Reflecting on the SAISA experience i think that both individually and as a team we achieved our goals. I played as best i could and so did the team. We came in 6th place behind Bombay. The eventual winners were Delhi who we also had a close match against, 1-1 all at half time. In all our matches the scores were close.
Saisa has always been extremely rewarding and it gets better everytime, it teaches you to be independant and proud of your school and to play as a team. You live, eat, sleep as a team for 3 days an experience that teaches you tolerance and builds up friendships. after 2 years of SAISA's with the same group of girls it gets better.
Monday, December 1, 2008
SAISA FOOTBALL :)
SIX WEEKS of training are over and its time for us to go on SAISA. In terms of community and service my IB, this football season relates to the Action component of CAS. SAISA has been something i have enjoyed ever since i joined OSC in 8th grade and this will be my 3rd football season (2 varsity) here at OSC and my 6th SAISA. Part of our CAS reflection is about setting ourselves goals. For this SAISA trip to Dhaka my goal is:
- "To play at a personal best, and to do what i can to encourage our team and support them"
We have a much stronger team then last year with lots of new players. So i hope to do well. We have lost one of best players Charlotte, though so i think the team will need a lot of moral boosting because we rely a lot on her.
Sunflower Swimming
We swam with the kids again today, its becoming much more familiar now in terms of the faces you see and your interaction with the children. Mr. Nick would like that the sessions have a little more structure but i think the way that they are run now benefit the children, they have a chance to socialise and more importantly use their muscles unawares.
I think that the more familiar you become with the children the better the activity becomes for you. Groups of kids from OSC and Sunflower who like to play together form and conversation despite the language barrier flows a little easier.
I think that the more familiar you become with the children the better the activity becomes for you. Groups of kids from OSC and Sunflower who like to play together form and conversation despite the language barrier flows a little easier.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
REFLECTION ON HALLOWEEN EVENT
The SGA trick or Treating was a sucess! I have had lots of positive feedback from members of staff and parents which is nice. From what i saw on the football pitch the kids seemed to enjoy themselves which is the main point. However, when i spoke to Remor about it, he said it didn't run so smooth yet the children really had fun.
As for the dance, it was a big dissapointment not so much in terms of the SGA effort but in terms of no one showing up. We barely had enough OSC students to make ourselves a profit after paying for the DJ. As an SGA its a little disheartening to see, we were saved by other school who came even though they were made to feel a little unwelcome by the new security measures.
AS an individual and an SGA i learnt you have to learn from mistakes and understand that no matter how much work you put in, there is always going to be something you could have done better. In this case the SGA put the work in and was let down by the community, the people the event was for.
As for the dance, it was a big dissapointment not so much in terms of the SGA effort but in terms of no one showing up. We barely had enough OSC students to make ourselves a profit after paying for the DJ. As an SGA its a little disheartening to see, we were saved by other school who came even though they were made to feel a little unwelcome by the new security measures.
AS an individual and an SGA i learnt you have to learn from mistakes and understand that no matter how much work you put in, there is always going to be something you could have done better. In this case the SGA put the work in and was let down by the community, the people the event was for.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
SGA... the night before Halloween
Today I didn't take part in Sunflower swimming as I have to work on preparation for tomorrow's SGA events. My main task today was to finish 100 bags for the kids to trick or treat with. It took 3 hours after school of gluing bats and ghosts onto brown paper bags. Most of the SGA could not be excused from their CAS activities but still made the effort to come and help for at least 20 minutes.
Again SGA is proving itself to be an enourmous learning curve, i need to learn to priorotise and stop being such a perfectionist when it comes to small things because i unlitmately run out of time and end up changing my focus from something more important like organsing the route to something which really isnn't necessary like taking off labels from the bags.
The dance is going to be quite easy to organise as we have done one before that ran quite smoothly.
The bags got finished and i have set everything up to try and make it as easy as possible for the SGA reps who dont have football to be able to manage.
Again SGA is proving itself to be an enourmous learning curve, i need to learn to priorotise and stop being such a perfectionist when it comes to small things because i unlitmately run out of time and end up changing my focus from something more important like organsing the route to something which really isnn't necessary like taking off labels from the bags.
The dance is going to be quite easy to organise as we have done one before that ran quite smoothly.
The bags got finished and i have set everything up to try and make it as easy as possible for the SGA reps who dont have football to be able to manage.
Friday, October 24, 2008
SGA HALLOWEEN PREP.
Today we had our meeting regarding the SGA Halloween event coming up. We have planned for a primary trick or treat session and a disco for the secondary school. As an SGA we have a lot of work to do as Halloween lends itself to a lot of decorating and trick or treating is going to take a lot of administrative work:
- Letters have to be sent out to the primary school for permission.
- Candy needs to be brought (enough for 2 candies each 5 times).
- Teachers need to be arranged to be at their class rooms.
- Trick or Treat bags organised.
overall we have had a lot of good feedback about the primary event as the SGA has never really done anything like this before for the primary school.
For secondary we have to prepare for the dance. which means getting decorations and a DJ organised. What i am finding is that I don't seem to have enough time for everything that i'm doing. I wont be able to attend the SGA primary event as i have SAISA football commitments which means i have to do my fair share of work towards its organisation.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
SGA
At the moment we have halloween coming up and so we are organising a Trick Or Treating event for the PRIMARY and a DISCO for the secondary school. As a team we are gelling and everything seems to be running smoothly. We have learnt how to communicate much better and delegate equally among the SGA team. Im quite pleased with the progress we are making as a team, its becoming more fun aswell. It doesnt cause as much stress as it used to.
At the moment we have halloween coming up and so we are organising a Trick Or Treating event for the PRIMARY and a DISCO for the secondary school. As a team we are gelling and everything seems to be running smoothly. We have learnt how to communicate much better and delegate equally among the SGA team. Im quite pleased with the progress we are making as a team, its becoming more fun aswell. It doesnt cause as much stress as it used to.
MAMMA PAPPA attempt no'1 :)
Our first attempt to visit the orphanage didn't really go to plan and had to be cancelled. The reason for this was our lack of organisation and planning. We were unable to get a staff supervisor and transport from school. We had paint and the plan to go, but didn't contact them or book a bus. After talking to Mr. Lockwood, the knock to our confidence has been built back up again and we plan to go next week. We are going to contact them early next week and book a bus. It has really taught us that set backs do happen and not to be disheartened by them and get up and get on, because its something extremely worth while.
Another thing that we have to work on is setting a goal that we want to achieve so it becomes less aimless and more structured:My ideas for a goal is:
Our first attempt to visit the orphanage didn't really go to plan and had to be cancelled. The reason for this was our lack of organisation and planning. We were unable to get a staff supervisor and transport from school. We had paint and the plan to go, but didn't contact them or book a bus. After talking to Mr. Lockwood, the knock to our confidence has been built back up again and we plan to go next week. We are going to contact them early next week and book a bus. It has really taught us that set backs do happen and not to be disheartened by them and get up and get on, because its something extremely worth while.
Another thing that we have to work on is setting a goal that we want to achieve so it becomes less aimless and more structured:My ideas for a goal is:
- To obtain mattresses by the end of the year
- Paint their play furniture and area.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Sunflower Village...
Today, we swam with the children as usual. The most difficult thing again this week was communication with the children because I can't speak Sinhala and they can't speak English. Although its not necessary to understand eachother while you play it can be difficult. Especially when it comes to them being afraid of the water. The youngest girl there Hashini loves the water but when trying to teach her to swim she panicks and its difficult to explain to her the technique without the language. Maybe i need to learn some Sinhala words that will help..
Hae-Ming - Slower
Ick-Ma-Ming - Faster
Ba-yay-wen-nae-appa - Don't be scared
Ha-ri-hon-die - Very good
Pi-nan-nae - Swim
Today, we swam with the children as usual. The most difficult thing again this week was communication with the children because I can't speak Sinhala and they can't speak English. Although its not necessary to understand eachother while you play it can be difficult. Especially when it comes to them being afraid of the water. The youngest girl there Hashini loves the water but when trying to teach her to swim she panicks and its difficult to explain to her the technique without the language. Maybe i need to learn some Sinhala words that will help..
Hae-Ming - Slower
Ick-Ma-Ming - Faster
Ba-yay-wen-nae-appa - Don't be scared
Ha-ri-hon-die - Very good
Pi-nan-nae - Swim
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
SGA Meeting...
Today we had the first meeting since the SAISA disco. We spent the meeting reflecting on what it is that we can do to improve the way we work as a team for next time. We also had a financial update from Lenard and we earned 8,000 from the SAISA weekend. We also raised over 17,000 for WAR CHILD through our peace flags which was a major community and service project for the SGA, something they are not usually involved in.
MAMMA PAPPA...
We also tried to meet today as we will be visiting the home this weekend to paint their play area. We are having trouble getting money to do this as we cant as yet draw directly from the interact accounts. So we will have to find out about getting a loan from the school this week for us to buy the paints.
Today we had the first meeting since the SAISA disco. We spent the meeting reflecting on what it is that we can do to improve the way we work as a team for next time. We also had a financial update from Lenard and we earned 8,000 from the SAISA weekend. We also raised over 17,000 for WAR CHILD through our peace flags which was a major community and service project for the SGA, something they are not usually involved in.
MAMMA PAPPA...
We also tried to meet today as we will be visiting the home this weekend to paint their play area. We are having trouble getting money to do this as we cant as yet draw directly from the interact accounts. So we will have to find out about getting a loan from the school this week for us to buy the paints.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Lets Go Geckos :)
Last night was the culmination of 3 weeks of SGA work... the SAISA disco. We definately achieved a night that many enjoyed but the methods by which we achieved them may not have been as good as they could have been. The main problem was communication and collaboration between Remor, Lenard, Charlotte and I. We all seemed to be doing tasks that neither of us new about and which overlapped. An example of this was that the DJ put up scaffolding to perform on as i had told him to and remor requested for it to be taken down. This crossover in communication was quite detrimental when it came to keeping a cool head. However the end result seemed to achieve the goal. We raised enough to cover costs and i believe most people had a good night. SGA will now have to improve communication and collaboation when it comes to cleaning up! i was certain there are more than 5 members on the SGA?? :)
Last night was the culmination of 3 weeks of SGA work... the SAISA disco. We definately achieved a night that many enjoyed but the methods by which we achieved them may not have been as good as they could have been. The main problem was communication and collaboration between Remor, Lenard, Charlotte and I. We all seemed to be doing tasks that neither of us new about and which overlapped. An example of this was that the DJ put up scaffolding to perform on as i had told him to and remor requested for it to be taken down. This crossover in communication was quite detrimental when it came to keeping a cool head. However the end result seemed to achieve the goal. We raised enough to cover costs and i believe most people had a good night. SGA will now have to improve communication and collaboation when it comes to cleaning up! i was certain there are more than 5 members on the SGA?? :)
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Creativity... Action.... Service :)
Our first meeting since IB orientation was today and our chellenge was to set goals for the next few weeks, months or years. They need to be attainable yet pose a challenge. The Mama Pappa visit was the perfect way to inspire us to want to do CAS, it put most of us in a place that made us uncomfortable, angry and for the first time that trip seemed to silence us. It was that experience that prompted Ankit, Charlotte, Ruwinda and me to want to do more, want to leave the class of 2010's footprint on OSC's CAS programme, hence goal number 1.
I have also signed up for the Sunflower Village swimming programme for this semester, this is because i did it once before as part of Interact and enjoyed it. My goal for sunflower swimming is to be completely involved.
This year i'm also Vice President of the SGA, which is part of my service to the community. The SGA has a busy week coming up as we are hosting SAISA. Organising the disco and refreshments throughout this event is going to be difficult as i haven't organised something on such a large scale before. My long term Goals for SGA are to succesfully colaberate and communicate and to make sure the SAISA disco is done to the best of the SGA's ability.
Our first meeting since IB orientation was today and our chellenge was to set goals for the next few weeks, months or years. They need to be attainable yet pose a challenge. The Mama Pappa visit was the perfect way to inspire us to want to do CAS, it put most of us in a place that made us uncomfortable, angry and for the first time that trip seemed to silence us. It was that experience that prompted Ankit, Charlotte, Ruwinda and me to want to do more, want to leave the class of 2010's footprint on OSC's CAS programme, hence goal number 1.
"Over the next
two years I want to
help make the MAMMA PAPPA orphanage in
Kalutara a legitimate CAS project
that will remain in place in the
future"
I have also signed up for the Sunflower Village swimming programme for this semester, this is because i did it once before as part of Interact and enjoyed it. My goal for sunflower swimming is to be completely involved.
This year i'm also Vice President of the SGA, which is part of my service to the community. The SGA has a busy week coming up as we are hosting SAISA. Organising the disco and refreshments throughout this event is going to be difficult as i haven't organised something on such a large scale before. My long term Goals for SGA are to succesfully colaberate and communicate and to make sure the SAISA disco is done to the best of the SGA's ability.
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