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CAS Reflection: Service (RDA) – Reflection 3

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CAS Reflection: Service

Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA)

Reflection 3

Learning Outcome(s):

  1. Recognise and consider the ethics implications of choices and actions.

 

Working with different riders throughout my time volunteering at RDA has been a really interesting experience. All of my riders so far have had ASD but the way I’ve had to help them differs. There are times where working with certain riders can be really difficult and there are times where it can get frustrating if they do not want to listen or do the activities they have to do. In times like these I try to stay as patient as I can and not let my frustration show as I don’t want to upset the child and make them dislike riding. Additionally, there’s a possibility that getting frustrated will cause the child to become uncomfortable with working with me and/or others which isn’t desirable, so I try to keep my cool and be patient and understanding.

I’ve never been in any conflict with the riders or the staff, though with the rider I’ve just begun working with it can be a little stressful for my friend and I. The rider often throws tantrums as he doesn’t want to do the stretches and he only wants to get on the horse, but what was uncomfortable for us was that we weren’t sure where to ask for help. The staff members are usually busy helping get the arena and the horses ready and sometimes the parents, as in this case, are not as willing to help out. I think in situations like this was where I really needed to consider my actions so we could avoid any extreme conflicts. We chose not to force the child into doing the stretches, and at the end of the session during our reporting, we mentioned it to the staff then as it is a more confidential issue and out of respect for the boy and his father as they may not appreciate it. From mentioning it, the staff could offer us some advice that could help for our next session.

Essentially, I didn’t want to put stress on both the child and his father as they both seemed quite unhappy with the situation. In situations like this, I think it’s important to maintain our composure and push through with a smile so as to not make the child any more uncomfortable. At the same time, discussing it privately is more respectful than discussing it with the parent in cases like this where we might end up risking the child not showing up for sessions anymore.

 

CAS Reflection: Project Week – Reflection 2 (Preparation)

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CAS Reflection: Project Week

Project Week in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Reflection 2

Preparation

 

Learning Outcome(s):

  1. Recognise and consider the ethics implications of choices and actions.

 

As we’re in the process of preparing for our trip, there are a lot of things we need to consider right now. One of the most important things we should consider is the difference in cultures. The service where we will be volunteering at will most likely be quite conservative and so we have to respect that by dressing appropriately (this being shoulders covered and longer pants). Also, as there is a temple across from our hostel we were thinking of visiting it before we leave for the airport on the last day. As it is a religious area, that’s another place we must remain conservative in case we do decide to visit. It’s important that we respect Thailand’s culture as we are visitors and also, in the case of service, we want to make it a comfortable experience for both us and the kids.

I think our group is quite lucky in the sense that we haven’t had any major conflicts with each other throughout the planning and preparation stages of Project Week and I’d say this is because though maybe our values are different, we all agree on being transparent with each other and respectful. By respectfully discussing our views on things we should do we definitely avoided a lot of conflict and it allowed for us to make group decisions that were mutually made. If someone didn’t agree, then we would try to compromise because having major disagreements can end up impacting our whole trip and none of us want that. In terms of my own decision making, my moral principles are to listen to and respect others’ contributions so the way we handled our decision making was very aligned with what I believe cooperation should look like.

With all of our preparation, we’ve been able to create an itinerary that flows well and I feel a lot more confident in going compared to the beginning of the planning.

(the very first part of our itinerary)