Today we went to the Cancer Hospital for the first time this semester, my first time going from school. On entering the premises I had a few bad memories of coming to see my friend's mother who was suffering from cancer and soon succumbed to it. I was impressed with the playhouse and the material in it for the use of the children such as books, stationery, a computer, a tv with a surround sound system and musical instruments. The place looked really bright and cheery after the recent renovations but the room was in a state of general disarray which we immediately decided to set straight on the following Thursday. We learnt that the teacher of the playhouse had not come for a week from a young mother who came in with her timid, smiling daughter much to our displeasure. I think that we should come to an argeement with the directress that if the teacher does not show a satisfactory log of her presence and a record of her work we will stop paying her.
We also sat and continued out brainstorming fund raising ideas which we had begun on the way and discussed several improvements needed to be done in the playhouse and what could be done with the children and their parents.
Fund Raising
-Bake sale
-Tshirts
-Walk for Cancer
Impovements
-Curtains for the windows done with plain cloth and painted by the children themselves
-Organise books and label shelves
-Organise DVDs and label boxes
-Organise toys
Activities
-Origami and crafts with kids
-Variety show
-Counselling for parents
Also a little present for the children and a small care package for the parents for Christmas.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Spirit vs. Scores
Yesterday was our match against Yellow and we lost 5 nil. I played for this match but was pulled out as soon as I was in by Rithvik since well ahem for obvious reasons, I dont know the first thing about football! (: Priyanka brought a red eyeliner pencil and I got her to draw red stripes on one cheek and a heart on the other. We drew stripes on a couple of boys and then some middle school boys actually came up to us and asked for stripes! I was DELIGHTED - they had at least a teeny tiny bit of spirit! 
I yelled myself hoarse cheering for my 'boys'. Chrisni, the Yellow house captain, and I had a friendly fight over who cheered the loudest and who had the best team. The Yellow team was obviously far better than mine since they had SAISA football players, so do the Blue house, which I thought is unfair.
But as I argued its not all about the scores, spirit matters...
So spirit wise? Red's got the most spirit and we ROCK (:
Oh and we came third (:
But as I argued its not all about the scores, spirit matters...
So spirit wise? Red's got the most spirit and we ROCK (:
Oh and we came third (:
Monday, September 14, 2009
Last Thursday, that is the 10th of September, we had our first community service meeting in the Primary Art Room. I got to know the other people in Hope for Kids and a little background information on what OSC has done so far and what we do when we go to the hospital. OSC built a playroom in the Cancer Hospital grounds 7 years ago, it has its own teacher and its a place the kids love to come to. OSC renovated it last year and we dicussed how the renovation was funded. We also discussed ways of raising funds for further improvements and little activities we can do with the kids when we go there this Thursday. We were also warned by Mrs.Illaperuma that working with these terminally ill children can be an upsetting experience.
Our fund raising ideas were;
- A car wash
- Selling tshirts
- A bake sale
I chose the Cancer Hospital project in memory of my grandmother who died of cancer and because I really want to do my best to brighten the suffering children's last days.
This is going to be a challenging experience for me since I am easily and very strongly moved by suffering people, especially children.
Our fund raising ideas were;
- A car wash
- Selling tshirts
- A bake sale
I chose the Cancer Hospital project in memory of my grandmother who died of cancer and because I really want to do my best to brighten the suffering children's last days.
This is going to be a challenging experience for me since I am easily and very strongly moved by suffering people, especially children.
Frustration and Elation of a Captain
The interhouse football matches are this week and today was the Red vs. Green match aaaaaaand... WE WON! (: Woohoo! Red house rocks!
I have to say I'm dissapointed at the students lack of house spirit. I planned to have meetings and little practice sessions so the team could bond and get to know each other, but sadly no one turned up. One boy even gave me very bad attitude and I nearly kicked him off the team since I didn't want anyone with no team spirit and enthusiasm to be on the team even if it meant losing a strong player.
Team spirit and enthusiasm matter to me a great deal - there is absolutely no point 'half-assing' a job.
Today was a very frustrating day, no one came to the field to play and I had to walk around rounding up my team and to top it off I was really sick and had a sore throat so I couldn't play. I was so annoyed I told Mr.Tingley OSC is pathetic! I did not mean it, I think OSC is a wonderful school. And my co-captain was absent, at home sick I heard from his brother who went on to tell me what a bad captain I am (??!). It did not help my mood.
But my god how my mood changed when I heard we were leading 4 to 1! (: I literally jumped for joy when I heard we won!
Team spirit and enthusiasm matter to me a great deal - there is absolutely no point 'half-assing' a job.
It's hard working with a group who has next to no enthusiasm at all but I will knock some spirit into them or at least I'll make myself knomn as the girl with the most spirit! I'm looking forward to tomorrows match against Blue, hopefully I'll be well enough to go to school. I hope we kick some booty but the main thing is that we have fun playing and if we lose, lose with spirit (:
Sunday, September 13, 2009
First MUN Experiences...
On 26th August we had our first electives session. I chose MUN as my elective since I find the MUN a really fun, educational and stimulating activity and I’ve been waiting to do it for soO long! And also because I hope to work in the UN; socio-political issues interest me a lot and my aim is to work with underprivileged children regarding their welfare and rights. I started thinking in the direction of social work after listening to a talk by a colleague on Child Soldiers in Sri Lanka. The horrendous pictures of little children holding guns with ammunition adorning their scant, scarred bodies affected me a great deal. It’s my personal conviction that no child should ever handle a gun.
In the first session we introduced ourselves to each other and then we had to discuss one of several current issues. I chose global warming since I knew enough general information about the topic not to make a fool of myself and I drew on an example of the effects of global warming, the situation in Siberia, which we touched upon in Environmental Systems. We had to research on marginalized people on the country we had been assigned. Mine was Myanmar. Shock and incredulity were my constant companions as I found out about the situation of human trafficking in Myanmar and the government’s vested interest in it. This was a topic I was unaware of and it opened me to the cruel realities of the world, taking away my rather naïve, unexplored perception that the problems of the world were limited to hunger and war.
In the second session we had to present our work. A very experienced MUN delegate, Yohan, came in to talk to us and guide us in preparation for the conference next year, the students new to MUN that is, since there is a majority of people who haven’t done MUN.
We had a debate which I found personally challenging since I’m not used to the ‘MUN jargon’, all their rather fancy, and elaborate expressions which indicate respect and ensure a diplomatic exchange which is precise leaving little room for ambiguity. It was challenging for everyone but we had very positive feedback from which encouraged me. I was a bit tense, scared and unsure of how to speak since I had to talk positively of the government’s efforts when in fact they themselves were involved in this issue! The personal feedback I received was that I wasn’t passionate and involved enough in my speech, which doesn’t really worry me that much since I know I have the capacity to be really passionate and convincing.
In the first session we introduced ourselves to each other and then we had to discuss one of several current issues. I chose global warming since I knew enough general information about the topic not to make a fool of myself and I drew on an example of the effects of global warming, the situation in Siberia, which we touched upon in Environmental Systems. We had to research on marginalized people on the country we had been assigned. Mine was Myanmar. Shock and incredulity were my constant companions as I found out about the situation of human trafficking in Myanmar and the government’s vested interest in it. This was a topic I was unaware of and it opened me to the cruel realities of the world, taking away my rather naïve, unexplored perception that the problems of the world were limited to hunger and war.
In the second session we had to present our work. A very experienced MUN delegate, Yohan, came in to talk to us and guide us in preparation for the conference next year, the students new to MUN that is, since there is a majority of people who haven’t done MUN.
We had a debate which I found personally challenging since I’m not used to the ‘MUN jargon’, all their rather fancy, and elaborate expressions which indicate respect and ensure a diplomatic exchange which is precise leaving little room for ambiguity. It was challenging for everyone but we had very positive feedback from which encouraged me. I was a bit tense, scared and unsure of how to speak since I had to talk positively of the government’s efforts when in fact they themselves were involved in this issue! The personal feedback I received was that I wasn’t passionate and involved enough in my speech, which doesn’t really worry me that much since I know I have the capacity to be really passionate and convincing.
My CAS Objectives (:
Model United Nations - be an active delegate in the upcoming conference in March by improving my public speaking and diplomatic skills.
Red House Captain - improve my leadership skills by being responsible and organised and build a relationship with other students not in my grade.
Action Football - learn to play!
Swimming - learn to swim!
Hope for Kids -help children suffering from cancer by raising funds to buy them anything they require and work with the children to see the world through their eyes.
Mama Papa Home - raise funds to buy them the items they are in need of and build a personal relationship with the children.
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