Month: October 2017

SUNDAC Local Service – My Group’s Session

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This week, my group of 4 was in charge of the activities to do with the Sundac partners this week. We planned to originally play 3 games and have lunch.

We had planned to start with the hula hoop game for about 5-7 minutes as an energiser. Then we planned to head off for lunch then create 2 stations, one with bowling and the other with throwing beanbags through a hula hoop. Finally ending with a small ball passing session.

The planning prepared us well as we had a variety of different equipment which could be adapted to be used in other activities if we have extra time or if an activity does not go as planned. This is exactly what happened. We ended up eating lunch first as the clients were hungry causing our entire timeline to be changed. Lunch was also faster than anticipated and we had to come up with the stations faster than assumed. As the activities progressed, some clients were enjoying while others were not, we had to adapt to their needs in order to keep them interested throughout. We ended up adding a follow the action game, a name + action game as well as another ball game to fill time and to ensure that some of them do not get distracted/bored.

We faced a few difficulties. One of the clients at my activity had a melt down. She reacted very negatively by smashing a basket into the ground and sitting down on the floor in the plaza in frustration. I had to quickly adapt our plans and try to involve the client in a more positive activity. This is when we introduced the name and action game to involve her as well as hopefully dial her temper down. By reacting straight away and changing the cause of her frustration helped our group overcome the challenge smoothly as well as without making too much fuss. I believe that I reacted very maturely. I asked the Sundac staff to help with handling her as I did not want to get involved which could have caused a commotion. I think I will continue to react like this in the future because getting involved doesn’t ensure that the problem will be solved; it is more important that we adapt ourselves for the clients. In the end we are doing service for them and I understand that they have special needs that would require immediate care. As I am unaware of the disability the client had, I believe the best thing for me to do was stay out of it. I adapted whatever I could which was the activity.

A photo of us doing the improvised hula hoop game but backwards. We had to adapt the game as the clients were finding it so easy and getting board. We decided to make everyone go through the hula hoop without looking at each other.

A photo of me eating with one of the clients. She was very excited to take a photo with me while we ate our lunch.

Overall, I believe that our group’s planing and initiated activities were a success. Although it didn’t go entirely according to our plan we still managed to have the clients leave with smiles on their faces and a warm range of goodbyes, thank yous and see you laters!

This is a video of me leading an activity during the session.

Learning Objective 3 – INITIATIVE (Planning and initiated activities)

Yearbook – Initial Meetings

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My goals for this year in yearbook + Overview of my role:

My commitment and reference to learning object #4:

Learning Objective 4-  COMMITMENT (Showing perseverance, resilience and commitment in activities)

Global Concern – Kolkata

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As GC’s have only begun recently, we have been very focused on learning more about the issue we are trying to help out and the initial planning for Kahaani, our annual Indian dance showcase which is our global concern’s biggest fundraiser.

So far, we have been working towards figuring out our main story idea for the show and what dances we would put in the showcase. Our biggest issue currently is finding a way to tie our cause, helping the visually impaired in Kolkata, India, into it.

  •  Why is this a significant issue? This is a very important issue because it is something that can be cured with money yet so many children are abandoned because of their disability and/or never get any proper treatment. They never integrate into society and live tough lives.
  •  How have my actions had a positive/negative impact on this issue? By being apart of this GC for 3 years, I have been able to collaborate with different groups of people towards one common goal every year. Kahaani is the fundraiser that brings in the most money for the NGO and it also raises awareness about the issue on a large scale. I try my best to contribute to the best of my abilities. As it is so early in the year it is hard to acknowledge any actions but I do plan to help out actively during Kahaani in all aspects so that it can be a successful show and we will be able to reach our goal of raising funds and awareness for the NGO, Voice of World. 
  •  How has my thinking about this issue changed as a result of my participation in this activity? Am I more open-minded, caring, principled as a result? I believe that after learning about the cause and how people struggle with disabilities, I have become a more open-minded person. I am more open to hearing about other people’s stories and learning about their difficulties. I also think I am more organized because organizing such a big event in the school, time management as well as organization is key. Over my past two years of being involved I believe that I am a lot better at it than I was before and hopefully this can lead me to be an even bigger help in this year’s Kahaani then in previous years. 

 

Learning Objective-  6 GLOBAL VALUE (Engaging with issues of global importance)

Learning Objective-  5 COLLABORATION (Working together to achieve an outcome)

My CAS Choices – Reflection

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My CAS that will be completed over the next 18 months will be my chance to try out a bunch of new activities, take up roles that I have not previously taken up and continue on projects/activities that I have enjoyed in the past.

Creativity: For creativity, I am the Head of Photography for the school yearbook team. I will be working in a leadership position to ensure that all the photos of every school event, every single portrait of the students etc. is present in the yearbook. This is my first year being the head of photography so this is a new challenge for me and I am highly looking forward to this. I plan to physically take a lot of the photos by attending different school events and outsourcing events I cannot attend to my teammates.

Here is a photo of the drive in which I will be uploading photos from the year into their respective areas. This is one of my many roles as Head of Photography.

Activity: For activity, I am apart of Culturama (a dance showcase) and will be attending weekly dance rehearsals as a part of my activity. I will also try to be apart of pre-season soccer and Kahaani (an Indian dance showcase lead by my global concern, Kolkata GC) for other parts of my activity.

Service: I will be working with the local service Sundac throughout the year. With once a week sessions of 2.5 hours, I will have a lot of hands on interaction with the partners. This service takes place both in one of my free periods and extends into my lunch time. This service is a new service for me as it is only offered to IB students with that specific free period. I chose this service because it works with the mentally disabled and connects to my passion of helping people different from myself. I am continuing my role as communications officer in my global concern, Kolkata GC which I have been apart of since the start of high school, 9th grade, and plan to actively partake in the global concern once again in order to help the visually impaired. I believe that my global concern and local service are very similar in the fact that they help people with disabilities and that is one of the reasons I feel so passionately about making a change in both communities.

 

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Projects: I will be partaking in a variety of different activities throughout the year. I will be going on Project week but at this point I am not aware of where, what and even who I will be going with. I will be working with the IFP team (Initiative for Peace) leading up to several different conferences. This will be throughout the entirety of this academic year. This is a brand new experience for me as it is an activity offered only to 11th graders. I’m looking forward to working towards reaching peace in our small communities and spreading it out to places where peace is more of an issue through a conference. I will also be working towards attending a few MUN conferences throughout the course of the year and I will be preparing for these conferences for about 6 months of the school year.

Culturama: Mongolia – First Run Through

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Culturama Mongolia- First Run Through 

Above is a video of our first run through of the dance. I am the dancer that is furthest to the left. I believe that it was very challenging for me as this year’s Culturama is the first dance I will perform in High School as I have not been very confident with my dancing abilities but CAS has given me the chance to step out of my comfort zone. I also got the chance to develop my dance skills.

I really enjoyed learning the steps as the only dance I have taken part in were tap, Bollywood and ballet when I was about 7 years old. The theme of the Mongolia dance is so different from anything I have ever done and infact, it is very different from something I have ever seen being performed. The steps were challenging for me to get the hang of and remember, this can be seen in the video as I make a few mistakes but I do learn from them. I still do not know all the steps by heart and stumble on a few of the harder steps but that is apart of the learning journey. I feel like I am progressing as an individual through the challenges I am facing throughout the dance but by making these mistakes, I am getting the chance to get specific improvement strategies and goals in order to enhance my dance abilities and my confidence in my own body as I am not the most comfortable in my body. Through the dance I believe that I’m discovering more about my own strengths and how to enhance my weaknesses to transform them into strengths. Through practise every week as well as some brief practise at home, I am closer to memorizing all the steps and being able to dance them with full confidence than ever before and I’m truly proud of my own progress.

 

Learning Objective 2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

Geogaphy – Migration Case Studies

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My Case Study:

Image result for syria

Syrian Refugee Crisis

What is the most significant factor causing the migration? 

  • The current civil war which begun on the 15th of March 2011 is the most significant reason why people are fleeing, the civil war has also lead to almost all the other factors that caused people to move such as unemployment, soil degradation etc.
  • The political unrest between Bashar Al Assad, ISIS and the Syrian Rebels.
  • This has caused millions (11 million displaced within the country and have fled to neighboring countries + Europe) . The largest migrations since WWII and Syria is now the world’s leading producer of refugees overtaking Afghanistan.

What do you predict for the future of the place and people involved?

  • The war doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon so I do not see much hope for them in the future if the conflict persists.
  • I believe that the amount of refugees and people fleeing will continue to increase as it is becoming less and less safe to reside in Syria.
  • The situation within Syria will get worse as so much damage is being made without any government efforts to rehabilitate, rebuild and further develop the nation as a whole. The constant war is causing more and more destruction daily.

What solutions can you suggest to resolve some of the consequences?

  • Countries, both surrounding Syria as well as European countries should openly allow refugees asylum in their countries and provide them with basic necessities. Governments should also help them get jobs and help them integrate in the local communities instead of secluding them in isolated, poorly resourced refugee camps.

 

My thoughts and feelings on the issue:

  • I believe that as citizens of the world it is our duty to help out the refugees emigrating as their state is dire and it is essential that the world comes together to help the people out. The sad makes me extremly sad but it also makes me upset because the world is not doing enough, we ignore it in our day to day life and fail to even think about their situation. Although Singapore too far away from the crisis for it to be pertinent, Singapore can help in other ways such as providing aid or donating to LEDCs that are taking in large numbers of refugees such as Jordan.

IFP – Emotionally Intelligent Signage

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IFP – Emotionally Intelligent Signage

In IFP on the 3rd of October, we discussed the types of conflict that occur in our school community on a daily basis and where they occur at our school. After coming up with a bunch of different types of conflict that would take place in these certain areas, we discussed ways to effectively create signage using emotions in order to be more effective.

 

              

My group created two emotionally intelligent signages. The first one related to verbal conflicts in the main areas such as plaza, and the fact that people everywhere watch and will spread the news of it. The second one relates to the verbal ongoing conflict between the East and Dover soccer teams as they have an ongoing conflict both on the field and on social media. The cause of this was the 8-2 SEASAC win of last year.

I believe that I really learnt the effectiveness of how hitting emotions and mindsets makes things way more successful as it is less straight up. This is the first time I realised how really important it is to dig deep when trying to be an effective peacemaker instead of straight up telling people to not do this and not do that. This is how we can understand how language and emotions play a huge part in people’s choices and actions.

CAS Learning Outcome: 7- Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

SUNDAC – First Visit

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Cas Learning Outcome: 6 – Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

On the 25th of September 2017, the SUNDAC service group went on a bus to Bedok to meet our SUNDAC clients at the SUNDAC center for the first time. This was the first interaction I have ever had with people of different mental illnesses or disabilities.

Although we only spoke to a few clients for a short period of time, around 20 minutes, I can say that SUNDAC was nothing like I had expected it to be like. It was honestly quite heartbreaking and I felt really sorry for the clients but it also helped me understand how important service really is. After visiting them and seeing the state they are actually in, I believe that I am more motivated to help them integrate in society and for them to live happier lives. It’s so important for people to get past the social stigma against mental disabilities and help them be avid members of society. This does not only apply to those mentally disabled at SUNDAC or in Singapore, it applies to the world. Mental disabilities are not something to be afraid of, they should be understood and learnt about so the members of the public can help them in times of need and create relationships with them. They are present in every community and are in various different forms. It can be hard to understand and thats why I’m very happy I chose SUNDAC as my service as it will give me a chance to interact with mentally disabled in public which can help open the minds of the public. By seeing some teenagers from an international school interacting with the mentally disabled is a great step towards eradicating the social stigma. Although, completely getting rid of the social stigma is ideal, it will most likely not be reached but a little change can go a long way. Despite only meeting the SUNDAC clients once a week, I believe that I will be able to positively affect their lives for the better and hopefully I will be able to open other people’s minds as well.

A challenge that I think I will face when trying to work with the clients will be communicating with them as they do not always process or understand what I am trying to say. This will be a challenge but will definitely help me enhance my communication skills and make me more comfortable when communicating with different groups of people.

 

 

 

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