Project Week Service Action Plan

Relevant Learning Outcomes:

LO3-Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

LO4-Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences. Students can articulate the stages from conceiving an idea to executing a plan for a CAS experience or series of CAS experiences

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

LO6-Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

Service Learning – Project Week Action Plan

 

Name and mission of NGO/ VWO being visited

Voice of World in Purba Barisha, Kolkata, West Bengal

A Multi-unit non-profit Social Welfare Organisation

 

Investigation

Why is this Service needed?

What did you learn from investigating the issue and the NGO addressing it?

1. Interview GC student and teacher facilitators

2.Research using the  NGO/VOW website

3.Contact NGO/VWO to find out more about the work they do and how you can your group can support them with their skill set.

  1. To help or underprivileged, differently abled children in Kolkata. These children may have been mistreated due to their physical disabilities and thereby denied education and perhaps even a

loving home have essentially been rescued by Voice of World. The founders are committed to giving the children in care an education, making sure they are all literate and giving those that are visually challenged a degree of independence. All that Voice of World imparts on these children are crucial to let them in order for them to live a successful life after graduation. Literacy is paramount as a skill when applying for jobs, so children that may have been physically unable to achieve employment as well as illiterate now have their doors opened for them and give a life alive that was once denied to them by society.

  1. We learnt that the Voice of World founders went through immense difficulty in setting this organization.To

reduce initial costs, they used the owner’s house as the first residential beneficiaries. They have been

running for 26 years and have 22 centres in West Bengal and one in Delhi and Puri. Volunteers work

either part time or full time and help take care of the children. After being trained and gone through

a testing process they are approved to also volunteer as educators. The founders have emphasized

strongly that the quality of the teachers for the children must be high. Moreover, another part of their

message and aim as an organization is to reduce stigma and marginalization of visually challenged

children, as they should not be denied opportunities based on things which were not in their control.

  1. (evidence of our research) Interview with GC Student and teacher facilitators
    1. How did you first get into contact with the NGO? What sparked interest in VOW?
    2. What are the key aims of the VOW Global Concern in UWC East in terms of fundraising and

how does it contribute to empowering the visually challenged children?

                    c. How do the educational techniques employed at VOW cater to the needs of differently-abled

                         Students?

                    d. How have past trips to the GC ( can be during a previous project week or otherwise) helped in bridging a shared mission between VOW and the UWC GC members, what was the agenda during

these trips?

                   e. What activities have been conducted at VOW when students have previously visited?

                   f. Are there any factors which have hindered effective communication between VOW and UWC?

What challenges have been faced in previous UWC trips to VOW?

           

  1. Have researched using the website
    1. https://www.voiceofworld.net/about-us
  2. Have contacted the NGO. Following is evidence of our conversations through email

 

Preparation

SMART Goal/s for visit

Use the conversations with the NGO/ VWO to inform your groups SMART Goal/s

S (specific): Our group of 6 girls will travel to the organization every day and volunteer our time in any way they feel we could help. Every single one of us are armed with a vast array of skills that can be put into use such as ability to teach English whilst understanding Bengali, patience, maths proficiency, majority of our group members speak some other Indian language (primarily Hindi), ability to do organize and use personal opinions to advise adults on situations such as scheduling of classes, more efficient teaching methods all in a polite manner and respectable approach. We also plan to record interviews of people there including children and staff to use in Kolkata GC dance showcases for next year. M (measurable): We will be spending 5 hours 35 minutes there on most days and around 4 hours on one of the days. Voice of World leaders will be giving qualitative feedback that will be made available to supervisors.

A (attainable): Dilating our time with volunteering our time in the service will be attainable as we have no other events planned.

R (relevant): We will be able to make the things that we accomplish there relevant as all of us are aware of the mission and aim of Voice of World and therefore can use this criteria to check that the things we are asked to do or think of doing are relevant to the well being of Voice of World and are using our time there efficiently, not only in the short term when we are there but that it is also sustainable in the long run and we do not set up things that are then deemed useless when we are no longer there to explain how it works. We must be mindful of the context into what we are entering.

T (time based): We have carefully allocated time into our project week itinerary that schedules major time spent in Voice of World. We will spend   hours at VOW in the whole week with additional time spent talking to members on the phone.

 

What evidence will you collect to demonstrate that your groups SMART goal/s have been achieved?

(surveys, interviews, video, photographs etc..)

We have three members of our team being trained in media. They will be with us when we volunteer at Voice of World and therefore will capture our time spent there. We will quantitatively measure our SMART goals with the following evidence:

  • a minimum of 10 images captured every day during service time. At least three must include all members of the group
  • A video reflection of our time spent there and if we think we have achieved our goals
  • Interview with the leader of voice of world on if the time we have spent there has been fruitful.

 

Student Names Roles & Responsibilities needed to achieve the groups SMART Goals?
Shayona Basu Service Coordinator
Shawronna Sengupta First Aid
Saniya Sohanpal Media
Anushka Maganti Media
Jingying Wang Media
Vidhi Shah Logistics

 

Do you need a budget? Budget Items Estimate in SG$

 

How will you take Action?  Link to GC Brainstorm of Activities

           (specific activities/project plans that you will undertake, where and how it will be done, timeline, etc.)

Note: At VOW, there is Projector & Screen which can be utilised for screening Digital media during the activities.

Timeline Activities Resources Needed Who is responsible 2
Monday:
  1. English learning activities
    1. Aim:  Improving their proficiency in English, which is currently at a basic level.
      1. Games that involve strengthening sentence structure such as that game where you add a sentence on to make a story.
      2. Make them write their own stories!
      3. Teach them grammar rules, and play games in a way of helping them learn the rules.
      4. Ten new words everyday.
      5. Read them stories…and ask them what they understood, and what they thought of the story.
      6. Singing Songs

Possible games that we can play with them with regards to this goal in mind:8

  • Pictionary/Charades
  • Memory Games
  • Simon Says
  • Uno (Where they say the number and colour in English)
  • Amar Chitra Katha Comics.
  • Potential Short Movies to Watch with them
  • Puzzles with English words on them.
  • Paper
  • Pens/ Writing Instruments
  • Story Books
  • UNO Cards
Anushka:

  • Pictionary Cards
  • UNO
  • Amar Chitra Katha Comics

Vidhi:

  • Monopoly deal
  • Cards
Tue
  1. Aim: General knowledge skills
    1. Activities that involve knowledge of states within India, and countries in the world
    2. Maybe arts and crafts with such motivations in mind? E.g. painting and labelling a map of India, or the World (might be complicated though)
    3. Improving fine motor skills using materials of different textures: E.G. Making dolls, paper animals,
    4. Flash Cards with Capitals.
    5. Treasure Hunts…where we have clues to lead them to the prize (the clues will be based upon what we teach them in class, potential)
  • Paint
  • Colour Pencils
  • Different textured materials (e.g felt twine pom poms etc.) (more sensory)
Anushka:

  • Different textured materials (might have at home)

Saniya: Different textured materials

Shawronna: Paint

Vidhi: One block print


Shayona:

Wed Electronics related learning:

  1. Typing practice: How to get to know the keyboard, and what the different keys are.
  2. Basic functions on the laptop: Such as how to login to something, how to use the internet, and what different icons mean.
  3. Teach them how to make videos. In groups, they can create video compilations.
  4. Not only for kids we can use this as an opportunity to show the teachers how to use the printer new software etc.
  5. This will be set up by Jean beforehand
  • Our donations and any current computers etc
From School
Thu

Drama activities

i.e. performing skits

  1. Teaching them dances, that we can use to raise awareness in Singapore…
  2. Rehearsing a play with them, (the train idea for Kahaani next year)

Activities to do before teaching them dances:

  • Just dance
  • Charades
  • Duck Duck Goose (To get them up on their feet)
  • Dances from different cultures (like Kpop)

If we finish early, we can play other games/do other activities such as:

  • Splat
  • Simon says
  • Disney Movies or Movies in General
  • Creating an easy dance that they can learn
  • Laptops
  • Downloaded Videos of Just Dance, and different cultures
We all will be bringing laptops and so this is something that all of us can download and do, as if something goes wrong with one of our laptops, we will always have a backup.

 

Reflection and Demonstration

How will you share with the UWCSEA community what you have learned?

Including

– Relationships built

– Partnerships strengthened

– Impact measured

(Service Blog, UWCSEA Perspectives, Dunia, Assemblies, Community Events e.g Family Festival)

  • If we were to interview them and learn about their stories and struggles, for next year’s Kahaani, we can incorporate that into the show.
  • Taking videos of Voice of World and the activities conducted there and displaying it during Kahaani
  • Our blog posts for CAS as well as the video we will be making: When we are reflecting upon our experiences and our journey, we can write down our honest thoughts and feelings about being there and how it was. Since 2 of our members are non-GC members, their experience with VOW will help add to the authenticity of our learning as well as the message.
  • The impact we are hoping to have is for the girls to remember us, as well as learn something new from our activities. We ourselves are hoping to learn from the girls and the staff at VOW of their way of life, and how they remove the stigma associated with disabilities and continue to live their lives in a normal way. We will also be able to potentially learn some handicraft skills from them- which will ensure that it is not only us teaching them, but we also get to acquire skill sets from them. These videos and photos that we take (with consent of the staff as well as the girls), can be used in Kahaani, where we promote the removal of these stigmas. If the dancers, the dance leaders and the audience were to see this footage as well as our reflections, it would help them gain a deeper understanding of the cause they are supporting, and how our dance show is more than just a dance show, but rather is a way of raising awareness. Lastly, through all of this, we are hoping to strengthen our partnership with VOW and hone our own interpersonal skills.

 

Approval from Teacher Facilitator/ Project Week Supervisor
Approval from NGO

Approval from Head of Service

(Project Week Only)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Reply