This reflection post focuses on Learning outcomes 2 and 3, which are Challenge and Initiative respectively.
Season 3 of Ladakh was focused on making Shanti Aman Ball a great night for both parents and GCs involved, however, unfortunately, due to the lack of people attending the event, the lack of funding rendered the project infeasible. When Ladakh GC got news about the limited number of people signing up for the event, we responded as quickly as possible to spread awareness of the event in hopes that students encourage their parents to attend. For instance, we even campaigned to the faculty members of the school, giving a talk during a teacher’s meeting about the importance of the ball. I feel like if the same situation presented itself in the future, I would have done the same because this plan was successful in encouraging the teachers to sign up to fill the minimal number of spots required. However, we should have kept in mind that the Shanti Aman Ball could have depended too much on the teachers, and thus focuses on campaigning to students and parents alike. However, the way that we would have responded to such a crisis could have been different. Instead of simply putting up posters, the GCs would be more proactive in advocating about the ball in assemblies, for example, through videos or a speech. I think that the posters were not something we should have relied on for spreading information about the event, because they are largely ignored as students walk past them to their classes for example. Additionally, this also relied on the students to be the messengers of the ball to their parents, which is not a great idea since it is likely that they simply forget about the event by the time they reach home. Instead, I think the focus should have been on advocating to the parents, who would be the attendees of the event. I do believe that it was a good idea to spread the message through the eBrief, however, once again, I don’t think we should have depended on it because personally, I know that my parents never read the eBrief so it isn’t as good of a messenger as the GCs once concluded. Instead, if we were to do it again next time, I think GC members should attempt to speak at one of the parents coffee mornings or set up a table outside of the Parent Teacher conferences to attract attention and incentivise parents to attend the Shanti Aman Ball.
I think that following the news about the termination of the Shanti Aman Ball event, Ladakh GC found it incredibly challenging to regain its footing to make a definite impact upon the UWC community. We were all very disheartened because we had all spent lots of time into making the ball happen in the first place, and knowing that when this ball didn’t come into fruition, many communities back in Ladakh, Pakistan, or Bangladesh were impacted (since the money could have helped better their lives). Although we did our part in the Family Festival, as part of the Green Fingers or selling baked goods, we felt like we made a very limited impact to help the Ladakhi community, which was indefinitely a challenge heading into Season 4.
Thank you!
