school, and inspiring others to continue the journey. Our school uses a lot of energy so offsetting some other energy through the use of solar power will make quite a huge difference. Most of the energy at the school comes from the air conditioning which for many buildings is the biggest proportion of energy consumption. Solar For East really has a large impact on the local scale, and although small, in some ways global as we will use less natural gas, the main energy source here in Singapore (which is at least better than coal or oil). So, I will continue this experience until next year and I am proud and grateful for contributing to this wonderful mission that we have in Solar For East.

#LO4, #LO6

December 2020,

My time at Solar for East is nearing an end. We have done a lot this year such as the 100 panels thank you video, discussing alternative ways to get donations such as sponsorship of electricity usage rather than panels, and most importantly handing over the leadership to the new team. This is definitely one of the activities or service that I will miss the most because of two very big reasons. Firstly, I have made great friendships through the Solar For East group, to the point that my best friends are in the Solar For East old team. Before I joined I didn’t know any of them, but as time grew on, we became really close. It has been such an amazing time working with everyone and I appreciate every moment. Secondly, it is the service with the most visual impact and something I am very passionate about. I really hope that I will be able to contribute to something of this scale in the future and honestly, I will miss so much of everything of my time here. I wish that I did a bit more this year but other than that the only regret is just to have more time with the group and with the solar initiative aim. This is an experience I will never forget.

#LO4

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Solar For East

 

SFE Overview Poster-1hjqjzk    I have been a part of a student-led group called Solar for East for almost two years. This project was started by Hemal in Grade 8-9 and I soon joined him with 6 other members: Adi, Brooke, Akshat, David, Devin and Issy. After being rejected by the board of finance to being accepted to success and failures, we finally were able to install our first solar pannels.

This installation event that we had (23rd Feburary, 2019)  was the culmination of a two-year-long journey full of hard work and dedication, it was inspiring to see so much support from our very own East community, which made this entire experience all the more gratifying. We wondered to our selves why the community should support solar for east? Everyone here in our community contributing to the carbon emissions our world is emitting at this very moment. Lights, transportation, air condition, our phones and our laptops, basically all of our basic necessities, all need electricity to function. Modern society is literally dependent on our ability to convert energy into its various useful forms. However, the common source of this electricity is causing rising sea levels, droughts and extreme weather changes.

But what many people do not realise is that these changes are not only melting the homes of polar bears, but humans, our own kind, are losing their habitats as well. By 2050 the UN estimates there to be 250 million climate refugees. To put it into perspective, this is nearly the entire population of Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world.

This journey took us back to two years ago, when we were all in middle school with our green shirts on. Mr Thomas, who is the head of the facilities for both Dover and East, gave us a presentation and subsequent tour about our school’s facilities.

 

We learned about sustainability when we were appalled to hear that Singapore and most other countries heavily relied on the burning of fossil fuels for energy. In fact, we rank as the 26th worst country in terms of emissions per capita. And the thought of normal people like me contributing to carbon emissions by simply switching on the lights at home horrified me .

Quickly, we realised that we needed to change the practices of our own community. Despite our sustainable campus, our school was still responsible for the emission of 2,500,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide annually due to our electricity consumption alone.

With our common passion, we joined forces and took inspiration from Dover’s solar program to launch East’s very own renewable energy project back in May of 2017. We met with the facilities department and worked with the solar energy company helping us today to source the very panels that we will be installing. This process was very new to us, but we were happy to even be in the same room as the adults, and actually, be driving the whole process ourselves. In fact, throughout our work, Mr Thomas often told us that without our efforts, no teacher or parent would be taking on the project to make it a reality.

 

We worked long nights with this mindset until our proposal to the Board in November of 2017. Despite the fact that we were students, we needed to research every aspect of our system to the fine details in order to get it approved for funding by the school. It was a really nerve-wracking experience given our age, but we were all very passionate about the project, and we had done our homework. Regardless, during the presentation, we were questioned intensely like any other project that may come to the board’s table. In our preparation, we learned about various financial calculations, solar energy and its applicability in Singapore, how to recycle solar panels after 25 years and which inverters to use. To summarise, quite a lot of thinking had to go into it.

 

With our fingers crossed, we waited until January of 2018, more than a year ago, when we were told that we had been approved and our project had been given the go-ahead. Our proposal to the school involved installing 1130 panels on our school’s roofs, and to support these installations we needed the support of all of you – members of our community who take responsibility for our climate and environment. This period between last January and Today has been incredibly rewarding as we were given the opportunity to do presentations to many students, teachers and parents of our school – Teaching them about solar, and inspiring them to join us in our work.

Being among countries with some of the highest carbon emissions per capita in the world, Singapore has a staggering average of 10.3 metric tons annually per person. This is contributing to the fact that Singapore has been impacted from climate change too. And due to our continual consumption of energy, the problem is getting worse. The average temperature in Singapore has risen from 26.6 degrees to 27.7 degrees in 2014, and there has been an increase in average rainfall in recent years. That is why it is so important that all of you are helping change one of the most pressing issues we are faced with today.

The East campus alone consumes 5,975 mW hours of electricity per year. With our goal of 1,130 panels, we would be able to save 7%  of our annual energy expenditure, which is over 173,625 kgs of carbon. The system would be capable of powering 1.4x the entire 15-floor boarding house throughout its lifetime of 25 years, and in total,  it will save the emissions of just about 4 Million kg of CO2 where each dollar donated to the initiative can save 6 kilograms of carbon. To put this in perspective, that’s equivalent to about the mass of 53,333 Mr. Thomases.

Every single person here has the potential to make an extremely significant difference, with even a single panel saving 3 and a half tonnes of CO2 from being emitted.And to be able to physically see the amount of people in front of us now who have contributed and are just as passionate as us about this issue is truly a dream come true, when at the age of 14, it seemed like making a difference was so far away.

The ‘tagline’ of our project is ‘lighting up classrooms and imaginations’ which we feel links perfectly with UWC’s mission which is to use education to foster a sustainable future. This is why we value influencing the mindsets of those around us just as much as we value monetary contributions from the school. We believe that the solution to the climate crisis lies between the ears of those around us and this is why we give presentations to anyone in our school that would like to host us. Starting off as middle schoolers with no real knowledge about solar energy, to installing these panels with you today, has taught us that no matter what age you may be, your ideas, with enough effort, can become real solutions to today’s problems. Some of our biggest supporters, such as the Parents association have been instrumental to helping us reach this long-awaited day. Their support in donating 26 entire panels has taken us strides further in achieving our goals.

As well as this, we aimed to get students involved in new activities through the 30 days for 30 dollars challenge. Students took on an activity; swimming, running, or playing the piano, every day for 30 days, and earned a dollar each day for completion of these activities. Altogether, this challenge raised enough money for a panel each for the Grade 4 classes involved, and was a great opportunity for the students to have a direct impact on the donations raised. We have recently established a class donation portal where class parents or teachers can organise for their class to sponsor a solar panel as a class, and if you think your group is up for the challenge, reach out to us!

 

OSCAR

SLIDE 12:

Now, after all of this hard work we have raised funds for our first 65 panels and will installed 30 during the event. The rest of these panels will be installed by our generous class donors – the majority from the primary school – to provide them with a powerful educational experience and let the system act as an open classroom for generations to come. For our next installation, we set our sights on funding 100 whole panels and coming back together to expand our system. On the wider scale of things, our project will eventually require funding for 1065 more panels to reach our ultimate goal, but this will take longer than the time that we graduate in – 2 years – and so we are excited to hand on the project to students from junior and middle school in a couple of short years.

 

 

The event was a massive success, we had loads of people coming, about 100 when we initially planned for 20. We had interesting presentations during the day, and everyone was always entertained. We had great refreshments and I had interesting conversations with donors and those who participated. Even Mr. Alchin (the head of high school), as well as Graham Silverthorne (head of campus), were there.

 

       

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Final Reflection Post on Service: Urban Gardening

Urban Gardening has been fun and exciting. Through this service, I have progressed quite a lot and have learnt much about gardening and sustainability. Although I had a vague idea that green rooftops were sustainable I wasn’t exactly sure why or how. Green roofs act almost as an insulation and so a building doesn’t need as much air conditioning as it would normally do. In addition, although Singapore has no winter season, green rooftops also act as an insulator to the cold during winter. Thus they reduce energy costs and the Urban Heat Island effect which is a process in which urban environments absorb heat making the hotter than the surrounding rural areas.

Green roofs also provide shade, remove air particulates (as in pollution, especially carbon dioxide) and produce oxygen. They last twice as long as normal roofs and reduce and sometimes slow stormwater runoff. So this is what I have been contributing to school and what I have learnt about green roofs in urban environments and sustainability.

Furthermore, I have developed many group skills such as communication, leadership and organisation which is needed to maintain a healthy garden and a well-contributing group. I have also learnt a lot about gardening which includes gardening skills such as transplanting, propagating, fertilising. Or tools such as the difference between spades and shovels, and what a hoe is used for. I have also learnt different types of plants and what they need or provide through research such as how beans (image below) grow fast, release nitrogen into the soil and need to grow on something:

I have learnt a lot more about plants and something interesting that I have learnt is how asexual banana plants will grow smaller banana plants around the main one, which started happening when I transplanted a banana plant to my bed:

Moreover, not only have I been contributing to environmental sustainability but I have also used the garden for other purposes such as giving fruits, mainly papaya, to Fresh Fruit Friday, a service aimed at providing fresh fruits for migrant workers. I have also been planning on providing vegetables to another service which aims to provide fresh vegetables to the school community, and planning to give information sessions to parents on how they can make their own garden, especially grow their own food. This service has in somewhat inspired me to be more environmentally aware and I have started to grow into my passion for the environment.

 

Below are some photos of the evolution of my and my partner’s garden bed.

              

 

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The Design Journey and Sweden Part 2

Now to the second part. This summer, I talked with Sara and Jens Fager, my aunt and uncle who are both designers about my RM (Resistant Materials) coursework in which I am designing a product for my parents Sara works as a designer at Ikea and Jens is a well known designer in Sweden and has his own design company

Here are Sara and Jens Fager

 

I am creating a sustainable lamp with storage documented in a design portfolio which currently has 25 pages and 14,000 words. I am at the stage in which we have consolidated the design and I am now planning for production. Since I am at the stage where I think I am going to pursue architecture yet still fundamentally considering about the environment in my design, this is a great step forward.  Although it was difficult to decide between Music and RM, I think it was a good choice that I took this course. In addition I am playing the cello in the High School Symphony Orchestra so I have regained that passion. Grade 8 was the year I realised what I really wanted to do. All the things that I thought was important or had fun with, which is the environment and building/designing things respectively, was there but I didn’t realise before that this should be what I should do later on in my life.

The lamp that I am creating will be sustainable in the sense that it will hold a long time and there will be a use of “green” and sustainable materials. Everything from the light which is LED to the storage to the base will be as “green” as I can make it. Although this is a difficult product to make, I am up for the challenge and it has been quite successful. Here are seven pages that I thought might be interesting too look at as I am unable to show you all my work. Some of the pages are not finished.       

 

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The Design Journey and Sweden

With an enthusiastic response from my mentor who thought this story would be very interesting to read, I decided to create a post on it.

Mamma = Mother

Pappa = Father

Farmor = Paternal Grandmother

Farfar = Paternal Grandfather

Mormor = Maternal Grandmother

Morfar = Maternal Grandfather

*Can you see the pattern? Far = father, mor = mother. For example, farmor is father’s mother.

Let me start with my extended family. My pappa’s side, huge. My mamma’s side, quite small. Every year my family returns to Sweden, the country, despite our (my whole extended family) different cultures and nationalities is something we can connect to deeply. Fortunately, we all can speak great Swedish. My family, as well as my aunt (lives in France), are the only ones who do not live in Sweden. Luckily, everyone else lives in southern Sweden, in the region of Skåne. In a way, it feels as though our family as a whole is moving in closer and closer. My pappa’s brothers live a 10-second walk from each other and my aunt lives a 1-minute walk from my farmor who is a 30 minutes drive from my farfar and only an hour from my maternal grandparents. We are very close to each other as a family and summer, which in my minds means Sweden, is the best time of the year. Jul (a combination of Christmas, Hanukkah and other celebrations) is second.

  
Malmö, a quite eco-friendly city and where two of my uncles live.

We do the same things each year in Sweden and we try to be there as long as possible. I would rather have all the holidays crammed into the summer because, for me, it is almost what keeps me sane nowadays with all the school work, expectations and that stuff. Here is a breakdown of my summer:

After arriving at Kastrup, Copenhagen airport, we travel to Malmö by train on the Öresundsbro (a bridge that connects Sweden to Denmark). We might first go to my maternal grandparents in Höör, which is literally going to my grandmother into the woods. Mormor, a survivor of World War II during the Nazi occupation in Germany, and morfar, a ballet dancer but had to quit his career because of polio, are always so welcoming. There I get my yearly dose of National Geographic magazines which my grandparents have collected for over for what seems like 50 years. They actually collect a lot of things, but they have got a huge red house. It drives mamma crazy, though. My mormor and I might have some lengthy discussions or my brother Alex (almost 13) and my sister Leia (8) might go out into the woods. Although I am not scared of cats in general, there is one cat, the neighbour’s called Simba. We have a tension between us since we had a fight a few years ago. But anyways, we’re there to just relax and explore.


The Flag of Skåne


Where is Skåne in Sweden and the communes in Skåne?

 
Öresundsbro

After that, we might go near the southernmost point in Sweden in Beddingestrand where we have a 400-year-old cottage. This is where I might play tennis, golf and mini golf. It is also there I build the tree hut. There we might meet my mamma’s only brother Johan, an engineer, married to a music teacher called Jenny. They have two girls Sofia (14) and Karin (11). We might also go to Malmö and other towns. In some years we might go down to Europe, mostly France or we go to my pappa’s friends house, Micke and we stay there for a week. This is close to my paternal grandmother’s house who has a bed and breakfast and is an artist. Then there is the moment that my whole family has dreaded for: syskonveckan (siblings week) which should more accurately be known as kussinveckan (cousins week). This is where all my pappa’s sibling’s (2 brothers and 2 sisters, sometimes even his half brother and 2 half sisters) families come together as a family. This is the most action-packed moment in the summer holiday. My siblings and the cousins which are Hampus (12), Casper (8), Estelle (7 and a half), Ellen (7), Karla (6), Jonathan (4) and Edit (almost 4), and I go and play tennis with the Algerian Karim except for Lilla Lou (1 and a half). Every day there is a new activity and one of those is going to Hallands Väderö, an island that we travel by boat with our favourite boat captain (I forgot his name but he really looks like an old sailor). We rent the camping place owned my Matts (he is a must (a joke from Henrik)). We swim in the ocean, which we do almost every day in Sweden. We might kayak to the seals or explore the island. We might play an old Viking game called Kubb or even fish crabs and fish.


Kubb (The Viking Game)

   


All the images above are images of Hallands Väderö


My tree hut. The newspapers is for the outdoor mattresses that can be put there. However, I fractured a bone in my left foot when using traditional wooden shoes and so I couldn’t finish. 

 Farmor’s B&B Some of farmor’s paintings Själderviken, the harbour where I sail

Hembygdsparken. A park. The red cottage is displayed there and it was my farmors father’s house who financed the city of Ängelholm with his shoe factory. 

  Havsbaden, the beach at Farmor (the people are not anyone I know)
Farmor’s B&B

Furthermore, every dinner is prepared by a different family. One day we might have the designers Sara and Jens or the engineers Henrik and Tessan, now an economist. Or the doctors, Marcus and Lea. The artists, my farmor and Sofia, will cook on another day and they are a painter and musician respectively. As you can imagine I love the summers in Sweden which are not too warm but has been very hot this year. It is always so hard to come “home”  in Singapore. And as a very nostalgic person, I miss everything from the shops at ICA Maxi to the radio at my grandmothers, to the sound of my extended families voices to everything that is in some way connected to Sweden. It is so hard for me to illustrate to you how wonderful it is in Sweden. Everything from cycling in Ängelholm or sailing in the Skälderviken, to skateboarding to Vejbystrand to walking to the tennis courts to play golf with pappa to everything. I have gone way off from what I wanted to start but for me, this is such a huge deal. I hope you can relate to me somehow. I think it is very important for all of us to appreciate what we have, especially given the opportunities as us students at UWCSEA. It feels in some way so revitalising and refreshing to get this all out of my system to share with others. I felt as though I needed to write this down. Writing for me is so much easier than talking because I can think and get in the mindset. Also, I am multilingual so all the languages in my head can be confusing. I wrote Swedish (just a bit) in a Spanish exam because I was thinking in like 4 languages at once and so I got jumbled up. There is so much more I wish to tell about Sweden and more, but I will leave it there. However, this is only the first part of this story.

As mamma said:

“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard”

— Winne the Pooh

 

Quick References of Images:

Sommartrafik på Bjäre: linje 4 till Havsbaden i Ängelholm, kvälls- och helgtrafik på 523 Torekov-Båstad. (2018). Mynewsdesk. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/skanetrafiken/pressreleases/sommartrafik-paa-bjaere-linje-4-till-havsbaden-i-aengelholm-kvaells-och-helgtrafik-paa-523-torekov-baastad-1419118

Väla skog | Naturskyddsföreningen Skåne. (2018). Skane.naturskyddsforeningen.se. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from https://skane.naturskyddsforeningen.se/hittaut/nordvastra-skane/vala-skog/

Cottage / Vacation rentals in Ängelholm, Helsingborg, Skåne County, Sweden for rent.. (2018). Stugknuten.com. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from https://www.stugknuten.com/stugaeng.asp?stugid=17267

Flag of Scania. (2018). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Scania

Øresund Bridge. (2018). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%98resund_Bridge

Regeringen backar om stängd Öresundsbro. (2015). ETC. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from https://www.etc.se/inrikes/regeringen-backar-om-stangd-oresundsbro

Skåne County. (2018). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sk%C3%A5ne_County

Skåne County. (2018). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sk%C3%A5ne_County

Ängelholms Hembygdspark – Family park in Ängelholm | GuidebookSweden. (2018). GuidebookSweden. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from https://www.guidebook-sweden.com/en/guidebook/destination/aengelholms-hembygdspark-family-park-in-aengelholm

Viking Game. The ancient Viking would play Kubb. Why keep your eye on the Kubb? Kubb is a wooden block used in the game with the same name. Its bee… | Icelandic viking camping | Pinterest | Ancient vikings, Viking age and Gotland. (2018). Pinterest. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/236579786647514978/?lp=true

Designer portrait: Sarah Fager – IKEA Today. (2016). IKEA Today. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from http://ikea.today/designer-portrait-sarah-fager/

Jens Fager design. (2018). Finnishdesignshop.com. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from https://www.finnishdesignshop.com/Jens_Fager-d-216.html

Galleri Hyttstigen. (2018). Boka.engelholm.com. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from http://boka.engelholm.com/sv/se-gora/a344485/galleri_hyttstigen_344485/detaljer

photo5.jpg – Picture of Hallands Vadero, Torekov – TripAdvisor. (2018). Tripadvisor.com. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g1144023-d3967075-i202251326-Hallands_Vadero-Torekov_Skane_County.html

Hallands Väderö. (2018). Sydsverige.dk. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from http://www.sydsverige.dk/?pageID=280

SHL – Malmö Live. (2018). Shl.dk. Retrieved 17 August 2018, from http://www.shl.dk/malmoe-live/

 

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Personal Statement

In the midst of the Midsummer’s day, or midsommarsdag as known in Sweden, and right at the coast of the southernmost point in Sweden stood a cottage so ordinary in Skåne (southern Sweden). Close to it, a juniper and moss-shaded green, and quite an ordinary forest shielded the fierce wind from the Baltic sea that day. However, what lay deep in the forest was a trädkoja, which in Swedish translates to a treehouse, but what was strange about it, wasn’t because it stood out, but rather because it blended right into the birches and ashes. You see, the treehouse was built with natural materials around it, no tools were needed in the construction except a saw, but there was a ladder from an old playground nearby. It gave a new meaning to sustainable architecture. Cousins, siblings, aunts and uncles from all over Skåne came, and either admire or aided the construction. Despite the few days when the logs from the second level fell down on unsuspected visitors or even one time when the whole structure broke down, we managed to build it up again and make it even sturdier. Hence, this expresses one of the fundamental passions that I have which has somewhat woven intertwined with each other is the environment and design.

Furthermore, in terms of academics, I don’t have any huge goals at the moment. I feel like the effort that I am putting in now is sufficient, sometimes even too much. Therefore, my “goal” in the academic side of things is to continue that effort and work that I am doing in academics. Of course, if there is anything that I in the future have trouble with, I will do as I have always done, to work hard onto improve that particular topic. As mentioned before my two passions are the enviornment and the design, or a least so far. Likewise, for service I am going to continue in Grade 10 to do the services that relate to the environment which are Climate Change and Clean Energy (college service), Urban Gardening (college service, East Solar Initiative (service started by a student) and Gili Eco Trust (Global Concern). Moreover, I used to play a great deal of sports, and a range of sports as well. I have been trying to balance academic and activities as well as service but it hasn’t worked out as I wanted to. Although I wish I could compete in a team, I don’t have time for that. This is why I have decided to do Floorball on Wednesdays and Badminton on Saturdays. Thus, for next year, I will do a similar sort of arrangement. In order to look slightly beyond my time in High School, I think it is safe to say, or at least at the moment, that my plan is to enroll in a university that considers environmental sustainability, and study/purse architecture (specialising in sustainable and “green” architecture) or something that relates to the environment. This isn’t the final plan, but I suppose it is good enough for now. The university that I would enrol in would probably be in Sweden, as I am Swedish and because they are free there, or possibly Canada, as I have a Canadian passport (my father’s Canadian)

I am not that type of person who wants to be the best at everything (although it may seem like it to some people, I really wish it weren’t true that I am good (not perfect or best) at a lot of things) or the person who does extra work, doing internships or anything like that. However, maybe I should consider doing some work that relates do what I am passionate about. In addition to that, at times, I feel like I have too many services that I commit to. Furthermore, I am in the High School Symphony Orchestra because I like that type of music and playing the cello (although I really want to try some jazz instruments because that is also something I’m interested in). In fact, I had real trouble deciding whether to do RM (resistant materials) or Music. I want to be that type of person at the High School concerts who is in the background and plays a range of instruments. My goal for music is to play in the orchestra for High School Musical next year and to perhaps try a range or a different instrument, and be more involved in the school concerts.

For me, except for my passion and the importance of environmentalism, I think that one of the most profound belief that I have is that everyone should have some purpose, something that is significant, even it is small, it has to have some impact. Of course, I would hope that one would do something good, but even it is bad, it should be significant. I don’t believe in any higher deity, but I feel like if your alive, you have to do something that is worthwhile. In the back of my mind, I sometimes feel hatred toward obnoxious jerks or if I feel like some person doesn’t care about the environment or other people. That they are selfish or that if they didn’t exist (I am sorry about this, but this is truly how I feel sometimes) nothing would change, or that the world would be a better place. Of course, if all humans didn’t exist, the world would definitely be a significantly better place, but I think you know what I mean. Thankfully, I don’t lash out or do something mean to them, but this is a problem but also a deep belief that I have.

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Sulawesi Eco Dive: Outdoor Education

From April 1st to April 9th, I had my first trip to UWCSEA and probably the biggest one that I have ever had. Although it was supposed to be the joint between East and Dover, we were only East because all the Dover students couldn’t come as a result of some particular problem, mainly medical. However, it was an amazing trip as we did lots of things.

Before we even went on the trip, we had some preliminary training days (2 in total). On the 4th of March, we did some icebreakers and made sure that we knew everyone who was coming on the trip. Furthermore, we tried our wetsuits and, mask and snorkel. We swam 200 metres and floated for 10 minutes. Finally, we looked through the first section of the PADI Manual.

Moreover, on the 25th of March, we looked at section 2 and 3, answering the questions and looking at the videos. Through this, we have learnt what our equipment is going to be, hand signals underwater, understanding how underwater affects the environment we know, our confined (>5m) and open water dives (<5m), pressure, and lots more.

On the first day, we mostly did our travel to Makassar and stayed at an airport hotel. On the second day, we arrived at the site and looked at the most important spots near our shelter and worked through sections 1 and 2 again for the PADI theory as well as completing a few quizzes. We completed our first confined water dive where we learnt all the necessary equipment and how to use it. Finally, we had a beach clean up with some local English university students and listened to a presentation about Operation Wallacea. On the third day, we started off by doing some more practice diving and learning about buoyancy as well handling equipment underwater We looked through more of the PADI theory. Finally, we listened to a presentation about the Global Fin Print which is a shark and ray (elasmobranchs) monitoring project. During that day, we swam 200 metres and floated for 10 minutes. Our accommodation was quite nice but there were mould and cracks everywhere including ants and millipedes. The toilet got quickly dirty. However, there were many days when I decided to jump off the jetty and do some flips. Furthermore, most of our diet was vegetarian with the occasional fish and the special chicken on our barbecue day we had on our second last day. There is a schedule every day and it was tiresome because we had to wake about at around 5 to 6 and sleep at 9 and there was always a lot going on a day. We had lectures and dives mostly, with some downtime, but not that much. We also only ate Indonesian food.

On the fourth day, we finished the theory by looking at planning a recreational dive. We completed two open water dives and learnt about coral reefs and how corals grow and what species there are. They are in fact animals. On the fifth day, we completed the PADI exam (47/50 is what I got) and the confined water dive sessions. we also did an open water dive but there was a really strong current. However, we have mastered our underwater skills and we also did some snorkelling. We also looked at different signals for invertebrates and fishes. We identified the different invertebrates and fish species in our lectures today. On the sixth day, we tried our first fun dive or recreational dive as we are now PADI certified. We practised some reef monitoring through the use of belt transect or line-intercept transect. Imagine a 5x5x50m rectangular space and count all the species of invertebrates and fish and that is a belt transect. The other is a line intercept transect where you identify the benthic (floor) cover for 50 meters.

On the 7th day we went to snake island by a fishing boat and hoping to see dolphins, but we didn’t. Anyways, we saw a huge school of pink whiprays, lots of black tip and white tip reef sharks, all kinds of invertebrates and fishes whether that was a sea snake, moray eel, see stars, lionfish, needlefish, goatfish, trumpet fish, angel fish, clown fish, surgeon fish and lots more. We did our transect method and realised that there were lots of algae, but lots of hard coral. In order for a coral reef to be pristine, it needs to have 70-80% hard coral cover, but there was only 60%, but that is still very good. There were lots of algae but fortunately, there were invertebrates and fish species that eat the algae (parrotfishes and sea stars, for instance). We looked at a documentary called racing extinction.

On the 8th day, we travelled to different places around Bau Bau rather than diving because we aren’t allowed to dive within 18 hours before a flight due to the nitrogen in our blood. We went to the fish market in order to inspect what the local population are eating/consuming or catching/selling. We went to a fort made out of corals as well as a night market and other places around Bau Bau. We had a final barbecue night where we engaged in several activities with the locals and ate fish and chicken, with the usual vegetarian meals.

Pantai Nirwana (our usual dive site)

Bau Bau

Belt Transect

Line-Intercept Transect

 

Research Question:

How are the local residents of Bau-Bau contributing to the local coral reef in both direct and indirect ways? 

Before I even answer this question, I would like to talk about which of the SGDs (sustainable development goals) and points on the sustainability compass I find most interesting.

 

Although I care about all of the SGD goals, the ones that concern me the most are 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 or in other words, goals that directly concern about the environment. Thus, nature is the one I will focus on in terms of the sustainability compass.

On my first dive, there was a lot of trash in the ocean and on the beach. However, that was because the wave movements made the garbage and plastic from the neighbouring islands and elsewhere wash up to Pantai Nirwana’s shore. However this still clearly illustrates that there is some trash problem. Even on the other days, there was still loads of trash in the ocean and on land. If you go around Bau Bau, you will see that there is a limited amount of garbage cans and trash all over the place, mainly plastic. Of course, this isn’t necessarily their fault because they were quickly introduced to this material that is really hard to break down. They thought it was just like the rest of the materials which would mean that if you chucked it away, it would;t harm anything and decompose naturally. Thus education is the key to show that this form of materials needs to be handled correctly and sustainability. The trash directly affects the coral reefs, because over time, even if the trash is on land, it will enter into the ocean. There, marine life and animals will consume the plastic which is toxic. This either harms the food web or designates a certain section of the marine life. Furthermore, the plastic is not a good place for marine organisms like corals to grow and reproduce on so too much of it, means no space for marine life to prosper. However, by far, the biggest factor and impact is that harms the marine life when it is consumed by them or when it damages them either by entanglement or other injuries.

However, this is not the only contributing factor, one must also take into account for the fishing which is one of the largest occupational jobs and economic wealth at Bau-Bau. Although some fishing methods are illegal like blast/dynamite fishing, there are still reports that it happened. Even I heard a blast and saw the effects of it. Fishing is probably an even more significant and critical impact on the coral reef. First of all is the fuel used in the fishing vessels, if that is leaked into the ocean, it will kill and harm marine organisms. Furthermore, the sound of the boats can damage communication between organisms especially dolphins. If a fishing vessel drops an anchor on a fragile coral reef, it will destroy a coral that has been growing for thousands or even millions of years in a matter of seconds. Cyanide fishing, of course, poisonous to the coral reefs and the bamboo booby traps can result in bycatch. This bycatch is critical because it might be wasted or the species that is caught is endangered and or it takes a long time for the organisms to produce offspring like sharks. When we went to the fish market, we mostly saw species that were okay to catch, although there were some bycatch and tuna that was being caught. Rays were also caught which is quite bad because they take a long time to produce offspring and there were even some turtle eggs. But fortunately not anything too big. Finally, overfishing definitely destroys the marine life and food web, and blast/dynamite fishing destroys the coral reefs and fish species just like the anchor.

This is what I found from my research.

 

Reference:

http://bolehtanya.com/wisata/pantai-nirwana/

https://lifestyle.okezone.com/read/2017/02/15/406/1618709/sejarah-patung-naga-yang-jadi-simbol-kota-bau-bau

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Illustration-of-sampling-methods-on-a-5-meters-transect-four-levels-of-identification_fig2_281810260

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZMrwIaVcf3JKOPpzRcogjQHVGTDa3VAckK6b16rXkdw/edit#slide=id.g2798522785_0_21

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/meetings/2015/un-sustainable-development-summit/en/