I have done many things for service these past 2 years and i think the one that has had the most impact on me is teaching english at a convent near my house. I have undertaken this new challenge as i have had to figure out ways of teaching a language which is a big task and i have become aware of my strengths which are being firm but fair when teaching and not picking favourites-i like anyone that works hard. I have also become aware of my weaknesses which are being impatient with the children and losing my temper. This is where i consider the global impact of what i am doing. I am helping poor children to learn english which will help them to gain employment when they are older as english is very important not in Sri Lanka. I am happy to be helping them and i am even happier that the teaching has moved to a larger scale where more children can be helped.
Alzheimers and Habitat for Humanity are the two service groups i have been involved in in school. I feel i have contributed to the betterment of the lives of people that these cas groups are helping so i am aware of the global impact these activities have had. However, i have also understood the ethical implications of these are that some people do service so that they have something to write about for CAS and not becuase they really care about who/what they are helping. This bothers me as i am not one of these people but know many of them. I have become aware of the skills i have developed doing these things such as leadership skills, organisational skills and public speaking skills. Also the skills i know i must develop are getting along with all kinds of people as there were a few in my CAS i did not like and there was friction within the group. I also need to learn to be more patient and tolerant. Overall, i think i gained alot from these 2 groups and i have gained alot from participating in both of them.
Desi girl concert-this was for a charity concert and the time i spent preparing for it wiht my friends was considerable so i think i put in alot of perseverence and commitment to it. I am also happy as i made some steps up in a genre i have never done before and they looked good so i am happy with my contribution. In this respect it was also a new challenge that i undertook.
Mannar trip-i went to Mannar and i think i gained alot of insight into the lives of the less fortunate. I do not think i did a good job of folllowing it up with the bicycle project as i have been very busy but maybe during my gap year i hope to continue with more planned and initiated activities such as this one. I also had a chance to consider the global impact f what i was doing-i was helping patients in a health camp.
Week Without Walls: This really experience contributed to the development of my skills with children and entertaining them. It also showed me how patient i could be when doing something worthwhile like painting the school (which we had to do the whole day). I was forced to consider some ethical implications of this trip we may not really have done anything to help the community except make the walls of the preschool look nicer. We could have used all that money and time on something that would have had a more profound effect on the community. Also, the fact that we did all the work and did not involve the children and parents of the children was not a good idea in my mind because it is when a community contributes to something for themselves that they truly appreciate it, not when it is dumped in their lap. However considering that we are only high school kids and have a limited time, there was not much else we could do.
CHA: The experinece at the CHA i did not feel contributed to any one directly as we were helping to compile a database but i know that indirectly it will help someone.
This experience was a new challenge that i undertook because i am an impatient person and this job required sitting in one place and typing on a computer as well as using the telephone alot. I became aware of my strengths- being patient when i have to and being polite constantly even though i became exasperated with the work. I thought i would hate the office environment but it was not as chlaustrophobic as i expected. The areas for development of my skills that i became aware of were that i need to be more proactive if i am to be fully involved in something, as i found that i was so distracted because i didnt think i was doing anything to really help anyone. This is something i need to work on if i am to pursue a career in humanitarian aid. I will not always be helping people directly but what i do can still make a difference. I found that after a few days it was easy and i didnt have to bite my tongue everytime i got an irritating person on the line. Overall i am happy with this experience and what i learnt from it as i think i can use it in my future and it showed me how i can hava an impact.
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