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A New Beginning​

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Thursday 6th September 2012

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The community service ‘Hope for Kids,’ has been the most charitable and most unique service I have ever been involved in, resulting in myself choosing to stay and participate in Hope for Kids for a longer period of time. Over the years, being involved in the service, we have experienced various activities and created diverse shows that included a wide variety of materials that eventually has made this service one of the most successful and distinguished service within the school. However, it is not the various productions that we create to raise money that makes this service noteworthy, it is the commitment, the love, the generosity and the personal assistance that each member of this service is willing to share within the group and towards the children at the Cancer Hospital.

 

This semester, as a group, we decided to share the responsibility of leadership among three people; in this case myself, Roger and Arshika, who are both in 12th grade. As a person, it was a tough decision to accept as I felt I had contributed a lot towards this service and that my leadership was snatched away. But then again, as a leader, sharing the control and the power is always best and is a good quality to have!

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In our first meeting, we were introduced to the new members of this service, which consisted mostly of 11th graders and 12th graders. Honestly, I am glad that we have a group that involves these grades because our service is very emotional as we interact with young kids affected by cancer…a situation that is threatening and hard to explain. That is why we need to have mature kids involved who will be able to understand the cause better and provide much more.

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We are glad to still have Ms. Tanuja as our supervisor and welcome Ms. Sureshnie to our service!

Goals within the Group

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Thursday 13th September 2012

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Following back on the meeting we had last week, there were new devices and new elements introduced to the service, which will provide to be very beneficial for the group.

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​What are the goals for this year?

 

My personal goal was to make ‘Hope for Kids,’ known to a wider society other than our school. However, we came up with other minor goals such as:

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  • ​​We might expect the children to love the art and craft activities we prepare, but in reality they might hate it and might prefer watching a concert we perform for them.

  • Interacting with the Parents more in order to find out what the children want instead of us trying to think what we think they might want…there is a huge difference.

  • When planning activities, broaden the variety of events we can do; don’t focus on a specific type of element but try something new, e.g. with drama, music, sports, etc.

  • Visit the hospital more frequently in order to interact with the children more.

  • Donate the money raised from the Fashion show to the Cancer hospital immediately.

        Not only did we have extra goals, we introduced a new system that isn’t involved in other CAS groups and that is a ‘position system,’ where there are certain respective positions that various members will take in order to keep this service intact​

Action Plan​

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Thursday 13th September 2012

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The following plan was created by Arshika and Roger:

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Proposed Positions

 

Public relations coordinator: This person would be in charge of the groups publicity; updating the blog, posting on Facebook, making the hope for kids t-shirts, and making any applicable posters and talking at assemblies. In short; anything to do with our outreach into the school or local community. Will also be in charge of group photography, and taking photographs of the kids at the hospital.

 

Finance Coordinator: The person holding this post would be required to keep track of the equipment taken to and brought back from the hospital. Also any equipment or money donated to the hospital will be tracked by this person and he or she needs to prepare a summary or report for the leader whenever such donations of money have been made.. Needs to keep track of money earned and spent.

 

Logistics Coordinator: Responsible for gathering any equipment or materials needed for the hospital visit, arranging transport and making sure all equipment return to OSC. Also needs to maintain contact with hospital as to when the group can visit and when they cannot. Also needs to maintain contact with the hospital and receive feedback and convey this to the group.

 

Event Coordinator: This person will be responsible for planning the events held by the group. In order to earn more money, this person could organize things such as bake sales to have during lunch/break in school. However this person will also be in charge of planning more large-scale events for the group (e.g.: Last year’s fashion show)

 

Note: The above positions need not be fulfilled alone, they can get help and support from other members but at the end of the day they are responsible for they’re role.

 

Goals (general):​

  • Maximize hospital visits.

  • Minimize planning days.

  • Encourage freedom of choice for the children at the hospital; offer a variety of options for activities.

  • Gather feedback from the children and act on it.

  • Involve the whole service group in decision making processes only as strong as the weakest link.

Our Goal:

​Our goal is to make the children at the hospital as happy as happy can be and that includes doing something THEY WANT to do, not something we want. In order to achieve this, we’re going to need feedback in any shape or form and hence this factor will be the driving force. In order to achieve this goal, the group needs to be highly organized, caring and efficient. This will be ensured through increasing their awareness and understanding of the situation of the children at the hospital.

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I personally think having this system is very beneficial in a group like this as it keep everything organized and make this service much more efficient and easier!

 

The Designated People for the Designated Positions

Each person who was interested in a position was allowed to put their name forward and it was Roger, Arshika, and I who finally decided who is more appropriate for the positions; judging on their previous experience and their admiring qualities.

  • Public Relations Coordinator: Dhanya​

  • Finance Coordinator: Han Wool​

  • Logistic Coordinator: Thaveen and Natasha​

  • Event Coordinator: Emily​

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I’m already excited to what this year will bring for this service!

First Visit​

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Thursday 20th September 2012

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Today was our first visit to the hospital and it was incredible! It was a ‘free time,’ meaning there weren’t any particular activities planned for the day and we just had to join in to whatever the children were doing. On this particular day, some were playing a small game of cricket indoors and the others were watching ‘Lion King.’ We thought of joining everyone together as a group to watch the movie, in order to feel more homely. I personally didn’t think that we were accomplishing much from this as most of the children were distracted and were only enjoying the movie through the images as they couldn’t understand the language.​

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  • The idea popped into my head that maybe we should get movies, such as cartoons that are in Sinhala as then the children will be able to understand more and enjoy the film better.

As most of the kids weren’t interested in the movie, I thought I might start to play with them to make them more enthusiastic and excited, instead of being bored. There were some toy cars nearby which resulted in car racing…there was a Carom board which resulted in an intense game between the children and our group members; and then there was just the interaction between us.

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  • I went outside to play with the children on the swings and it was an emotional moment.​

  • I was with a child, who didn’t have the correct speech abilities and who of of course was unfortunately affected with the disease, but yet, he laughed the whole time!

Not a single moment was there where he wasn’t screaming, smiling or laughing; which showed me how precious life is! Here is a child, affected with the most threatening disease in the world but still doesn’t mind…he is taken life as it comes and instead of crying about it, he wants to enjoy every minute…and I simply admire that!

 

  • I think every member of the CAS left that hospital in a different manner when compared to when they entered it. Each of them were touched by a child’s hearts and we could see it in their eyes that they were ‘hooked’ into this service, and had become fully committed!

Reflecting

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Thursday 4th October 2012

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We decided that for one service session, it will definitely be a meeting where we plan the activities for the hospital visits, which will be the rest of the sessions within the month; so this was our planning session. From last time’s visit, we couldn’t really interact with the parents or with the children as language was a barrier.​

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- This made us decide that a member who can’t speak Sinhala will be accompanied by a member who can, which will then make the time between the child and our members more useful.​

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- We also were looking at the different activities and decided that we will start with arts and craft and then branch out two weeks later.​

  • ​We decided on leaf painting and just normal painting

  • The logistics coordinator had to prepare all the resources​​

- We have to remind ourselves to take a camera in order to capture the moments at the hospital! Emily should probably be in charge of that as she did that job before in the previous years​

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- From everyone’s response, it was a successful first hospital visit and everyone was definitely changed within!

Action Packed Visit

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Thursday 11th October 2012

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Today was a much more action packed visit! Everyone was doing something with their hands; whether it be painting with a child, playing a game, drawing, etc. In other words, everyone was busy! Ms. Lenk, the Service Supervisor joint us on this visit and I think she definitely was emotionally changed and proud to see her school members involved in such a committed service like this!

 

- I changed my role every few minutes in order to interact with more children. First of all, I was trying to help paint this specific boy’s painting but tried not to do much as I was afraid I would ruin it. His painting was spectacular and the least I could do was not share my artistic skills and spoil his piece of work.​

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- I played a few carom games as well, and boy, was it fun! The children can become quite competitive and if you don’t know your moves well, you might as well accept defeat.

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- All of the children who we interacted with today were so talented, even some to a degree that we couldn’t compare ourselves to them; to remind you, these are just 8 – 12 year old children in comparison with 16 – 18 year olds like us.

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- It’s sad to see such talent shut in this hospital! Just because they have this disease doesn’t mean their opportunities are shut down. So what exactly can we do to show their talents?

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- Also, the children’s ward is in need of some resources, such as painting brushes and painting bowls to keep the water in; we noted that down in order to be prepared for the next visit.

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- Sometimes, I feel that some members may do some work for a period of time but then are left idling around doing absolutely nothing.

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This needs to be brought up at the next meeting. Everyone should be doing something, even if it’s cleaning the book shelf or cleaning the table. They have to do some sort of activity will benefit the children and the environment they live in; that’s the whole point of this service.​

 

- On a more positive note, the language barrier became less of a hassle today. Our plan seemed to be working and some children were having normal conversations with our members; it brought everyone closer!

"Stand up for them. ​

Stand up with them."​

Relaxed

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Thursday 18th October 2012

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Out of all of our ‘relaxed’ meetings that we have in the Aqua lab, I think today was the most beneficial as we used our time very well. Usually, after we finish arranging the activities for the next trip and discuss any matters, we tell everyone to work on their blogs. But today, we had a discussion about everything, personal and eternal lifestyle matters. First of all, we did the normal routine of discussing what elements we had to cover with the main factor being what we were going to do in our next hospital visit. The logistics team will have to arrange all the resources for the particular activity, which in this case is ‘leaf painting,’ and ‘bead and jewelry.’ However, the most significant part of the meeting was when everyone was sharing their goals and their experiences over the last few weeks. Each member was emotionally changed due to interacting with the children and actually taking the time to try and understand what they are going through. The idea of these children being exactly like us and unfortunately falling in this situation shook them and now, they are more eager and more interested in this CAS.​

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When it came to my turn to speak about what I was thinking at the present moment, I was looking at the past and discussing on why I’m still in this group and how every session with the children makes me undertake new challenges…which is the truth. But, I mainly focused on what the future holds for Hope for Kids and that meant looking back into my goal of making our service known within other communities. We discussed on other foundations that we can get in touch with and together, create fundraisers for the hospital and for the children’s ward. Names such as the Rotary Clubs in Sri Lanka, the Lion Club and the Wish Foundation were brought up in order for us to contact them in due course.

Pencil Sharpening

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Thursday 1st November 2012

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We were able to go to the hospital today even with the heavy rain and I think it was a productive visit. Unfortunately, the children weren’t able to come down from their wards due to rain, but we still made ourselves useful by clearing up the children’s play area. The group were split into two, with one part working on dusting, cleaning and arranging the book shelf; while the others were arranging the stationary shelf by sorting all elements into specific boxes, sharpening pencils and making sure each marker and pen worked instead of the unused and broken ones remaining in the box. It was a difficult job and most members got blisters on their fingers from sharpening hundreds of color pencils.

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When looking back, they have adequate and enough equipment…the amount of packs of crayons they had, the number of sharpeners, etc. However, they aren’t kept in good conditions…most equipment have gotten misplaced over the years which in the end will be a waste of money.​

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- This shows that we should have more frequent stationary checks, at least once in two weeks.

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Also, every week our group gets closer together…but this week, even if there were no children, as soon as we reached the play area, we got to work. Everyone was split into different groups, and they did the jobs without any excuses. It was a nice site to see! Every member worked collaboratively and made ‘sharpening pencils,’ a fun activity to do at the end!

Spicing it Up

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Thursday 15th November 2012

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This meeting fitted in to the ‘relaxed’ sessions. We were planning on the activities for the sessions that followed in the future. Everyone was suggesting another ‘arts and craft’ activity, but I was looking through another perspective.

Yes, we always interact with them and have a lovely time; however, how can we contribute in a more creative and fun way? I thought of this:

 

  • Why don’t we perform for them? Like a small concert or show?It can be musical or even theatrical?

  • The main purpose is for the children to relax and be entertained by us.

  • It definitely should be funny in order to make them laugh. There might be a problem with the language, but we can always show the entertainment through physical movements of facial expressions.

The idea was spread around the group and they all agreed with it. Everyone was suggesting that we do something simple and then build on it later on. We decided that we will sing some songs (English and Sinhala) and maybe accompany the singing with instruments (of course played by us) There will also be a backing track just in case:

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Songs are:

  • Wonderwall by Oasis

  • Fast Car – Tracy Chapman

  • Surangani and Ramberi -Both Sri Lankan songs​

  • Every song chosen is highly entertaining and is sung at various tempos. I arranged to choose and download the songs; and also play the flute if possible. However, I’m thinking that with the instruments, there might be confusion with the melody and rhythm (if we don’t match up to the backing up track)

Christmas Time

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Thursday 6th December 2012

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Unfortunately, this was our last trip to the Cancer Hospital this semester but definitely the most deserving, worthy and one of the most special trips we've ever done. For this session, the theme was based on the 'Christmas Mood,' where the main goal was to bring a smile on everyone's face with the merry feelings in the background. The plan was:

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  • Distribute Christmas Presents to each child

  • Maybe do a little performance

  • Bring Santa to the hospital

I unfortunately couldn't do much of the planning of this 'little party,' as I wanted to due to being in Malaysia. However, I did contribute through an 'action' type of activity by wrapping a 'good amount of presents.' The presents consisted of:​

-​Boys: Ben 10 stickers, cars, spider-man toys, etc.​

- Girls: Disney Princess stickers, jewellery kits, etc. ​

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While wrapping all these presents, I was thinking, 'is what we are doing worth it? Will a batman sticker put a smile on his face?' Well, it turned out that everything we did on this day was magnificent and definitely put smiles on all their faces.

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  • We arrived there at about at 3:00 and had one hour until Santa came, which in this case was of course, Mr. Synder.

  • ​When we arrived at the playhouse, everyone was already there...all the children were sitting on their cute chairs, and parents surrounded them. That took us by surprise and it definitely meant we had to entertain them.

  • Firstly, we arranged the presents into the different gender groups and then gathered around the kids. We had Christmas songs but some of our members became surprisingly shy and didn't sing as planned.

  • To keep the mood going, I decided to act like a 'Christmas gift,' and was singing all the songs I could possibly think of. This brought in some of the other group members to join...finally! I was in a very enthusiastic mood so I started to dance for them in order to pull the kids in to this festive mood.

  • But then finally, as a group, we found a song which could definitely entertain the kids and was somewhat funny in a way...and that was 'Gangnam Style.' It wasn't a Christmas song but I just wanted to make them laugh; so myself, Sanaj, Roger and Dhanya gave them quite a performance.

  • We then decided to move into the classroom and put on a C'Mas movie until Santa came, and then he did.

  • Wow! What an experience it was...This year, distributing the presents to the wards was painful but hopeful at the same time. A few of us had the privilege to go to the ICU wards, a place where no one is allowed usually. The children in those wards ranged from a few months old and was all connected to needles; but each of them had a smile on their face when they received their presents...no one was sad.

  • We went around the whole hospital, to many different wards, met many kids and brought some joy to their faces.

  • Santa was definitely a blessing. He entered a ward with 'a HO HO HO MERRRRY CHRISTMAS!' and all the kids started to laugh; that was the main goal of this CAS...for the children to forget all their worries for a second.

  • We had enough gifts for everyone and each member of our CAS was changed...especially the ones who visited the wards.

It was a good and successful day!

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Reflection: This year started with a lot of changes made towards Hope for Kids, some which took my by surprise but made me open myself up as a more independent learner. It started out with the sharing of leadership roles, a move where I was very hesistant in undertaking. However, throughout the CAS sessions, I was able to take a step back in always doing the 'planning work,' and actually take the time to enjoy myself with the kids; something I didn't do as much in the years before. I am able to be more of a risk taker and express my personality by trying out new tricks I have under my sleeve. A clear example was at the Christmas party where everyone else was a bit shy, but I took to challenge to try and entertain the kids. I've understood that it doesn't matter if I look silly in whatever I'm doing, but if the kids are laughing I'm achieving my goal. ​

Need some organization!

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Thursday 7th February 2013

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​Back to business! Week Without Walls is done and service has started. Today, we just discussed what we need to achieve this semester and I took the role of leadership. We looked back at our goals and I thought that our group wasn’t being as collaborative enough, so I became open minded and made the discussion and open group discussion. Firstly, I listed out the following issues we had to look at:

-       The development of the selling of the T-Shirts
-       The situation with the teacher
-       Advertising Hope for Kids to the outside community
-       Daily Schedule

 

T-Shirts

​Our t-shirts are our main priority when trying to raise funds as we decided not to organize any major events this semester. The t-shirts are currently decorated with designs and patterns by the children in the hospital themselves. Personally, this makes the t-shirts more special and more distinctive; it creates a bigger emotional effect to the world around us. In order to sell these t-shirts, I decided to make a poster…that’s the first step. The question comes, where do we sell it?
 

  • The most appropriate choice is to sell the t-shirts at any cancer related events, even when it’s held by different organizations and different schools.

  • In order for us to do that, we have to research and find out the different functions held around in Sri Lanka and contact them immediately.

  • Action Taken: Assigned everyone in the group to find a specific event, related to cancer; can be a concert or walk….whatever it may be!

  • Later on, bring all the events together and decide which is the most suitable enough to sell the T-shirt at.

Teacher
After the previous teacher left, we were having difficulties in finding a new one…but there is a lady who has applied for the job but unfortunately  she is a bit too young for the position. However, that’s going to be the challenge that we are willing to accept.

Next Week Plan​
 

For next week, I came up with the idea of creating a Hope for Kids banner for the playhouse.

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  • The banner will be of white cloth

  • Arranged by Thaveen and Natasha from the logistics team

  • They will talk with the financial supervision, Han Wool, in order to get money from our account in order to buy the cloth.

  • Next Tuesday or Wednesday, Emily will write the Hope for Kids Logo on the cloth and members of the group will go during lunch in order to spray paint the letters.

  • There has to be ample time in order for the paint to dry up!​​

  • With discussions like this, we can bring everyone back to square one and remind ourselves what’s the main goal for this service; and make them committed to the group.

 

Banner Time

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Thursday 14th February 2013

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It’s sad when you get to know that some of the children you played just two months ago are no longer in the hospital…they’re gone. These are the times that you wish you weren’t involved in a heartbreaking service like this because it’s always emotional. Anyways, today was a slow day because not many kids were involved as they were too tired and weak to come to the play house. However, there were 2 children who came down and they decided to decorate our banner which we took there. They started with flowery effects to even ‘lion king,’ being sketched; so accurate and so beautiful.

While some of our kids interacted with the banner and helped them out, the others started to arrange the books. It was in a complete mess with English mixed with Tamil and Singhala and we thought that if we arranged the books into different categories, it would first of all assist the teacher in a huge way and make it more efficient and easier for the kids.  Other than our hands getting a bit dusty and some of us sneezing, we accomplished our goal and ultimately cleaned the whole of the playhouse; not only the book shelves. We found a broom and started cleaning the floors and making sure it was spotless clean.

This is an example of how our group collaborates together to find any job that will contribute to the service instead of just being idle.

​I made a poster for the T-Shirts...thought I should take the initiative in order to get this campaign going. It includes all the relevant information in order for the T-shirts to sell quickly and it's quite attractive to look at. I personally think the picture of the child grasps the main attention of the audience in order for them to feel emotional and connected to the cause. My goal is to make these posters worldwide, well specifically around Sri Lanka in order to spread the message. I have to now get approval from the leaders...

Nice to be Back

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Thursday 21st March 2013

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After all the interruptions, the delays and the play rehearsals, I am finally back to Hope for Kids. I felt guilty for not being as committed as I could be but unfortunately to my prior commitment to the Secondary Production and lots of tension building up in the final stages, I had to give all my attention to the cast and the director. ​

 

Anyways :) My first week back we went to the hospital and it was an enjoyable moment. The sad aspect was not our whole group was present in order to make this trip more efficient; however we worked with what we got. Firstly, my goal of the day was to focus on one kid and to contribute everything I had to helping him/her out in whatever she was doing. Today, I was with a pretty girl who unfortunately I couldn't catch her name and who was deeply interested with the clay. So with her, I made some pretty 'neat' flowers and some sort of animals, but compared to her talent, my creations looked pretty disgusting. ​

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The talent that surrounds that hospital is quite brilliant and sometimes, its incomparable to the talent in our school. During that time, an idea sprung up to me on how to showcase their work in a big way...make them known to a wider audience. I am aware that other organizations have taken the initative to perform this, such as art exhibitions, etc. However, the question is what can Hope for Kids do?​

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Meeting about Food 'n' Fun Fair

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Thursday 28th March 2013

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​Food and fun fair is coming up this weekend and during my absence the group had come up with two creative ideas in order to earn some funds.

  • ​The first one being to go arrange a photo booth where the community will be able to take ample and creative photos of themselves by buying a Hope for Kids T-shirt as their entrance fee to the booth. Personally, I think that's an interesting idea however, the organizers of the Photo booth will be ideally waiting to get some money out of this event as well, since it's their equipment. This brings up the question on how much money we give to them and how much money we keep. Also, what if some people don't want a T-Shirt but just want a photo...another difficulty.​

  • ​​The second idea, which arose from Dhanya's mind was the concept of having a 'Shoot the dart and let the teacher fall into the water.' According to her, one of the rotary international clubs she knows at her earlier school has contacts with this kind of activity and since it's charity, all the funds will be given to us and to no outer audience. It sounds like a terrific idea because it's highly interesting, new and who wouldn't to shoot a teacher into the water and make them all wet? Everyone was all for this activity as we would be making a lot of money with the same concept of buying a T-shirt and getting an entrance free; or if they didn't want a T-shirt, will have a specific amount for the activity only.

  • However, the 'creative shooting,' activity was a downfall as the organizers had some technical problems. This meant, we had to go with the photo booth. The conclusion to this was:

  • ​Buy a T-Shirt for Rs/=500 and get a free entrance. Buy a t-shirt that is painted by the children for Rs/=700, contribute more and get a free entrance. Or just move directly to the photo booth and abide with their prices. The money we collect overall will be split with the photo booth and our service, unless clients ONLY bought the t-shirt...then it's our money. Seems like an 'okay,' plan...let's see how it works on Saturday.​

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Painting?

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Thursday 4th April 2013

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Our next objective is to start painting the children's playhouse and personally, that's a great idea! The current look of the playhouse is quite dull and looks like a hospital should...which creates a negative environment for the children. With a more colorful and exciting surrounding with vibrant colors their favorite cartoon characters, the children will be more cheerful and ecstatic in a way.

 

Today we were planning the different sections we will be painting, what colors, etc. The painting 'expedition,' will happen on Saturday 27th April... The question I have is, does it only have to be our service kids? Can't anyone in school also help out; it will count for Service hours. A notification in the newsletter must go in or each of us should notify fellow artists to come and help us. Below is the following information of who's doing what...on that day. Some gaps are still needed to be filled.

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Group A - Sanaj

- Left side of hall

     -POWDER YELLOW WALLS

- Characters
    - Ben 10

         *White
         *Green
         *Black

    - Robin

    - Spongebob
         *Red
         *Brown
         *White
         *Yellow

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Group B - Leader?
- Back Wall?
     -PURPLE AND YELLOW WALLS

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Group C – Nethashi
- Painting the Ceiling
      *Pastel Blue
      *Pastel Yellow 

- Icons
      - Clouds and Stars

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Group D - ?
- Painting the Ponies
       *Pink
       *Blue
       *Yellow


Group E
- Painting the power puff girls
        *Red
        *Blue
        *Green

Interact... and make thyself useful

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Thursday 2nd May 2013

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Unfortunately, plans changed when we were unable to go to the hospital on the 27th due to there being a problem with the septic tanks and clearly, there was a hygienic problem opened to all of us. So, we were pushed to postpone the activity for the 4th of May which wasn't that far off. However today, we had a big surprise when we visited the hospital...from this whole year, this was the first time we had over 20 kids in the play house; the biggest group yet for a session. It was a joy to see that and the pleasure to interact with each of them was immense. ​

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Firstly, my goal for today was to focus the babies who were their moms rather than the younger children who were already involved in activities. The reason being is that the babies didn't have much responsibility in doing anything at that moment, and the only principles and skills they were able to learn was physical skills, e.g. how to walk on their own, how to throw ball, how to ride a bike, simple games, etc. With that in mind I proceeded to interacting with two adorable girls who were sitting on their mothers laps and was doing nothing at all, except from rocking on one of the toy horses. I took the initiative to take a ball so I could throw it to them and make them catch... it was harder than you think. Literally, it became a teaching session as I was instructing them, through a lot of visual actions on how to aim, how to pass the ball to each other than keeping it, and have fun; and surprisingly, they were full of giggles, including the mother. So overall, I thought two babies on how to throw a ball... SUCCESS!​

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While I was having an education session with my dear kids, half of the group were in the classroom involved in some art activities while the 'artists' from the group were planning the painting. I left my 'class' and went to organizing the painting as well. While doing so, we were assured that all the painting materials had been bought by Ms. Tanuja and that she was bringing some of the school maintenance staff to help out with the ceiling work that was to be done with the sponges. While talking, Emily and myself noticed an empty room at the back of the playhouse which was, in an ideal manner, a 'library.' Lots of ideas flowed into our head on how we can clean it up a bit to make it look more presentable. So another a 'note of business,' was added to the Saturday schedule and that was arranging the library section by organizing the books into adults and children and sweeping the place a bit. The final goal for this section was to have a place for the parents, especially the mothers to sit, maybe read a magazine and book, or even write some letters to distant relatives. This means that we have to get some postcard, stamps, paper, etc. and maybe the leftover paint from Saturday can go into creating a mural inside the library...just to cheer up the room from a white background.

 

So as you can see, today's session was quite progressive! Can't wait for Saturday :)

Hope for Kids

Hope for Kids is a community service that involves students from OSC to interact with children who are presently staying in the Maharagama Cancer Hospital. We visit the hospital quite frequently and meet with the kids in their playhouse where we organize art and craft, music, storytelling, drama and other fun activities for the children. These visits to the Play House are looked forward to by the little patients and bring a smile to the often sad and confused faces. The students meet once a month in school to plan work and games for the rest of the month. Students are also involved in fundraisers, such as concerts, sales and shows that help in funding any equipment or need at the hospital.​​ Supervisor: Ms. Tanuja Sennayake

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