FINAL CAS REFLECTION

Approaching the end of the diploma program, now is the time to begin reflecting on my individual CAS performance over the last couple of years, in light of the 8 IB learning outcomes for it. I have undertaken so many different activities, now its time to see where they all fall into place...

1. Increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth:
I think that the activities that really showcase this learning outcome were my action ones, particularly basketball. When i have played and when i have coached, i have learnt a lot about myself as both a leader and as a member of a team. I have learnt to be more assertive and confident, to take control of situations and express my ideas/thought and feelings. This has been an going process of growth for me. At times i can become quite a reserved person and so coaching and captaining basketball teams really pushed me to grow in that regard. They also highlighted areas of strengths within me in terms of my ability to play and also my understanding for the game.

The creative activity of entering photography competitions also increased my awareness of my own strengths and weaknesses. In competition, my works were constantly being compared against those of others and as a result I could see areas i excelled in and also areas that i could work on.

2. Undertaken new challenges:
After moving to Sri Lanka i undertook many new challenges. Entering photography competitions, joining the swim team, founding a new service project at the school, performing in front of an audience and single handily managing a fundraising event were all totally new to me, and in their own right challenging. Swimming was physically challenge, photography and performing were creatively challenging whereas involvement in the service activities has confronted me emotionally at times.

3. Planned and initiated activities:
As a basketball coach and captain, planning and initiating activated was something i had to do on a regular basis, sometimes on the spot. It ranged from preparing entire training sessions to coming up with an on-the-spot offense to try and beat the challenging opposition.

More recently, i feel as if the great shave day is the best example of me fulfilling this outcome. The project was something Jazlin and I planned and initiated all on our own and a CAS project i am particularly proud of. From planning posters to financial logistics, to the program of the day itself, this project reflects this outcome really well.

4. Worked collaboratively with others: and commitment in their activities:
When reflecting on this outcome, the pursuit of happiness project is what straight away comes to mind. It is a project that my team mates and I developed together this year and hope to maintain in the future. We have been meeting weekly for the last year to make sure we are all on then same page in terms of goals and approaches toward this project. At times there have been clashes/conflicts on interest and so working together has been challenging, but at the end of the day i have been able to take away a lot from it.

6. Engaged with issues of global importance:
The Red Shield Appeal, 40 hour famine, Ending Slavery Night and The CCC Great Shave are the four big projects which have helped me to achieve this outcome. The Salvation Army which i the organisation behind the red shield appeal is an international organisation which aims to essentially bring salvation to the poor. The funds raised by this project help to operate shelters for the hopeless, provide disaster relief and provide humanitarian aid to developing nations.  Engaging in their door knock appeal pushed me to become involved in these issues which not only effect my local community, but the global one as well. Coordinating the 40 hour famine back at Narrabundah college in Australia particularly engaged me with an issue of global importance; the global hunger crisis. Gong to the training convention really opened my eyes to realities i never had to face in Australia like that  1 in every 8 people in the world suffers from undernourishment, and that poor nutrition causes nearly (45%) of deaths in children under the age under five. The funds from the 2013 famine were specifically raised for projects in Malawi, a country in southeast Africa and so i also learnt about issues particular to that country. At the Ending Slavery Night we watched movies and engaged in discussion about the issue of sex trafficking, particularly (but not only) in Cambodia. We learnt about the causes and the effects of it, and how exactly different organisations are trying to intervene. In my sheltered city back in Australia, this is another reality i never have had to face and so again participating in this activity really opened my eyes. Finally, the Great Shave taught me a lot about the cancer battle that millions of people gear up to face everyday. I learnt about a different side of treatment, the mental one which in many ways is just as important as medical treatment.

7. Considered the ethical implications of their actions:
Ethical issues were particularly evident in all of my service activities. I found it most evident when setting up the infrastructure for the Pursuit of Happiness Project. There were ethical considerations that had to be taken into account in terms of consent for the taking and publishing of photos. Even though we may have had good intentions, we had to respect the privacy of the people we photographed.

8. Develop new skills:
This learning outcome can be seen in almost every activity I have undertaken during my DP program. From door knocking to coaching basketball, swimming to photo journalism, I have learnt so many different things. To name them all would probably take me another 2 more years. So instead, here are some bullet points of big things I have learnt

• Assertiveness... this mostly came through all of the new activities and challenges I undertook (moving across the world and to a new school included). To have my voice and ideas heard I really had to learn to be a little less shy and more assertive. I skill that will no doubt be of benefit to me outside the realm of CAS 
• Perseverance... on top of all my studies keeping up with CAS was honestly really challenging. At so many stages it would have been so easy to just neglect it and focus on my academia. However (bless the IB) neglecting CAS was never really a viable option and so perseverance was something I was kind of forced into learning.Coupled with this, my time management skill were also tested and stretched which I think prepares me for when I graduate and being life in big kids will. It will certainly help me get trough college at least.
• The art of reflection... most of all (credits to this blog and my CAS supervisor) I have learnt to reflect. And I hated it at first, and for the good majority of the time during DP as well, but now as I write my final CAS reflection and my academic reflections and my year book page and what not, I am starting to realising just how beneficial reflecting can be. To pause and reflect on things that have and haven't worked, on what I am good at and not so good at, is really really cool. I mean if you never reflect, how do you ever grow? There's a lot of self discovery to be made during reflection which is also, really really cool.

Final update on The Shave

After a final count, our total funds raised for the shave comes to roughly $4000 or 400,000 Rs. This is double what we set out to achieve... I feel really proud and accomplished right now, and am super excited to see what these funds will do for the home.

A newspaper came out to the school recently to do a write up about it, and they actually featured u on the front page!!

Here is a link to the online article:
http://www.ceylontoday.lk/95-89236-news-detail-the-best-kind-of-shave.html

The Day of the Shave!!!

`Saturday was the actual day of the shave. It was stressful to begin with as I had to coordinate the media crew, CCC foundation representatives, make announcements throughout the day and still manage incoming donations. A real barrier i faced was one of languages, as the media crew that arrived to record the event did not speak English at all, so until the representative arrived i really struggled to communicate with them.

When it was time for the event to take place, i delivered a speech to the crowd to inform them of what was me and Jaz were doing, and why we were doing it. I also had the foundation rep say a few words about the work the foundation does. The shave stands for nothing if the community doesn't know what it stands for, and so the speech and publicity has been an integral part of the project.

The shave itself was great, so many people gathered around to show their support and i had donations being handed to me non stop. It was really inspiring to see people get behind our project after all the planning and stressing.

We are still yet to finalize the count, but the total funds raised currently sits at around $3200 AUD which exceeds our goal by $1200, something i am really proud of. Above all I think we really helped raise awareness in the community about the foundation and ways they can help. We also reached a lot of friends and family back home who made generous donations and passed on word about the foundation, increasing awareness in a global scale. Here are some pictures of the event:

This is me plaiting Jazlin's hair into different sections. I then attached price tags to them so that people could pay for them and cut them off. This was a great initiative in terms of fundraising and getting people involved.

This is a photo of the first section of hair being cut off by the CCC representative, notice how many people are gathered to watch!

 

This for me is a really touching photo, this is the CCC rep speaking to Jaz just after the shave, thanking her for her display of courage

 

 

This is a nice photo of me and Jaz post the shave, her big beautiful smile inspires me greatly.

performance at the food and fun fair

Following gecko factor which i really enjoyed, i also signed myself up to perform at my schools food and fun fair. I performed a song by an Australian band 'The DMA's' called "Delete". To prepare i had to learn new chords and alter the original song which actually ends as a duet (kind of). I had a lot of fun preparing it and even more fun performing it.

The Great Shave Event

Planning has now gone under full swing and the shave is scheduled to take place at our schools food and fun fair next Saturday (March 28th). I have been keeping in close contact with board members from the CCC Foundation who are equally enthused about the event and have even offered to bring media coverage to the fair to spread even more awareness. Today I stuck posters all around the school and submitted an announcement to be included in the school bulletin, newspaper and to be published on their Facebook page. It really starting to get exciting, after announcing the shave on my personal Facebook page last night, we have already collected $200 in donations in less that 24 hours. Fingers crossed the enthusiasm and support continues! Our goal is to raise $2000 for the home. Here is a picture of the poster i made to help spread awareness about the event and encourage people to get behind it.

The pursuit of happiness- a trip to the CCC home

Last Thursday i accompanies the OSC's  "Hope for Kids" on their weekly visit to the CCC home to learn about the project and take photos for my own. The Hope for Kids service group from OSC spends time each week with children at the CCC foundation house at the National Cancer Institute in Maharagama Sri Lanka. The CCC (courage compassion commitment) foundation house is a 188 bed transit home for cancer outpatients and their carers. Particularly for the child patients, manager Laksiri Fernando believes the house plays an important role in the treatment process. Cancer is just as much a mental battle as it is medical, and the house helps provide a more comforting, home away from home type atmosphere where the children are not constantly being reminded of their illness. The Hope for Kids group goes to the home each week to visit these children, play games with them and to really just show them that there are people outside that care. In the future, the group hopes to also integrate educational activities into their games involving mathematics and writing so that the children don't also fall too far behind in their schooling. 

During my visit i participated in the group's games with the children and took photos to publish on the pursuit of happiness Facebook page in hope to raise money for the home. The home requires funding however to be able to ensure the best possible care for its patients. I hope that through my photos, viewers can connect to the children and feel compelled to make a difference. Here is my favourite photo form the trip:

Pinhole Photography

This quarter i joined pinhole photography as part of my creative component. I have been in it for a few weeks now and am really enjoying myself. I've been really into photography for quite some time now, and have a particular love for working in the darkroom. I haven't however, had the chance to experiment with pinhole photography until now.

In pinhole photography we start by making our own cameras. We use recycled tins which we spray paint black and drill tiny holes into. We then line the inside of the tins with photographic paper which is light sensitive. When the pinhole is uncovered, light enters this hole and hits he paper, recording an image. Once we have exposed our images we take the tins to the darkroom and develop the paper through a chemical process. After the photos have gone through this process an image appears on the paper. It appears in negative form so we then have to invert it to see the true image, here are some of the photos i have produced so far, photos 1 and 3 are the negative prints straight from the camera, and images 2 and 4 are what they look like once inverted:

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