Final CAS Reflection

As the Diploma Program is ending in May, it is time for me to reflect on my commitment to CAS over the two year program.

December 2011 - February 2012

I went to the gym regularly from December to February (3-4 times a week), showing perseverance. However in mid-February I really lost the consistency I had developed because of the workload we have been facing thanks to mock exams in January and a whole host of assessments. I look forward to going back to the gym regularly when I can find the time to fit it into my schedule, it's been hard finding time to go more than once or twice a week.

In terms of service I'm still involved in cleft palate, we recently visited the hospital again and spoke to the doctor. He wants us to develop mediums of awareness (pamphlets, powerpoints, movies) that he can use to raise funds. Our engagement in this as a group will be a new task that we undertake while working collaboratively as a group, holistically attempting to connect our different forms of awareness. Ethically speaking, I really question our hospital visits as it seems morally questionable to barge into the wards in groups and take photographs of recovering infants as their mother's watch. The mother's go through an ordeal in terms of finances and making the trip out to Colombo and the last thing they need is a group of school kids to show them insensitivity.

Our coordinator has constantly brought up the future of the service project because in his mind it lacks an 'action' component. In Habitat for Humanity they go and build homes, in Sunflower Village they swim with the kids and in SOS Orphanage they also interact with the kids. Because Cleft Lip and Palate (CLP) lacks this 'action' component, there has even been rumblings that we may be discontinued in the future. I personally feel that the cleft lip cause is one that needs to receive constant support from the school. It's a worthy cause and the people in the project work hard raising money and interacting with the doctors, making sure our money goes somewhere. Also, it is quite unfair to question our 'action' when groups like DAWG solely fundraise. Sure they also collect medicine and food and their funds go towards a sterilization and vaccination campaign, however it's not like the members of the group are exactly participating in the surgeries themselves. The money we raise goes towards an annual event where doctors from the UK and elsewhere fly in to Sri Lanka and donate their time to surgically repairing these kids' defects. Our money does not pay for the doctors but rather the nurses and supplies. Whereas a normal surgery can cost around 100,000 rupees, during this event one surgery is only 15,000 rupees. CLP would gladly volunteer our time to show up at this event however they don't need us there because we aren't nurses and trained staff. However they still need our money and that is why we need to continue as a service project!

November 2011

During this month I basically continued going to the gym every week, I try to go 3-4 times a week depending on how much homework I have. Ideally I would go on mondays, wednesdays, fridays and saturdays but there are days where this isn't possible so I have to double up on the weekends. I am getting closer to my goal of 5 miles in 20 minutes, I can already do 5km in 15 minutes so it's just a matter of continuing to do cardio and hopefully I can reach my goal. After I reach my goal, I plan on setting a new goal and continuing with the gym. In terms of weights the progress hasn't been as visible, mainly because I started with barely any muscle. But I'm getting there.

The Cleft Palate Battle of the Bands was on the 26th of November and TY2D (Too Young To Die) won it. We had around 250 people attend and the night was a huge success in terms of fundraising and the talent that was on display. I did my part on the night by MC-ing the concert and I had done my part earlier by finding us a place to print tickets. Combining our sponsorship money with the money from tickets, we raised around 400,000 rupees, some of that was lost based on spending though, so today we'll find out the final amount fund raised. I'll try and find some pictures of the night that I can post on the blog.

Renewed sense of Action - 10th November 2011

Upon being told that I hadn't had enough action this year (SGA work + the internship at the hotel that involved a lot of sweating and hard work apparently did not count), I decided to start going to the gym. I've never been a huge fan of going to the gym and participating in physical activity however I do see the benefits that spending time at the gym will have for me. Therefore I set myself the goal of being able to bike 5.5km in 20 minutes an exercise bike as well as lifting 25lbs in both hands before the school year ends.

By doing this I will undertake a new activity, which is basically working out at the gym. Being an asthmatic who's had it rough with the condition, I look forward to working out and getting more physically fit as well as achieving the goal I set out for myself.

Below are some pictures of my first day there, pictures taken by Yariq Captain:

17th September - 8 November 2011

During this period I did a couple of CAS related things

I started taking pictures of the boys football team for the yearbook. On the 28th of October they played their first match and I got a lot of pictures of that. I've never been a great photographer even though I've had a passion for the field and therefore I undertook this task so that I could develop a new skill. 

With Cleft Palate a lot happened, we recently went to the hospital to gain a better understanding of the kids' conditions and the care they need and receive. This helped us understand the ethical implications of our actions. We got to see the results of our fund raising and the ethical benefits behind our work. 

In terms of the Cleft Palate concert, progress has occurred. We've got the date set for the 26th of November 2011, and we have raised approximately $2000 through sponsorship. The auditions were held on the 14th of October and 5 out of 9 bands were selected for the concert, as well as two professional bands. I recently went down to the poster and ticket printers to get some work done. The stuff has yet to be printed but at least progress is happening....

Reflection - 12th August to 16th September

In terms of CAS there have been some interesting developments for me during the school year.

Starting with the school production, after beginning my time as Assistant Director I started to find the job quite pointless, which may be a bit extreme a description but still matches my feelings concerning the post. I had expected a job with a lot of work and responsibility and I had also expected all this work and responsibility to give me something to talk about in my TPPP but unfortunately my hopes were somewhat dashed away. What ended up happening over the two weeks that I was Assistant Director was that I show up at rehearsals, sit around for a while, read a missing character or two's lines, make photocopies if necessary and then leave. After the auditions I did not even get to voice a meaningful opinion considering casting and this irked me. What was the most bothersome was the fact that being the Assistant Director meant that a lot of my time was taken up by being at rehearsals but I wasn't doing anything Action or Creativity related, basically I was wasting a large amount of time. In the end I quit as Assistant Director and signed up as Dramaturg, a position that involves me researching Jewish customs, Tsarist Russia and the village of Anatevka for the play. The position may be a less of a time commitment and may have less responsibility on face value but the truth is that I will actually have more responsibility now and be doing more work for the play.

I talked to the leaders of DAWG and they seem to be doing alright without needing any help from me right now so nothing developed in terms of DAWG, fortunately however Cleft Palate is a different story. In the first meeting the leaders laid out their plans for a charity concert in the style of a battle of the bands to raise funds. The concert would involve multiple schools around Colombo and we wanted around 400 people attending on the night with around 8 different bands, maximum two from a school. This event has been planned as a professional one and I have a lot of different things to do for it from MC-ing with Camille on the night to making sure the auditorium is ready as well as finding sponsors that can offer prizes (we need around 10) that will be part of a raffle draw. During the short breaks between performances, the MC's are going to inform the attending audience about the issues surround cleft lip and what the Cleft Palate organization does. The concert  date has been planned for the 11th of November, 11/11/11: the symmetry looked nice. This event is going to be quite draining but hopefully it will be a success. 

CAS Goals 2011-2012

• Live up to my expectations as Assistant Director of the School Production of Fiddler on the Roof. Most Grade 12 Theater Arts students were expected to sign up and do something for the school production, not to fulfill any requirements for the course but solely so that we would have additional meaningful content for our TPPP meaning that any work we do on the production can count as CAS. I signed up to be the Assistant Director because I was somewhat bored with acting in school productions and I felt that this could be a new and meaningful experience that would teach me something. By doing this I would be undertaking new challenges as I've never helped direct something this big, showing perseverance as this would be a full time job, developing new skills and working collaboratively with others. I am somewhat worried about the workload that Assistant Director-ship would bring but hopefully I will not be overwhelmed and will be able to carry out my job well.
• Perform the tasks I am handed in my two service activities of Cleft Palate and DAWG. While I am not an official member of DAWG I did agree to helping them with whatever they needed outside of the regular meetings on thursday afternoons as I was a leader of the activity two years ago and therefore have some experience with it. I've also agreed to be at the annual sterilization and vaccination event which is the culminating result of DAWG's fundraising activities. Cleft Palate is the service activity that I've been officially signed up for and the reason I joined them was because I was a member of their activity at the end of the 11th grade and I wanted  a sense of continuity and despite the activity being somewhat problematic in terms of its service last year, this year they are under new leadership who seem a bit more motivated and therefore I wanted to join them and support the cause which I felt was a noble one. The critical learning outcomes I will be connecting with are: Undertaking new challenges as Cleft Palate has changed considerably this school year due to the fact that they will be visiting the hospital more, showing perseverance and commitment as I have unofficially committed myself to two service activities and being a senior student I will be accepted to take leadership roles despite not officially being a leader (the reason being that I was SGA President last year meaning that I did not have the opportunity to get well-versed in one service activity), planning and initiating activities as both service activities are fund-raising based we will need to get creative with our methods and finally I will have to work collaboratively with others as all these service activities revolve around the group.