CAS Final Reflection

Being a part of the IB’s CAS program these past two years has given me many opportunities to see more of the world I live in, and has given me even more opportunities to help. The program expanded my skills, as I participated in many activities from different areas of the program: creativity, action and service. Through my participation in GIN and GISS, I learnt that I could become a confident leader while remaining a good team member who listens to my teammates. I became the co-leader of both GIN and GISS, and I remained an active member: I led sale pitches with 2 other students to gain sponsorship deals in preparation for the GISS conference, and as each one came around, I could see my teammates’ and my own progress in confident public speaking.

The GISS conference was this enormous project that we undertook this year, as hosting it, along with the extensive preparation, consisted of a lot of work on the part of both students and teachers. As student leader of the GISS human resources committee, the teacher working with me and I had initiated the search for the 17 golden heart scholars by sending out application forms and posters to many schools in and around Nairobi.

In my junior year, I set myself a goal that I would broaden my experience of ISK’s extracurricular options by joining in more groups. Even though I remained an active participant in my four main groups, GIN, Photography, NHS and Track & Field, I also participated in Artsco., Operation Smile, Guitar and in Leisure Club. I found that my participation in 2 groups from each section of CAS really invigorating, as I was able to compare my experiences, be part of a diverse routine and help on a larger scale than I was when only being part of one group. I learnt how to play a new instrument, the guitar, and I enjoyed my lessons a lot, because as soon as the basics are covered, a student can get a lot of joy out of playing an instrument.

At the end of my junior year, I decided to refine my diverse experience by concentrating more on my main groups. Due to this decision, I had to stop going to Operation Smile, Artsco. and Leisure Club, though I continue to support them by going to functions that they organise, or participating in their fundraisers.

Being able to concentrate on activities such as photography was very beneficial in terms of my improvement. Though I remain an amateur photographer, I now understand different techniques and styles of photography, and I can critique a photograph fairly and then use the feedback to apply it to my own photography. Doing group projects in photography is also very inspiring, because I can learn from my partner, just as they can learn from me, and being a team gives the individual more understanding of the topic.

In track and field, I wanted to test my abilities, so I trained for multiple racing and field events, including the 100m, 400m, 100m relay, long jump and high jump. I wanted to find an area where I was good, but could become better. Halfway through junior year, I became the high school girls’ team captain, and I was in charge of organising our team’s training sessions and looking out for my team members. With this position of leadership, I set out to ameliorate my track skills so that I could help my team members in any way that I could.

Persevering with these 4 groups was seldom a challenge, as I had chosen to participate in activities that I am passionate about.

Becoming a leader in these activities allowed me to see where I had space for improvement, and it increased my awareness of my abilities and of the things that I couldn’t do. Due to this, I managed to improve in the areas that needed improving, such as my patience and tolerance.

Going back to GIN and GISS, I have to admit that they are a huge factor in my life: being a part of GIN’s orphanage trip to Shangilia allowed me to experience first-hand the conditions that over 80% of Kenyans live in, and the difference we are making in those children’s lives was clear. Experiencing this just reminds us constantly how privileged we are, and that we have the power to make a positive change in the life of someone less fortunate. Therefore, we have the obligation to help.

Overall, the program allowed me to develop new skills in sport, to develop my social skills and I can now value them while integrating them in my lifestyle. My experience with CAS at ISK has made me a genuinely well-rounded person: without these empowering experiences, I would be a very different person today. My experiences, especially with GIN and the inspiring GISS conference, which turned out as a huge success thanks to our hard work, has moved me to continue with the goal of helping others and helping our environment. I am grateful that I had the chance to engage with such diverse activities.

GISS Preparation (Sustainability Teams/Service Day)

As the GISS is coming up very soon, (it's happening from February 21st to 23rd), the student leadership team that is comprised of 24 students including myself, has been meeting every wednesday after school to prepare for the conference. We have been preparing for the sustainability teams, for which I paired team members up, by practicing certain energisers and icebreaker activities that we will do with our team during the conference. The sustainability team has 20 students and 2 to 3 teachers in it, all from different schools in Africa, and their goal is to create a project that will be presented to the rest of the conference during the closing ceremony on the third and final day. This year, we decided that we would use children's storybooks taken from the library and turn them into skits.Each Sustainability Team is led by 2 student leaders, and my group is being led by Tan and myself. Tan will also be my partner for the Service Day, or the third day of the conference, where we lead a different group of students and teachers to a service project in Nairobi.I find that having the same partner for both of these events is reassuring, as it gives me a sense of continuity in my actions, and I know that I can rely on my partner, as I now know her very well.

NHS bake sale and first GIN meeting

Today, NHS had its first bake sale to fundraise for the Golden Heart Scholars.  The Golden Heart Scholars are 17 local high school students who have made, or are making a change in their community. As these students come from schools that are less well off than the international schools in Africa, we need to find sponsors to pay for their registration and accommodation.
Their cause is one we really should be fighting for, as the whole conference wishes to inspire and empower youth, and what better way than to find students who don't have as wide a range of opportunities as we do, and give them such an opportunity?
So the bake sale had the sole purpose of fundraising for this.

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Today was also the first GIN meeting of the year, and my first GIN meeting as the leader. It was very nerve-racking, as we needed to explain to our group that you had to pay a certain amount of money to be a part of the group this year, due to the GISS conference. Because we didn't know how anybody would react, my fellow leaders and I felt as though we had slightly botched our presentations, and this unfortunately did not make us feel too confident about ourselves.

However, others said that they thought our first time as leaders went well, and that we make a good team, so we now know not to lose heart in front of an audience when we feel as though we've done something wrong, which will be very useful for our next GIN meetings.

In a strange way, I'm glad that I made mistakes today while being a leader: that way, I know not to make them again, and I've learned from this experience. If it had been too easy, then something would have been wrong!

First NHS meeting of the year

This first meeting of our final year was really amazing: we rapidly decided on what our goals and plans would be for the year, and they are as follows:

-We are going to support the GISS conference by sponsoring one or more of their Golden Hearts Scholars with fundraising events such as bake sales. This opportunity to do some good amongst Kenya's young population is really inspiring, and I know this, as not only am I student leader of the GISS committee that looks after the scholars, but I have participated and led a bi-weekly orphanage trip to Kangemi, one of Nairobi's slums, to work, play and interact with the children and students who live there.

-We are going to help Interact with their OVC trips, also with fundraising events.

-We are going to partially stop tutoring, as last year's tutoring program fell through. This is a real shame, as it brought a lot of help to struggling middle-school students who we helped. We will still be tutoring a few, but as the majority of the group is comprised of Seniors, we unfortunately do not have the time for this particular activity.

I have high hopes for our future inductees, as this year should be a good one for ISK's National Honour Society, and I am proud to be a member of this prestigious society.

Welcome Back Picnic

The Welcome Back Picnic was a great event for all the new students to ISK, and it was also a great opportunity for us to meet them and to see our classmates and friends after the holidays.
A few of my friends and I volunteered to help guide the new high school students around our campus, show them classrooms and other facilities.
I found that this was a great experience for me, because it enabled me to re-learn our school campus with fresh eyes, and discovering it with the confusion of many new students was a truly interesting experience, as I had almost forgotten what being a new student was like.
I think that I was really able to help, because the crowding of emotions, people and new things was too much for many of these students, and I was able to help them, look after the littler ones, and talk about life here at ISK to those who are older.
We also helped new parents with their children's school supplies, and we talked to them about life at ISK too.

I believe that this experience has helped me mature in those circumstances that I need to be: talking to and helping adults, especially parents, is a challenge when you are but a student, not much more than a child, and putting us into a position of power, so to speak, is a leap of faith, as I saw that it was quite hard for certain lower grade volunteers not to smirk at being more knowledgeable than an unknown adult.
I can only hope that this will serve me well later on this year when I have to speak to teachers and students from all around Africa for the GISS conference.

Operation Smile concert

Last night was Operation Smile's "Smile Concert '12".
It took place in the school Arts Centre: the auditorium was where the performances were going on, and the reception was in the lobby.

In the lobby, we had a stand selling drinks as well as SMILE-themed food (e.g. cupcakes with smiles on them and half-moon pizzas). We also had tables for the audience to eat their food, but on each table, there were information cards about Kenyan children's stories: they had undergone their operations, and they told what it felt like before and after getting their cleft lips and palates repaired.

(At the bottom of the information cards, the contacts are as follows:
info— christabel.onyona@operationsmile.org
office cell— +254-735-788969 or +254-729-087925
website— www.operationsmile.org )

We had a third stand, where we were selling Operation Smile T-shirts and baseball caps, (all the money received went to Operation Smile), and where we had a donation box for those who wished to help.
(If you want to help but don't know how, view this post and follow the links!)

We were aiming to raise enough money for one operation, and if we were lucky, two. At the beginning of the event, a few students were slightly nervous, because not many people had showed up yet. However, in the next ten minutes, the lobby had filled itself up with an audience: they were buying food, drinks, hats, shirts and donating, and it gave us hope that this event would be fruitful and a lot of fun.

The performers did very well, and I know that everyone enjoyed the show.

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By the end of the event, we had sold all of the refreshments and most of the clothing. Our donation box was more than half full, and it was the Operation Smile members who left with smiles on their faces.
Today, we found out that we had collected 145,000ksh overall! That's $1,745! With that, we can give not one, not two, but 7 children smiles!
I truly believe that that was the best part of this whole event: knowing that we were really helping people.

Operation Smile Concert Poster

For Operation Smile, the club that supports children with hare lips, we are organizing a charity concert night on Saturday the 14th of April.

Those performing will be the Composers' Club from school: it's good practice and good experience for these students, as many of them are in IB Music or IB Drama, and so the performance should aid them in achieving better public speaking skills.
As well as helping ISK students, we are also helping Kenyan children with cleft lips and palates become cleft free and 'smile-prone'.

The problems that these children face every day include stigmatization, being ostracized and having people, including their own mothers and fathers, run away from them in fear.
They have huge difficulties when it comes to drinking, eating and speaking, and this hinders their social development. Many of them won't live for very long, and most will never have the chance to start a family.
With an operation that costs as little as $240, these children can live a normal life: go to school, make friends, grow up and create a family. (If you wish to Donate, Volunteer, Tell a Friend or Get Help, please click on the appropriate links.)

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I volunteered to make the poster for the concert, because I enjoy using photoshop, and I love doing creative things to help others:
(The girl in the poster's name is Brigid, and she lives in rural Kenya. She who received her operation shortly after this photo was taken.)

If you would like to come and see our students performing songs that they composed or re-written, and you would like to help us with supporting the Operation Smile project in Kenya, then please come to the concert on Saturday 14th of April at the ISK Arts Centre.

IC Trip Assessment

For my assessment on the IC trip I went to, I made a short video of our time at Mida Creek.

Unfortunately, the video that I made for my IC trip reflection can't be uploaded, so let me describe it for you:

• It begins with a photo of the creek itself, and the music being used is 'Levels' by Avicii. I used this song, because it was the one that everyone sang, ALL THE TIME. I though that it was a good representation of the way that us students experienced this trip.
• The photos are in chronological order, starting in the airport on sunday morning, showing our daily activities, and ending with short clips of everyone on the trip.
• I decided to use lots and lots of photographs to show how active, physical, and 'busy' this trip was. The pace leaves no time for the audience to think, though it is enough time for the audience to subconsciously understand our experiences and our newly-gained knowledge.
• I put the photos in chronological order so that the audience could have a day-by-day account of Mida Creek 2012. 
• However, I didn't just do this video for an audience, but also for myself: so that later on, I can remember my experiences, and so that I learn and remember something new and different each time I watch this video. 
• In regards to the audience, I made it so that they would be inspired. So that they could understand how inspiriting the trip was, and that by going on this trip next year, they too could help, and possibly make a difference in the Malindi-Watamu community.
• The last part of the video is of nearly all the participating students describing the trip in one word or sharing something which stuck with them in one word. A few of them included 'hot', 'sweaty', 'enlightening', 'kayaking', 'situation' etc. Mine was 'beach'. 

Now, when you think of the word 'beach', you must probably think of relaxing, holidays and sun-tans. However, when I said it that day, I said it because this whole trip is centred around the coastline. The coastline is many people's livelihoods, what affects their day-to-day life, and what affected our life while we were there.

(Hopefully, if you are part of the ISK community, you'll be able to see the video in assembly soon!)

IC trip (after)

So as you probably deduced from my last post, I went to Coast this week for my intercultural trip.
In my last post, I wrote that i hoped I would come home inspired, and I did. We visited A Rocha, a Portuguese organisation which has turned global. Here is a quote from their website, http://www.arocha.org/ke-en:

"A Rocha Kenya currently focuses its work around Watamu, where it operates its conservation programmes out of a residential centre, Mwamba. 

Malindi District is home to some of the richest and most diverse habitats in the whole of Kenya - 10% of Kenya’s Important Bird Areas, considered internationally important for bird conservation, are found within a 30 km radius of Malindi. 

These include Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, which is the largest remnant of dry coastal forest in East Africa and considered to be one of the most important forests for bird conservation in mainland Africa. 

It also includes Mida Creek, considered one of the most productive mangrove ecosystems on earth and of international importance for some of its bird species.

Despite the richness and diversity of local habitats in this area, an exploding population and desperately high levels of poverty are putting a huge strain on the delicate relationship between the local people and the surrounding environment.

By working with the local communities, A Rocha Kenya aims to achieve the long-term conservation of threatened habitats and species in the Malindi-Watamu area."

This clearly shows A Rocha's motivation to conserve the Malindi-Watamu area and bring its fauna and flora back to their original glory.

On the trip, we visited and collaborated with A Rocha three times: the first time, on wednesday, we went out into the ocean snorkelling, after having learnt about certain types of fish, corals and algae, and the effect that humans have upon this fragile ecosystem. The second time was on thursday in the afternoon, to collect gear for the night's activities and to help set up. The last time was thursday night.
On this last time, we were capturing and tagging birds from the creek.
We worked from 8PM to 3AM, through the A Rocha team stayed up all night, and didn't stop until 6AM.

The 'head' of the operation, Andrew, was talking to us about volunteering work. He said that we could volunteer at A Rocha for a while if we wished to do so, and I was thrilled: I would love to do volunteer work for an organisation such as A Rocha, because I think that what they do is incredible and inspiring.
Hopefully, I will be able to volunteer this summer, and gain some work experience, as I am considering doing an ecology and conservation course in university.



Enough said about A Rocha. For my reflection on the trip, I'm making a video, (which will probably be used during the assembly to show the high school what you did on your trip), and I'm going to make it so that the mood is light, (fun music, happy memories etc.), but I will be putting in the photos taken while we were visiting community projects, so that the assembly can understand that though we did have a lot of fun, this trip was all about the environment and how we, as humans, are holding its future in our hands.

Intercultural Trip (before)

Tomorrow (29th) is the first day of my intercultural trip, 'Mida Creek'.
On this trip, I know that we will be kayaking for around 2 hours every morning, and visiting local projects helping the environment as well as sustaining the community.
(Our trip will be mostly physical.)

It will be located on the shores of a tidal creek, which is around 5 square kilometres.
Some of the activities planned include visiting Turtle Watch and A Rocha, two organisations that take care of the environment: the first rehabilitates injured sea turtles, whilst the second ensures that no illegal activities take place within Watamu Marine National Park, tag birds and other wildlife, and study wildlife populations.

We will also visit Arabuko Sokoke forest, a national park which protects and houses quite a few endangered species of birds and rodents.

I am really looking forward to going, because I love ecology and conservation, and this trip seems to be focused around those aspects. Hopefully, I will bring back a lot in terms of knowledge and inspiration.

Spike to support

This week, a classmate, Kara, asked me if I could create a poster for a volleyball tournament that she is organizing.
I agreed, and I researched the charity that is receiving the funds from this event.

HEART, (Health Education Africa Resource Team), is the charity that donates sanitary towels, undergarments, and gives free health education and hygiene lessons to girls in Kenya.
Now, I know that ISK has already donated underpants and pads to this association, and I think that a student-led event for this is wonderful, because it shows that we are ready to be leaders, and we are ready to care for our world.

Here is the poster that I made:

The event is quite simply a volleyball tournament called 'Spike to Support'. For those of you who don't know what spiking is, it's what the silhouette of the girl on the poster is doing.                                         I think... :)                                                                                              To participate, you need to pay 400ksh, and anyone can enter. That means that teachers, students, parents etc. can join.                                    
If you would like to support this organization, you can visit their website here: www.africaheart.com/freedom.html

Shangilia and Operation Smile

Yesterday, wednesday, part of GIN went to Shangilia, the orphanage that encourages performing arts. As I am the head of the group doing these trips, (service), I viewed the list and was pleased to see around 12 or so names. But only 6 people showed, including myself.
(It was slightly disappointing, as we had booked one of the larger buses, and we didn't even fill three rows.)

 However, when we did arrive at the orphanage, we were asked to have a debate on "Should, or should we not cut down trees for farmland etc.?"
I was on the side that was against tree cutting, with Cora and Shubam. On the opposing side, Meg, my co-head, Rhea and Chayse. I think that we spent around 20 minutes doing this, and it was so entertaining seeing the littler ones proposing arguments, seconding each other and going against one another's arguments. Meg, Rhea and I had quite a heated discussion at one point, but we toned it down and let everyone have their turn to speak.
In the end, it was a tie, according to the number of arguments each side made, but the tree-huggers won in all of our hearts. This made me so happy, as I know that these children are Kenya's future, and if they do look out for the environment and protect it, then I know that Kenya is in safe hands. I just wish that that could be said for everybody.

After the debate, we split up into our groups. I was supposed to do art, but seeing as all three art 'mentors' were present, and many of the other groups were missing teachers, I went to help out with reading. I think that a lot of the children were slightly disappointed when they heard that only 4 groups (art, reading, storytelling and music), were being held, but it was all that we could do.
In our reading/writing group, Meg and I split the children, Meg taking the older ones, and I taking the littler ones. I noticed that the books that we were reading had all been donated by UKaid.
In my smaller group, we took turns reading, so I read one, asked them questions about it, and they drew the characters on the board, if they wanted to. Then I got one of the students to read a book, helping them on words that they struggled with.
It was really, really amazing doing this, because I feel as though, even though I am only doing such a small thing, I could be helping them get along in life by encouraging them along with the rest of our Shangilia group.
When it was time to go, I spoke to Cora and Shubham about what they were doing in art, and what we could do next time. This time, Shubham had brought line drawings for them to color in, and I suggested that next time, we get them to draw each other's faces, and then, at the end of the session, get everyone to guess who had drawn who.

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Operation smile is a program which was founded by an American surgeon and his wife, who is a nurse. They work to give free surgeries to children with cleft, or hare lips all around the world. Today, there are missions in many countries worldwide, Kenya included.
Last wednesday, a woman came to our assembly to talk to us about this program. She showed us two videos of the things that these children and their families go through because of their deformation. They both really pulled at my heart strings, and I felt as though I would cry. When she asked if ISK would be willing to help out with this, I almost wanted to stand up and shout "Me! I'll do it! I'd do anything."
Then, this week on tuesday, all of the students who had expressed any interest in the program were asked to come to Mrs Osborne's room. There, we talked about starting a student program that would help out, raise funds and pass the knowledge around to other schools.
At first, there were only 6 or 7 people present. But as the meeting progressed, more people showed up. In the end we had around 20 students!

We were all really pleased at the turnout, and the teacher said that the club would begin in January, when we would choose our president, co-president, treasurer, secretary and inter-school relations 'manager'.

I'm really excited, and I cannot wait to help out. :)
(The pictures have direct links to the Op. Smile websites.)

International Day

Yesterday was International Day at school, and so everybody got dressed up in their national/traditional dress. I was representing Scotland, part of the UK.

I was helping out with the 11th grade drinks stand for around 2 hours, hauling drinks and selling.  Doing this was hard work, but it was really rewarding, as we sold all of the sodas in under an hour, and people kept coming for the juice boxes. :)
After that, I spent half an hour at the passport station, where we looked after the children who came to get their passports, and were rewarded with either a sweetie, or a keychain in the shape of a globe.

I also stayed until 6 PM to help clean up with my mum at the Europe 'Café'.
All in all, it was a really good day, and it just shows how interconnected our world is, and how stupid it is to wage war on one another, and be racist, or prejudiced, because we are all the same. We all came from the same place, and we all share the same planet.
I know that these types of events, when all the parents and students come together, are really important if we are to remain a unified and globally aware community.

NHS & Making choices

YES!

Today, I received a letter saying that I have been accepted, and am now a member of NHS!!

Of course, I know that I will have to pay more attention to my time management and organisation, as I already do quite a few activities.

Now it comes to making decisions. I am now participating in three various Creativity activities: Guitar lessons, Artsco. and the Prom committee. I really should continue with prom, as I am a leader, and it is a lot of fun, really exciting and I will never be able to do this again. I'm also continuing with my guitar lessons, because it is about time that I began learning a new instrument.

I was in Artsco. last year, and it was great, because I was in tenth grade, and my workload wasn't all that big. This year, as a junior, I have lots of work, and I just cannot come to the wednesday meetings, due to maths tutoring and GIN Shangalia trips.

I also feel that I cannot do justice to all of my activities individually due to their number. Therefore, I am going to stop with Artsco.

PTO Welcome Back Picnic

On saturday 10th, ISK held the PTO picnic.

I was part of three different activities: the 11th grade drinks stall, the 11th grade fundraiser game (shave the balloon/pillow fight), and Artsco.'s face-painting.

We had a few problems with the shave the balloon game, including some cut thumbs, and un-poppable balloons. In the end, however, we managed to make the game work, and it was fun for everyone who played.

The drinks stand was very busy, and so our shift, like all the others, was running around trying to get everyone's orders. 

At the Artsco. stand, the people face-painting didn't want to leave, so I only managed to paint one or two faces.

It was all lots of fun, and a great learning experience.
I can only hope that this event will teach me how to be a good face painter and event facilitator.