Final Reflection

Through my two years of engagement in the CAS program I have learnt many things and grown in many ways. I have not always been successful in meeting my goals, for example, I didn’t learn to swim. But the CAS program has kept me actively involved in extracurricular activities creating a balance which is very important in life, more so in the IB program where you tend to be overwhelmed with work. The most significant aspect for me is the service component. I am left with a strengthened passion for community service. The experiences I have gained through my service involvement have instilled a driving force in me and I know I will always be motivated by the memory of the satisfaction I gained through service at OSC. In addition, the program has not only strengthened my passion but has also given me the skills such as leadership, practical problem solving and just the skill of getting things done which will help me to realize this passion.

Global Issues

I addressed several global issues though the community service aspect of the program

• Childhood Cancer
• Poverty
• Victims of a natural disaster – the 2004 tsunami in South Asia
  

New Challenges

I am not a sporty person and any sporting venture, particularly football, was a challenge. The leadership roles I undertook during the program – Red House captain, Hope fpr Kids co-leader, WWW group co-leader - also were a challenge in the form of responsibility, accountability and collaboration with others. MUN was also a challenge because I had never done Model United Nations before and even though I am generally confident when it comes to public speaking, initially I was very hesitant because it involved debating about foreign policies and global issues.

  

Planning and Initiative

I demonstrated planning and initiative through all my leadership roles, particularly the charity concert ‘Versus Cancer’. Versus Cancer was an immense effort which required a considerable amount of planning especially since it was during the first semester of grade 12, the most strenuous semester.

Collaboration, Perseverance and Commitment
Again the charity concert called in a significant amount of collaboration. I faced many challenges but ultimately the concert was a success because of my perseverance and commitment to the project. I had to be committed to my creative writing too because often the tendency was to completely ignore it even though I had an idea or an inspiration to write about due to all the school work. However, I kept writing and I see I have improved greatly and I am starting to develop my own style of writing.

Developed New Skills, Awareness of Strengths and Areas for Growth

I developed leadership skills and became aware that I am good planning and getting things done methodically. I also learnt that I have a knack for practical thinking and problem solving in practical, real life situations. However I must grow in my involvement in physical activity as I see that is something lacking in my daily routine. I must develop a sense of consistency. Another area for growth is of course my writing which I will continue to do.

Ethical Implications

Throughout my service involvement I was constantly forced to consider the ethical implications of my actions and decisions. This occurred particularly during the concert as I was making financial decisions and I had to consider if it was worth spending so much money on a certain aspect, if it was a waste, if the return in terms of awareness and fundraising would be worth it etc. Through MUN I was also forced to consider the larger implications of countries’ foreign policies and certain actions which were taken for their own interest but could be detrimental for other counties. I truly learnt to appreciate the role of the UN and other international and national governing bodies as coming to a consensus and making a decision is an extremely difficult thing.

CAS Activites Undertaken in Grade 11 & 12

2009/ 2010

Creativity

• Debating
• COMUN 2010
• SLMUN 2010
• Production of 'The Crucible'
• Red House Captain
• Hope for Kids co-leader
• Week Without Walls group co-leader
• UN Day Sri Lanka country performance
• Creative writing

Service

• Week Without Walls – Hambantota
• Hope for Kids – Cancer Hospital Project (co-leader)

Action

•  SAISA Football training
• Yoga
•   Dancing
•  Daily walks

2010/ 2011

Creativity

•  Versus Cancer – charity concert
•  Hope for Kids co-leader
•  Creative writing
•   SGA Grade 12 Rep 

Service

• Hope for Kids
• STITCH – Sri Lankan Youth Volunteer Programme

Action

•  Daily walks
•  Badminton

Whack the Shuttlecock!

I cannot play badminton to save my life. I just can’t seem to connect the racket and the shuttlecock. So I decided to learn to play and started the after school badminton activity on Mondays with my friend Malindie. Now Malindie can play pretty well and the idea was that she would teach me. But she ended up loosing to 7 year old Lenny! Young Jun played with me and was very, very patient. I got pretty frustrated and demoralized but it was only my first day. But I had hit the shuttlecock a few times and I was happy (: I’m continuing to play badminton whenever we are free after school till the seniors leave.

Week Without Walls

Global Issue

Week Without Walls is a week set aside by OSC for learning outside the class ranging from outdoor education for the lower grades to community service for higher grades. This year Grade 11 visited two preschools in Hambantota which had been built and financed by OSC after the tsunami in 2004. The tsunami affected many countries and thousands of people. Through this project we were responding to the issue of poverty as well as recovery after the tsunami.

New Challenge

This was a new challenge for me since I had not been involved in big community service projects before. In addition, I was the leader of my group and I was responsible for the organization of the gifts, supervising the clean up and re-painting work done by my group, motivating them and communicating with the villagers. 

Planning and Initiative

As the leader I had to organize the gift packages along with my co-leader and the leaders of the other group. We collected SLR 1000 from each person in the grade and decided to buy a doll/ car, school bag, tshirt and assorted stationery items for each child. I got the toys from Pettah, a local market where things are really cheap, the tshirts from Pamunuwa also for a lower price and the bags by a reputed bag making company, P.G. Martins, for cost price. All the leaders went out and got the stationary items and together with the rest of the grade we packed everything in the school bags. We did this before we left so we would not have to be worried about the gifts in Hambantota. Both schools had two blank walls so we planned the drawings for the murals in school. We also planned the performance for the final day so we could take whatever we required with us.

Day 1 - Leave OSC and arrive at the Peacock beach hotel in Hmbantota
Day 2 - Meet the kids and start work!
Day 3 - Continue working
Day 4 - Touch ups in the morning with a performance by the preschoolers in the afternoon
Day 5 - Homeward bound

Collaboration, Perseverance & Commitment

My group worked really hard on the two full days we had. Our target was to get most of the work done in two days and on the third day do touch ups and neatening in the morning as the performance by the kids was in the afternoon. I delegated the work as inside walls, outside walls and playground equipment. I gave the highest walls to the boys and the more delicate work like the grills which required patience to clean to the girls. I was really impressed by the way everyone worked collaboratively helping each other out when a problem arose. The heat really affected us by midday but we kept working as managed to finish most of the work on target.

Develop New Skills, Awareness of Strengths & Areas for Growth

Through WWW I developed leadership skills. It was quite a stretch as I had to keep tabs on what everyone was doing, responding to the mothers and the teachers of the preschool as well as contributing to the work being done. I get very irritable when its hot so I had to watch my temper. I also learnt to tactfully deal with other, hot, irritable people since by evening we were all exhausted and the dry heat was very hard on all of us, especially the foreigners. I learnt how to paint a wall! (:

Ethical Implications

Working for those kids and being with them was an extremely full filling experience, one that I will treasure all my life. Even though we did some great service I am forced to think whether it was a practical use of the money as the school spent a lot of money on our hotel and transport. I feel that money could have been used to benefit those villagers and we could have undertaken a project closer to school. 

STITCH

STITCH is a youth volunteer group in Sri Lanka which is 'commited to educating and advocating social change'. They are currently undertaking a flood relief programme.I really want to volunteer but I don't have the time with exams coming up. Since I am on the board of writers for The Chokolaate Magazine, a teenage magazine in Sri Lanka, I wrote to them asking them if I could start a colomn for them in the magazine. They want youth volunteers and this would be great publicity for them. They agreed to it and after a meeting with the board this weekend I will start a column in the magazine.

Their blog is - http://www.stitchmovement.com/

However, I would be paid for this column and it would be extremely unethical of me to profit from something I am doing to help this group. It would seem like I am doing it purely out of self-interest so I decided that I would donate the money I recieve for the column to STITCH. This is also an extension of my writing skills as I am utilizing them for service.

Scribbles

I have always enjoyed writting and scribbled out little paragraphs of whatever I was feeling. I hated any form of construction and confinement in writing and imagine my annoyance at my mother's insistence that I write poetry. So to please her I took it up. This was a challenge for me as I found it hard to condense my thougts at first but now I love writing poetry. I began just expressing my thoughts but now I have transitioned into writing as a technical excerise. Recently I have been experimenting with different literary devices and how and to what extent they can be used to express something. I have kept writing however busy I am with school work. I also find it very relaxing actually. Looking back on my work I see how my writing skills have developed and I also see I am developing my own distinct style. Writing is my passion, vying for first place with drama, and I know I will continue to write and grow as a writer.

I began a blog for my work -  http://streamofscribbles.blogspot.com/

Now?

There are two competitions I'm writing for at the moment. The Commonwealth Essay Competition and a competition organised by the English Writer's Co-operative of Sri Lanka.

Future?
I also hope to write a novel to be entered for the Gratiaen Prize. The Gratiaen Prize is an annual literary prize for best work of literary writing in English by a resident Sri lankan founded by Michael Ondatjee.

Cancer Hospital

In the meetings after the concert we mainly discussed other fundraising opportunities we might have such as school events like the Food and Fun Fair in March. We have also been discussing how we could use the money we raised from the concert. We used some of the money to buy gifts for the children in the wards for Christmas. We got toy vehicles for the boys and bead sets and dolls for the girls. The grade 9 girls bought and wrapped the presents while the grade 11s made 100 odd cards. We visited the hospital on the last CAS day before Christmas break and distributed the gifts and cards. The smiles and happy faces of the children were very rewarding. However we could not visit all the wards ourselves as some wards had H1N1 patients and we were not allowed in due to the risk of infection.

This semester Malindie and I focused on selecting the next leaders. We watched levels of enthusiasm and responsibility shown not only this semester but also last semester. After discussing with our supervisor Ms. Tanuja and also with Ms. Devika and Ms. Shameela we chose Upandha from grade 9 and Sandushi from grade 11. Upandha is very responsible and committed but her only problem, which we advised her on, is that she is too soft at times and takes everything on her shoulders. Sandushi is also quiet but responsible and stable and more capable of delegating work.

Hope for Kids has been invited to take part in a walk organized by the Sri Lanka Cancer Society on the 12th of March. They also sent us awareness bands which we started selling on campus and plan to sell at the Food and Fun Fair.