PIN HOLE PHOTOGRAPHY

After MUN concluded for the year, I decided to develop new skills, hence I chose Pinhole Photography to support the creative part of CAS and I am glad I did. I always loved taking photographs but this photography is nothing like the normal photography. According to the website Wikipedia, Pinhole camera is a simple one which is essentially "a light proof box with a small hole in one side." The pinhole allows the light to pass through it and the image of the object is projected (inverse) on the opposite side of the box and the size of the hole determines the sharpness of the object (wikipedia).

For the photo exhibition, I planned to shoot my feet wearing shoes after contemplating various subjects. I felt that my feet represent me as a person, since I am a wandering global citizen, who loves to travel and hence felt the most appropriate object (Living).

The photo was not as clear as I expected. I felt that the placement of the camera was fine but the distance between the camera and feet may have been a little off as perfect and this lead to a certain amount of haziness. It could have also been due to the size of the hole in my box too, as the size of the hole determines how much light enters the tin. Since I joined quite late, I think, my techniques were not as good as I would have liked them to be. However, I am very proud of "My foot" and with continued effort, I am sure to improve. While this elective challenged me due to limited time I spent learning the process. I feel I have a long way to go before I can claim to know pin hole photography.

PALATE PARTY

Open publication - Free publishing - More service

To me, this is one of the major highlights of my grade 11. Once I planned and initiated the service project to help the children suffering from Cleft and Palate, I realised I need to be extremely committed to actualy make my dream a reality; like the surgery; timing is key here. The children suffering from this condition need to undergo the surgery between the ages of 6 to 12 months to integrate well into society. Since my project was delayed by a semester, in my search for the doctor, I had only one semester before I raised enough funds for atleast 10 surgeries in order to make a tangible difference. I knew it would be challenging to accomplish my goal particularly with assignment deadlines closing in and year end exams looming down on us. That makes it Rs.150,000. I knew collaborating with my group and convincing heads of corporate firms is the only way to accomplish this goal. It is going to be an difficult task as this kind of money was never collected by one service project in one semester.

PLANNING

It was great to have Ms. Flynn as a supervisor. She was firm in her guidence but at the same time gave us the freedom to do things our way. She strogly backed me with my idea to get corporate sponsorships and helped us, with the letters to the companies. We decided to have a party to raise funds and we decided to hold it outside school as we needed more people to attend the party as OSC does not permit other school students for after hours parties on campus.

As a team we divided people for various works. Though we were the service with fewer students, each one worked with enthusiasm and collaborated well. Emily and Upanda were incharge of poster which was edited by Dilan in the end. They did a fantastic job. Below is the poster:

While the girls were busy with the poster, we made an appointment with Hilton GM. Devansh and I met the GM, who was very patient and understanding and offerend us best venue for an event like this, Blue Elephant which come ready with DJ turn tables, dance floor, drinks counter etc. I contacted GM of Coca Cola Beverages SriLanka Limited, who once again was fabulous in his response and offered us the drinks and delivery on the day. BBDO, an advertising agency, printed our posters and tickets for us and last but not the least Secure Securities Limted Provided the security guards at the venue. We finalised the DJ who considered our cause and gave us a discount of RS5,ooo, which means he was going to cost us Rs15,000. What amazed me, was the quick and positive response of all those individuals heading these companies and their willingness to help us, help the children suffering from the condition. They support was crucial for the success of our event and and they were, supportive. I learnt that corporates have a program called "Corporate Social Responsibility" or CSR and they want to give back to the society in their own way. My interactions with them helped my personal growth not only in terms of my presentation skills but also in helping me decide that I would like to study management and be a part of the business world.

So, this means that the total cost of the event to us is going to be Rs 15,000. We were hoping for about 100 students to attend and Finally decided to price the tickets at Rs750 per ticket with a free drink.

The biggest challenge we faced was the advertising. We were counting big time on the students from Colombo International School, Asian International School, British School and Elizabeth Moir. However, we were not aware that except British School all others were starting their final exams in the first week of May. We were not given permission to put up our posters in any of the above schools with the exception of British school. This was a huge surprise and I was really concerned as these are the schools with large student bodies but we did not give up. Our team worked together and started hanging posters on electricity poles outside the above schools. We also started calling people we know personally, to bring along their friends to make for the numbers we knew we lost because we were committed to make this event a success.

THE DAY OF THE EVENT - 27/4/2010

I decided to be at the venue early so that we can address any problems that may crop up at the last minute. We pre-sold some tickets but most of our sales happened on the day of the party. The attendence from our school (OSC) was the best and this was no surprise. There were quite a few students from British school. All in all, 80 students attended the event and we recieved good reviews about music, DJ, the venue and the gathering in general, from those who attended. We did have small isues like students wandering into the garden and this is one of the areas that was off-limits. Our security was able to take care of this problem. Our perseverence paid off and palate party was a success.

Between the nine of us we handled the ticket sales and manned the coke bar , while coca cola sri lanka gave us more cokes than we would ever need, Hilton gave us waiters along with the venue and the music rocked. We collected Rs.60,000 that night and after paying the DJ, we had Rs45,000 (will pay for 3 surgeries).

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS

All along I was aware that organizing one event will not pay for 10 surgeries. While the planning for Palate Party was going on, I started writing to some well known Corporate houses in Sri Lanka seeking help for raise funds to support the surgeries of children suffering from cleft lip and palate. Ms.Flynn helped me frame the letters and helped me tremendously by talking to the principal. Companies are conscious about social responsibility and they want to give back to the society they operate in. I was very fortunate to meet these people and have learnt much in the process from them which will greatly help in shaping my future.

Tata Communications Lanka Limited--------------Rs25,000
Work Wear Lanka---------------------------------Rs 7,500
Fonterra Brands Lanka Limited-------------------Rs 30,000
Agni Gas------------------------------------------Rs 15,000
Sai Residences------------------------------------Rs 30,000

Palate Party--------------------------------------Rs 45,000
Additional tickets bought by parents of OSC------Rs 7,500

Total--------------------------------------------Rs 157,500
10 surgeries (15,000x10)------------------------Rs 150,000
Balance------------------------------------------Rs 7,500

REFLECTIONS

The experience of initiating and leading the service along with organizing Palate Party taught me so much along with all my experiences put together. Below are the skills I learnt in the process.
1. Community service is much more meaningful when we actually know the people we help
2. Time Management
3. Corporates can make a difference to the community
4. Handle Pressure
5. Not to be discouraged by hurdles but think of an alternative solution to problems
6. leadership roles are a lot more challenging than what I originally thought
8. Self-Confidence and self-Reliance
9. Team work is all about collaboration and cooprative spirit

After paying for 10 surgeries, we have Rs10,000 to begin our journey with enthusiasm, next year and that I am looking forward to the experience with all of its challenges and learnings.

Model United Nations

With MUN Students of Lahore International school

Colombo Model United Nations (COMUN) with over 500 representatives could be quite intimidating but having been a part of the process before I was ready with my research and eagerly waiting for the day. I hosted three girls from Lahore, Pakistan and that is definitely a new experience for me and an interesting personal learning. COMUN operated between 5/3/2010 to 7/3/2010 and it was an opportunity for me to develop my debating skills as I stated at the beginning of the year. I was in Committee One and I was the representative of Zimbabwe. It indeed was a challenge to represent Zimbabwe when the central topic of discussion is Human trafficking. I learnt so many facts about human trafficking such as, it is not done just for sex trade and not all the victims are women and children. Eventhough my country Zimbabwe was a challenging one to debate, I managed to talk few times. Below is the definition of Human Trafficking.

MUN is a creative activity because Every student need to do role play. We need to feel one with the country that we are representing. This Role play can be very challenging especially when you are representing a country that defies your beliefs. If we do not sound convincing in our argument for the country that we represent, we'll be shot down by the representatives of the developed countries in no time.

On day 1 we debated "combating the illicit trafficking of human beings caught in armed conflict" and on day 2 we debated "exercising the responsibility to protect". MUN gives us great insights into social issues that we do not really focus on, day to day. I attribute this for my social awareness and great interest in related world issues to a large extent. It gives us an opportunity to know and understand the horrendous crimes and grievences, that are inconceivable to us living normal lives in distant places. MUN also gives us an opportunity to come up with diplomatic resolutions and in the process helps us to develop our analytical skills and also to not be judgemental.

So, this experience of representing Zimbabwe taught me to research as much in detail as possible because to find their positive acts was rather difficult. I learnt to speak with conviction and also write resolutuins rather fast, in less than 45 minutes. I learnt to take a stand for Zimbabwe and supported war in the process, which is against my personal conviction. I said, "In a situation where Libya fails to hand over the persons responsible for the death on the Chinese Ambasodor, Zinbabwe would be willing to use its full military might against Libya."Thus I can say, MUN helped me develop my role playing skills.

On Days 1 and 2, each committee operated independently but on day 3 General Assembly convened at Water's Edge. A near nuclear war between China and Taiwan was the 'Emergence Topic' that was debated on the day. I did talk on the day and I am proud of my accomplishment. Public speaking, I have to say is not an easy task, especially if I have to speak in front of 500 delegates but once I am there I love it. It is something that I enjoy and in the process makes me confident about what I am speaking.

Overall, each day was challenging, with the sessions lasting around 10 hours but it great experience that helped me hone my research skills, debating skills, Speech skills, language skills while writing resolutions and last but not the least role-playing skills. However, in future, I would like to use my organizational skills in MUN and for that I want to be in the organizing committee. I feel that I am a responsible individual and I have the ability to plan an event such as this and to work collaboratively with members of organizing committee. I would like to develop my oraganisational skills further by being a part of the committee.

Week Without Walls

"Week Without Walls" (WWW) is a programme devised to Promote the core principles of CAS. It not only promotes community service but also action and creativity. Having taken part in the programme over the last two years, I was keenly looking forward to our week in Hambantota (8/2/2010 --12/2/2010). Our grade was divided into two groups to paint two pre-schools. Our group planned the mural before we left on the trip. Working collaboratively becomes critical for projects such as these. Hence we decided that the creative lot in our group would work on the mural while others like me would finish up painting walls (both inner and outer), doors, floors, play equipment and also to a mural on one of the walls of the assigned pre-school. We pooled in money (each student of grade 11 gave Rs.1000), with which we bought gifts such as back packs, pencils, dolls, t-shirts among other things, for the little kids studying in the pre-school and on the morning of 8 February, we were off to to Hambantota which lies close to the southern tip of Sri Lanka.

For the next 3 days we painted the pre-school that we were assigned from morning to evening (9am to 4pm). I was incharge of painting walls, one of which was the largest interior wall and also doors. Not being the most creative person on our team, I was not assigned the mural work but I would like to stress upon the fact that the architect that designs a building need not have the capability to paint the mural inside the building. I learnt that we need to sand before we actually paint and also that the painting starts looking good only after second coat. Painting the walls with roller brushes and achieving a smooth finish is artistic too. Deciding the colour combinations to paint the doors is artistic too. I am especially proud of the doors that I painted and loved my colour combinations. I had never performed this kind of task and I leant new skills like stripping, sanding and painting during the week. I was happy thinking that the children are going to have a cheerful learning environment, once we completed the work. This I see as the Creative aspect of our WWW.

I took great pleasure in painting the walls and doors even though it was physically challenging. Working for hours on end was exhausting but this clearly is the action part of our CAS requirement. Playing golf and running in the gym pale in comparison to the physically stressful job of painting.

However, Community service is at the heart of WWW. It was an amazing feeling to make a real difference to the learning environment of underprivileged children. The hours they spend in school are going to be more pleasurable due to the painting job we did. That somehow made all the exhaustion worthwhile and compelled me to do my best work. Ofcourse, the children are so young that they would not be excited only by our painting. We gave them the gifts we took and each day we played for about an hour with them. We conducted games and the joy on the faces of those little children was the reward we reaped that week. We put up a concert for the kids and puppet show was one that the kids loved and the children in turn put up a show for us which I would say was the cream of the cake. The village community was very appreciative and they treated us with local goodies. Our team worked wonderfully well and each and every one did their best. The co-operative spirit was evident through out the week.

I strogly believe that community service should not be only about donating money to a charity oraganization. This Project supports my belief and it was one of the many reasons for me to consider our WWW, a success. I was able to give my time and energy to make a small difference and I consider that as good progress towards making a tangible difference to the community. This experience raised my social awareness on the inequalities in society and the hardships experineced my certain classes for basic amenities like a pleasant school atmosphere. Hence, service to community will remain a top priority in my future.

One of the outside walls that I worked on

A door painted by me
One of the windows I painted
With the kids
Our Group in front of the painted school complete with mural

Playing golf is mentally challenging but I enjoy the game and I am committed to develop my skills further.
Precision, concentration and a planning needed on the putting green.
Co-ordination of body, mind and right club to drive the ball

I have been a regular in the gym and I I am happy to share that I have lost another kilo. It is encouraging to lose weight after working out and this further helps me to keep working out. I have not been training with my trainer as our timings are not working out. It is becoming increasingly challenging to manage my activities and studies in a given day. Hence, I have been following the old schedule and doing it on my own.

My golf on the other hand is progressing well and I should be able to get my handicap in about a month or so. Recently my father's friend from Dubai came to the driving range with us and watched me play (a good golf player with a handicap of 6) . He gave me some very important tips for short game and even gifted me a book "The Best Short Game". He also pointed out some mistakes that I was making, for example, I was lifting my head too early and this is one of the reasons why the ball was turning, instead of going straight. I realized that I need to develop my short game skills. It was an interesting session and very encouraging. He told me that, if I had started playing golf two years earlier, I would have got a golf scholarship to College. He also told me that golf is a life style and once you start playing refularly, it really becomes a way of life meaning, Commitment and perseverance will be keys to golfing success. Interesting session!! Above are some photos of me in the driving range and putting green.

Smile With Confidence