Versus Cancer concert

6 of us, from grades 10 to 12 took part in a bollywood dance. it was an item in the concert which raised money for the childrens ward at the maharagama cancer hospital. It also allowed me to gain insight into some pretty basic (but still!) bollywood steps. I appreciate dancing of any kind so it was interesting for me as i have never danced bollywood before. I also had a problem with choreographing because 1) i have not learned/danced this kind of dance before and 2) i have always been taught by some one and danced in groups, an environment in which knowledge about choreography is not needed. However, i managed to create some steps and formations, and although out of the 3 girls i choreographed the least, i am proud of the little i accomplished!

Us Practising!:



The performance also opened my eyes to the amount of dedication and perseverence required to host and plan a concert. Although i am not a part of the cancer hospital cas group, i spent the entire day at school on the day of the concert, and i saw how much effort goes into it. I have been to many concerts where ive been frustrated with the timing or the performances, and i am quick to critisize, but after seeing what goes on behind the scenes, i will think twice before i dismiss the efforts of the planners etc However, there were a few inevitable glitches in the running of things, and as an 'outsider' i saw solutions to these problems that the people organising didnt as i was not under stress etc. i observed their methods of conducting themselves and overall, i learnt alot about how one goes about creating a show. i also learnt, in minor cases, what not to do. this knowledge will help me i the future if i wish to organise a similar event.

And Practising more!




Another aspect of the performance was the organising and buying of costumes. I feel i became more responsible and independant as i had to made numerous trips to the tailor and i observed the manner in which my friends looked for the right costumes and materials etc. as i have no experience in these kind of things i gained alot of knowledge form observing in this case as well. This is the second time in my life i have worn a sari-, shameful as i am sri lankan but i learnt how to put one on and now i can do it-(not well) if i needed to. Thanks pri and pri's mum :):):)

The last, and most important aspect of the dance was, for me, the teamwork involved in the choreography and organizing at practices. The fact that each performer spent time practicing the dance so as not to let down the other performers was something that happened and that eachh of us appreciated. Devansh let us use his house as the place we practiced in which made it easier for all of us to meet. Thank you! :) and priyanka, shashwat and thishakya did not of the choreography, although each of us contributed a little towards the final performance. Overall it was a rewarding experience, i got alot of excersise, made friends with people from other grades that i did not speak to before,and had ALOT of fun.


Thank you saj for everything you did for the performance. The choreography, burning CD's everytime the songs were changed and being there for every practice helping us out whenever we had problems, ctitiquing our dancing and suggesting improvements... and just being there! :)


At the concert:




Click here to see video

Going to a health camp with my mother

Next weekend (friday, saturday and sunday) i am accompanying my mother (a doctor) on a health camp near Mannar (in the north of sri lanka). I will be in a group helping with setting up a school for the young children there.

My goals are:

to be co-operative and helpful whenever i can
improve my communication skills especially my sinhala which is abysmal :(
talk to the children and help to establish that it is VERY important that they study as that is their only hope for a better life for themselves and their families
attempt to fill the social and economic gap between 'colombo people' and people in remote areas.
i also think it is very important to show that the difference between the ethnicities: tamil and sinhala, is a socially imposed one and that there is no such thing as a superior ethnic group. i think that by so many people going to those IDP camps every month (there are 80 people on our bus alone) the next generation (hopefully mine too) will be able to identify themselves as sri lankan and not sinhala, tamil, burgher etc. as the people that go are of mixed origin-there are sinhala, tamil, burgher, muslim etc people helping in health camps, as translators, hepling to establish schools.. that is my long term goal, and i think most sri lankans share that goal with me.

CHA!

During the summer, myself and 3 of my friends went to the 'consortium of humanitarian agencies' or CHA to do some volunteer work in the summer. As well as developing our communication skills and giving us an opportunuty to work independantly as well as in cooperatively, we had a chance to help establish help lines for people in need.
This involved compiling databases of contact details of people the CHA could recieve sponsorship from in the future. We also had to call each of these contact and confirm all their details. The working hours were 3 times a week from 9 till 2. Although the job was tedious and boring at times, knowing that indirectly, we were helping people in need made it feel worth it. We also got the opportunity to accompany our supervisors to a village about 2 hours away from colombo as they were carrying out a need assesment of the place. This village is one of many that was created for the families of the soldiers who fought in the recent war in sri lanka. Some of the women there had lost their husbands, other's husbands had disabilities and were be physically unable to work. It was a sobering experience and made us all realize that we must all do something to help these people financially as they had their electricity cut off as they havent paid the bill for 2 months. This meant that the computer classes their children were recieving were terminated as the computers could not be used.
One of my goals this term os to keep in contact with the CHA and ask them what the general public could do to help the situation.

Exercise!

During the summer, when i felt like i needed some exersize, i went for bike rides. This may seem a relaxing activity in which not alot of energy is consumed but i cycled near my house where the roads are steep so it was very tiring going up and down these roads.
I also went for some walks with my mother but i found that walking is not for me so i decided i would rather do something more active.
So, i decided to find some new things to do for excercise. To check if it was effective, i started excersizing in my house for an hour every day. I put on some music and found some space where i could move around. As i used to go for dance classes when i was younger, i know all the warm up routines by heart so i did a few of those stretches and excersises. I felt much better but once i started school i found i didnt have time. My goal is to become organised enough to be able to spare half and hour a day excersizing, whether it be a bike ride or dancing or any other form of excersize.

5 K run

The 5 K run was overall, a success. The money raised (approx 100000 rupees) was donated to Habitat for humanuty as well as the Alzheimers foundation (around 30 000 each) with a little left over for Habitat. The run was disorganised, there were lapses in communication, and although alot of people found the experience enjoyable and a good way to raise funds in conjunction with promoting excersise, there were the odd few who complained about the lack of organisation. the lesson taken from this is that before hosting a public event such as this, every detail should be looked over and confirmed so every person involved is clear on what is happening. there were some things that were out of our control though, such as the chief guest arriving late. There is nothing anyone can do about this so in the future back up plans should be made. I was put on the route to direct the runners towards school (the finish line).

Regarding alzheimers, i have been selling raffle tickets during the summer. I went about 3 or 4 times each for around 2/3/ hours. I was very busy so i didnt spend as much time as i would have liked to on that. The raffle draw is later this month, so i should start selling the tickets i have soon. think i'll make an announcement in assembly or put it in the daily bulletin.

Piano and concert

The piano concert, on the 19th of june was quite a success. I made a few mistakes in the dance i was in, however i managed to play my piece with no mistakes. I was extremely pleased about this and happy that all my hard work paid off! I was commited to the task and i performed the piece well!
Also, I completed grade 2 theory, which i found simple but tedious and at the moment i am doing grade 3, the exam for which is in october.
I have managed to complete grade one, 2 and 3 in 8/9 months and i am happy that developed my musical skills in this short period of time.

I 'UNDERTOOK A NEW CHALLENGE!'

Although this is not technically CAS, i found that during a biology trip to sinharaja, the class had to climb this gigantic mountain. As i usually start off a challenging task by complaining about it, on reflection i was happy that this task i started off thinking 'i WILL do this'. and i did! i did not not give up half way although i had to stop as at one point i couldnt breathe, but i managed to make it to the top. This challenge showed me that i am extremely unfit, despite my efforts to stay healthy. i used to do alot of excerise at my old school, but i have become very lazy. I was also surprised at my dedication as i only stopped to rest once.