Footprints Magazine 2019 - Project Week

FOOTPRI NTS PROJECT WEEK 2019

OUR TEAM editor's note What distinguishes UWC from other schools is the emphasis on striving to become a global citizen. By forming connections across the world, we form a sense of belonging everywhere.

Project Week helps establish this internationalism, and with it, we experience home in multiple ways and places.

maitreyi sanadhya

Left to right:

"UNSELFISH AND NOBLE

Irene Hae-Rim Kim, Pooja Satish, Maitreyi Sanadhya, Rhea

ACTIONS ARE THE MOST

Singh, Min Sik Eom, Sandra Binny Absent: Meghna Chaudhury

RADIANT PAGES IN THE BIOGRAPHY OF SOULS." - DAVID THOMAS

"WE TRAVEL, SOME OF US FOREVER, TO SEEK OTHER PLACES, OTHER LIVES, OTHER SOULS." - ANAÏS NIN

CONTENTS Malaysia page 38

Nepal page 46

Philippines page 52

Sri Lanka page 59

Taiwan page 62

Thailand page 64

Vietnam page 76

CONTENTS Cambodia page 6

China page 24

Hong Kong page 28

India page 31

Indonesia page 33

Laos page 36

CAMBODI A

Ace Wat Thann PHNOM PENH

ACE helps uplift and provide education to underprivileged children in Cambodia’s slums. It also helps clean up these slums, making it a safer environment for the children.

Members: Adam Djerf, Arya Madan Mohan, Srinivas Ananthanarayanan, Arihant Singhai, Krishiv Pahwa

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding experience was teaching the kids how to dance. The sheer happiness they received from learning helped put things into perspective for us. Seeing their satisfaction from succeeding to do dance moves was definitely the most rewarding thing.

The first day at the service for us was definitely the most challenging, as breaking the social barrier between us and the kids was quite difficult.

However, as the days went by, the kids started to work with us more and more, and it got easier.

Firstly, stay organised. Make sure you read the PW bulletin carefully. Don't forget to take the time to enjoy the service. Get to the airport 2 hours before.

7

Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary SIEM REAP

We worked with a wide variety of animals in order to ensure the maintenance of their healthy way of life.

We also maintained the facilities of the sanctuary.

Members:Â Beatrice Hulme, Caitlin Osborne, Oliver Ellard, Nitasha Nehal

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

One day, we had to hand-mix cement as the sanctuary didn’t own a cement mixer. This was memorable because it really highlighted how difficult working conditions can be in more rural areas of the world. It ended up taking us two days to complete the work, however, it was extremely rewarding.

It was extremely hot during the day, so doing manual labour like cutting banana trees and sugar cane proved to be very difficult. It made us realise how demanding it is do this kind of work all year.

Be eager and willing to help! Bring a hat, sunscreen, insect repellent and plenty of card and board games.

8

EYC Impact School PHNOM PENH

Our project was teaching English to children at Impact School, located in Phnom Penh.

Members:Â Pooja Satish, Gayatri Kalra, Gaurika Sawhney, Ananya Garg, Anisha Bedi

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The happiness of the children there and their generosity was extremely heart-warming and touching.

There was a language barrier that made communication with the children challenging, especially as they were very young.

Plan activities/games for the classes ahead of time, so you don't have to make it up on the spot. Be that as it may, always be ready to improvise.

9

Free the Bears Sanctuary PHNOM PENH

Our project was helping out at a Sun and Moon Bear Sanctuary in Cambodia - we worked on the maintenance of the sanctuary and preparing food for the bears.

Members:Â Azalea Muhamad Afendi, Cordelia Bowden, Emma Lord, Kylie Lee

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Our favorite part of the Project Week experience was seeing the bears released back into their enclosures to search for and eat the food that we scattered around for them.

The hardest moment for us was having to cut up an old hammock in order to free a chain. Another physically challenging task we completed was manually cutting bamboo.

Drink plenty of water. Wear a widebrimmed hat, because it is very hot.

Make sure that you support your group members,, even if it may create a more challenging experience for yourself.

10

Green Gecko SIEM REAP

We spent our mornings teaching the children who live at the Green Gecko Project by running activities with them. In the afternoons, we participated in non-teaching services for the project.

Members:Â Nina McAdoo, Agnes Bjorn, Kayris Baggett, Aerin Shahman, Alyssa Naing

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding part of our experience was on the final day, when we had finished a board game activity.

One of the students who had initially been shy was really successful. We could tell that she had gained a significant amount of confidence over the course of the week.

Being patient and remembering that body language is incredibly important when teaching EAL learners.

It is incredibly important to be organised.

10

Green Umbrella SIEM REAP

Green Umbrella is a project which funds a school so that it can teach underprivileged children.

Members:Â Karina Walker, Hannah Vestring, Gauri Shukla, Sebastian Wong, Siddharth Roy

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Teaching and bonding with the kids.

Even outside of class times, we often stayed with the kids and talked to them. We got to know the kids pretty well by the end of the project, and were glad to see that they had gotten more confident when speaking English to us.

We were asked to help the kids learn about farming mushrooms. Although we had all done basic biology, none of us were sure how to farm.

However, we improvised and worked together with the help of the teacher and went through the process of teaching the kids how to plant crops.

Ask UWC East GC if they should bring any PW donations such as UWC uniforms. Also, bring lots of teaching materials, like pens, color pencils, pencils, blank notebooks and other basic stationary.

11

Indochina Starfish Foundation PHNOM PENH

The Indochina Starfish Foundation is a foundational learning center for children. They are primarily taught English and Mathematics.

Members:Â Abhijay Agarwal, Rohan Soni, Shiv Ahuja, Rohan Joshi, Maysam Haider

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most memorable experience was the final day, as we could genuinely see how much the children enjoyed our teaching. It was the moment where we saw the impact of what we were doing there, and was the most rewarding by far.

At first, we were unaccustomed to the area in which we were working and staying. We had a community trash-picking and clean-up session, where we worked in conditions that we were not used to, with children and supervisors who had little to no proficiency in English.

The only thing that we would recommend is to be accepting of the children. They may seem wary at first, but the bond that builds between the volunteers and the students over time is truly gratifying.

12

Indochina Starfish Foundation PHNOM PENH

We were teaching core subjects, such as English and mathematics, as well as playing football with students in the ISF foundation.

Members:Â Aadi Dev Sanghi, Krish Mehta, Sachin Khanna, Samir Khanna, Yixuan Huang

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most memorable experience within the project was definitely the integration of cultures between the kids and ourselves. What was most intriguing was the similarities that we had. We all had a passion for football the intensity of the matches we played during our lunch break created such an exhilarating experience for us all.

The most challenging moment was interacting with the public. The people didn't speak English, and as much as we tried to experience the local culture, there were difficulties in the language barrier.

Google translate really helped us a lot to solve some of these problems.

Whatever activity/service you are doing, you have to ensure that you a prepared for it beforehand. For example, the service project that our group had done involved teaching. There were lessons like teaching about insects that even we were not familiar with. We highly recommend other groups to have a consolidated teaching plan.

13

Kampuchea Balopp PHNOM PENH

Kampuchea Balopp is an NGO that works with youth in Cambodia, with a specific mission for social integration. This includes teaching children of all ages healthy and sustainable lifestyles, good nutrition, the importance of teamwork. respect, and responsibility.

Members: Kailey Ross, Vanessa Bruenn, Jocelyn Laxton, Katie Jelfs

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Seeing the children’s spirits so high and full of joy. They didn’t have shoes or mouthguards, but every time they got knocked down no matter how bad they just got right back up again with smiles on their faces. Another really cool thing was seeing them in our own club in Singapore’s jerseys that we had donated over the past few years.

The kids were so friendly and trusting - they all wanted to give us hugs and hold our hands, but we understand the importance of the child protection rules set in place so as hard as it was their way of showing gratitude, we did not want to offend them.

Depending on where you go, bring a wallet or bag designated for transportation and put in an equal amount to withdraw from there. We were in deep with the “I paid for the last one, last time was more expensive” game! We only came up with this solution towards the end...

14

KUMA GC PHNOM PENH

We went to a charity-funded school, where we taught English to children. We also took part in gardening at the school and painted their front wall. We also took part in a cooking class.

Members:Â Stephanie English, Josephine Co, Tamsin Hunt, Sebastian Lo

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Teaching the children English and watching them improve - they went from only speaking to us in Khmer to forming basic sentences and trying to communicate with us in English.

The initial adaptation to teaching the children. On the first day we were thrown into teaching which was a shock and we were forced to improvise on the spot and adapt quickly to the situation using the limited resources provided.

Prepare classes ahead of time, such as games and theory to teach the children (there are 4 levels of English - ranging from complete beginners to being able to read and write and just learning tenses).

15

LaValla GC PHNOM PENH

Our project was to volunteer at a school and home for disabled children. We helped teach them conversational English. The goal of LaValla is to teach these children a skillset which allows them to be integrated into society.

Members:Â Shaivi Rajesh, Maitreyi Sanadhya, Julianne Cheah and Mika Tan

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

Just being able to spend time with the children at the school and establishing connections with them was our favorite part - moments where the children would come up to us and use phrases that we taught them in class were exceptionally rewarding.

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most challenging aspect of the project was time management. Due to the high traffic in Phnom Penh, estimating what time to leave was difficult. Additionally, maintaining a schedule within class and not teaching them things that they already knew was particularly challenging.

Make sure you start planning early!

Deadlines get very short as you approach Project Week, and so if you do not have your documents organized in time, it will be very tough to fit in time for schoolwork and activities right before your departure.

16

Reforestation Project KEP

We spent Project Week planting trees and saplings followed by Iaido.

Members:Â Vrishin Jain, Shlok Anand, Isaac Akwue, Sinclair Bordier, Tomas Hunt, Max van der Staak

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Looking at all the work we managed to do and comparing it to what the area looked like before we started. We also managed to save some dying and endangered saplings and hear the stories of one of our supervisors, who has been through a lot and had bountiful knowledge and stuff to teach us.

The physical labour. We did not expect to be pushed as hard as we were, so after an exhausting day of planting trees and saplings, we continued our work by participating in a challenging form of martial arts.

The next day was even worse as our muscles cramped and we did more work, but we powered through.

Bring as much sunscreen and mosquito repellent as humanly possible. Make sure to have large water bottles. Bring adequate extra money.

STRETCH. Bring a hard lock box for valuables (and optionally an extra lock to secure the box)

17

Tabitha GC PHNOM PENH

We went house building in Cambodia while working with Tabitha. Tabitha helps people with their savings program to help families by showing them they can have many sources of income which then allows them to save up.

Members:Â Maddy Troutman, Gaio Zorzino, Sanzhar Spatayev, Hermann Klein-Hessling, Napakpan Leevutinun

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Interacting with the families while we built their houses

Hammering our fingers and not being allowed to scream.

Pack gloves, snacks and google translate.

18

Tabitha GC PHNOM PENH

We built houses for the poorest of the poor in Cambodia. The project lasted for 3 days and culminated in 11 brand-new houses.

Members:Â Dang Nguyen, Matheus de Lima, Krissa Dialani, Esha Gadhi

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The feeling of accomplishment of finishing building an entire house and then celebrating with its new residents.

When you are on Project Week, everything will go smoothly if you have carefully planned it in advance.

Diversify your experiences: do a bit of creativity, service and activity. This will make your Project Week holistic and rewarding.

19

Tabitha GC PHNOM PENH

An amazing opportunity to appreciate Cambodia by helping a community in need as well as gaining insight into the culture. We loved spending time with the local people, and the country as a whole is incredible!

Members: Yaxeny López, Denisse Olmedo, Gemma Selvarajah, Nay Chi Wint Naing, Mwameen Nabiila Nanfuka

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding part of our project was the handover ceremony, when the houses we had built officially became the homes of the families. The joy on their faces for something that we have the privilege of calling a basic necessity was unforgettable - it was a very humbling and gratifying experience.

Several miscommunications with one of the organisations for our creative courses, which led to us feeling unsafe with the new situation, as well as having to pay more than other groups for the same activities.

As a group, we decided how to face the issue and worked together to overcome it.

Verify your sources when looking things up. It’s very hot: bring water, a hat and sun cream. Remember your GLOVES! Practise hammering beforehand so that you can work faster during the Project. Remember to bring money for things such as bus fees, entrance to the museums and the water and bread Tabitha brings for you.

20

Tabitha GC PHNOM PENH

We went House Building in Cambodia with Tabitha, with extra CAS activities (shadow puppetry, cooking, pottery) Members: Ethan Jong, Jason Say, Min Sik Eom, Max Cui

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Being able to eat our own food after we spent quite a few hours making it. It was very rewarding to be able to first hand experience the fruits of our hard work.

House Building consisted of many physical challenges such as hammering your thumb with the hammer which caused a lot of pain.

Bring gloves and tape to wrap around your finger. Try and explore the area around your hotel. Don’t be confined to eating at one place.

21

Temple Garden Foundation SIEM REAP

We taught children in Siem Reap English and basic hygiene/oral hygiene. In the afternoon, we visited a community kindergarten with water facilities.

Members: Jaewon Lee, Irene Hae-Rim Kim, Zi Qi Shang, Nairo Lee

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Observing the improvement of children’s knowledge in English after teaching them and the change in atmosphere in the kindergarten after many hours of painting.

The language barrier was an issue.

Some of the teachers’ English was not good enough to sustain a full conversation so a staff member from the organisation (TGF) had to be present. It was also extremely hot.

Plan the lesson more activity-based so that it enables the students in Siem Reap to participate in class more.

Focusing on pronunciation and phonics will be good as the children don’t have access to native English speakers.

22

Tiny Toones PHNOM PENH

We taught English to underprivileged schoolchildren aged 5-17 in Phnom Penh as a way of improving their scope of knowledge and to ensure a safe comfortable environment for them to learn in and enjoy.

Members: Ashari Bilan-Cooper, Mia Feldheim, Florrie Birch, Sophie Maxwell

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

For us, it was most rewarding to see the enthusiasm and optimism in the kids despite all disadvantages of the economy. Seeing them thrive and shine in classes and perform in their dances showed what the youth are capable of.

The language barrier with the children seemed to be the most challenging just because we found it hard to teach the lessons we had planned originally. Yet, it did help us try new forms of communication that we otherwise wouldn’t have used.

Planning lessons beforehand are always helpful because it allowed us to plan our day and act accordingly which helped us be organized and the kids, therefore, had more fun.

23

CHI NA

Bao Bei GC SHANGHAI

We immersed ourselves in Chinese culture by having hands-on experiences through a series of different creative activities. We did traditional calligraphy, cooking, painting, drawing and practiced tea ceremonies.

Members: Amelie Lo, Jamie Lin, Anya Koo, Huei Ming Lim, Lucas Siemsen

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

While we were drawing in a park, an old man came up to us and said “you cannot draw if your heart is not quiet�.

Cooking dumplings was also very memorable for us since it was our first time learning to make something so difficult.

Our original GC canceled on us last minute and we had to organize a new plan without service. Dealing with something so unexpected and late in the process was quite upsetting and frustrating, but we were able to grow together as a group as we overcame the challenge.

Have a backup, always communicate well with each other and be proactive!

25

Haba Base Camp Trek YUNNAN

Our project was trekking through Tiger Leaping Gorge and up to Haba Base Camp.

Members: Hansae Lee, Taichi Kato, Kazuki Muneyoshi, Mouhamadou Diadiou, Sebastian Marmol

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Waking up at 5am to look at the Milky Way.

Trekking to Haba Snow Mountain Base Camp.

Adventure trips are highly rewarding and is so worth it. Consider it.

26

Sun Village BEIJING

Sun Village is dedicated to the children of Chinese convicts and fights for their survival and development.

We served the children directly by helping them with homework and playing with them in the playground, and indirectly by helping out in the kitchen for lunch and planting trees.

Members: Yejin Jeong, Xinlei Zhang, Rito Hirata, Ke Ying Xing

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Planting a tree labeled with our school’s name was a very rewarding experience. It was also a very challenging experience for us since it was our first time planting a tree by ourselves.

When we were helping children with their homework, sometimes it was hard to explain the concept hence we needed to explain the question many times, but the children might still not be very clear about the concepts.

It will be easier if some group members can speak Mandarin because there is no one who can speak fluent English in Sun Village. You can try to speak to the children in English as they are studying it in school. Please bring some more clothes because the weather in Beijing in March is unpredictable.

27

HONG KONG

Crossroads HONG KONG

We climbed the Victoria Peak, did a dumpling-making course, and volunteered at the Crossroads Foundation.

Members: Alisha Abdul Rahman, Heather Hawkins, Hubert Hsu, Rufus Rice

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most memorable experience from our trip would be taking part in a simulation at the Crossroads Foundation. This helped us understand why our volunteer work was needed and how difficult it is to escape from the poverty cycle.

The most challenging moment of our project was loading a truck filled with the many items that were going to be shipped off to Guinea.

Be organized before and during your trip. Bring snacks. Hong Kong is much colder than Singapore, so bring a sweater. Make the most of every moment you have.

29

Sai Kung Stray Friends HONG KONG

For Sai Kung Stray Friends, we took care of stray dogs, and promoted the adoption of stray dogs through photography. For the street photography part of our project, we toured around Hong Kong every night, taking photos and videos along the way.

Members: Miu Miu, Nicolas, Wee Heng, Adesh, Jinhao

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding experience of our project was that we were able to build up relationships with the dogs and feel rewarded for caring for them. These experiences are very precious and memorable.

We had to pick up the feces of the dogs and it was quite disgusting. Yet, other than this our project was not that challenging and it was very enjoyable throughout.

It is a very fun and relaxing project, I think you would enjoy the trip a lot if you chose to go to Hong Kong for Sai Kung Stray Friends. No need to prepare much. However, a tip would be to plan what you are going to eat. There are many varieties of different cuisines and you don't want to miss out on them!

30

I NDI A

Magic Bus MUMBAI

Magic Bus is an organization that works with young children and their parents to help them get an education Members: Ellen Ives, Anushri Sonawala, Riya Khanna, Sara Siddiqi

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

They loved it when we participated in the games and played with them.

A challenging aspect of the trip was the language barrier. It was difficult to communicate with the children at times as all of them did not know English.

Be open-minded when going to the local communities and try to participate in the sessions whenever possible. Also, leave earlier than needed as the traffic can be very bad at times.

32

I NDONESI A

Jakarta Street Kids CIPANAS

During the week, we worked with the YUM foundation to improve the quality of life of the poor in Indonesia. In the project that we were at, we assisted in teaching children English, as well as basic skills such as brushing their teeth and washing their hands.

Members: Arthur Bond, Kate Chang, Payal Mahesh, Lucas Martin Sy, Khush Jammu

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most memorable part of the experience was seeing the joy that these children had when we interacted with them. They had energy and wanted to partake in all the activities we had planned, and this made it the most rewarding aspect of the trip.

The language barrier was probably the most difficult as not many people in the area spoke English, however surprisingly, communication was not as hard as we thought it would be!

Approach each day with a good attitude as it shows, and will definitely make your experience even more worth it! Pick a project that you have a genuine interest in and that will make planning your trip easy and exciting If you are working at a school, try and come up with a variety of activities and do not be scared to try new ones or adapt your plans

34

Sun Bear Outreach SAMBOJA

We spent our week helping around Sun Bear Outreach with various tasks involving the preservation of the Sun Bears. The main project we worked on was constructing a building for the production of compost.

Members: Ethan Whitmore, Klaas Laan, Marco Flury, Laurent Brutsch, Ciaran Broderick

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding experience was witnessing the end result of our weeklong effort. At the start of the week, the location of the compost building was just forest growth but at the end of the week, the location was turned into a fully functioning building ready for use.

One somewhat challenging moment we had was making sure that we didn’t get too sick of each other during the trip. Spending a week with the same people can get tiring but I believe that we managed to stay calm and collected and that we as a group were very successful in our efforts.

Sometimes, picking the most “fun” trip is not always the best option. These trips are an opportunity which you should make the most of. So instead of picking what seems to be the most “fun”, instead pick the most rewarding trip that will have a bigger impact on others.

35

LAOS

Big Brother Mouse LUANG PRABANG

Big Brother Mouse is a local English drop-in centre for young adults to practice their English and further their education, as well as a publishing centre for books in the Lao language. They also have a primary school, Big Sister Mouse.

Members: Anushka Lahiri, Madeline Hirons, Christine Kim, Kimberly Rodrigues, Cherlyn Gan

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Having conversations with the local people at Big Brother Mouse was fun and memorable - we became familiar with each other and we bonded with them. These conversations taught us about their culture and broadened our outlook on life.

Keeping the children focused and on task was a challenge. It was also difficult to overcome the language barrier and to explain things in English in a way that made it engaging and easy for them to understand.

Come prepared with topics/questions to talk about that both you and the locals are interested in. When you’re having conversations with the locals, encourage them to talk in full sentences and suggest new phrases that they could say - it’s more beneficial for them and they appreciate it more.

37

MALAYSI A

Climbing Mt. Kinabalu KOTA KINABALU

We worked with people who have disabilities and we climbed Mount Kinabalu.

Members: Nicolas Silon, Tak Sripritak, Tai Brouwer, Sam Slorach, Sean Farrell

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Reaching the peak of Mount Kinabalu as a group in time for the beautiful sunrise.

Persevering through our fatigue and altitude sickness on the way up to the peak of the Mountain.

Do some cardio before you climb the mountain as it requires a certain fitness level (jogging, jump rope, bike, etc).

Finally, on the way up, make sure to bring a proper trekking bag to release pressure off your shoulders and back.

39

Climbing Mt. Kinabalu SABAH

We climbed Mount Kinabalu and took a river boat tour of Sabah

Members: Joel Arm, Rahul Rao, Bryn Stuppler, Robbert N, Alex Rowe

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Summiting the mountain was definitely the most rewarding experience.

The summit attempt was the most challenging. Although not very cold, the consistently steep terrain makes the final 1km of the climb hard.

Never buy food from the hotel. Be careful of your things on the mountain (once lost there is virtually no chance of getting it back).

40

Project Danau Girang Field Center SABAH

We did research about the effects of the palm oil plantations on wildlife and did various eco-friendly activities, such as river cleaning.

Members: Erik Bryant, William Kendrick, Oliver Gullery, Axel Avianto, Taiga Matsumura

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Taking a photo with all the trash on our first-time trash cleaning in the river which took over 5 hours to collect.

Getting used to a lack of electricity certainly made things tough, especially with no fans to cool down after activities. The jungle and river nearby had many dangerous animals such as crocodiles, so remaining safe during activities such as river cleaning was definitely challenging.

Check if the place you’re going does activities within your area of interest.

For example, the people at the project did lots of interesting fieldwork on the basis of finding the effects of palm oil plantations, but unfortunately, only one of us was a biology student.

41

Lassie Animal Sanctuary LANGKAWI

We worked at a dog and cat shelter. We fed, walked, bathed, and groomed the dogs, and cleaned the ears and sprayed cats for fleas.

Members: Meghna Chaudhury, Clarissa Kusumanegara, Marvel Hariadi, Tiffany Koh, Koki Yamano

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

When two new volunteers came, we were trusted enough to teach them how to do everything.

Another amazingly rewarding part of our project was making friends with the locals. When we left, all of them knew us and liked us.

The most challenging part of our project was probably picking up the dogs' poop every day.

Be polite to the people there. Don’t complain, work hard, and don’t be a princess.

42

Reef & Leaf Conservation Work RAWA ISLAND

The project was centered around learning about the effect of climate change on the ocean and the need for marine conservation. During the week, we helped maintain the reef around Rawa Island through diving, as well as on-shore cleanups and activities.

Members: Margherita Rampichini, Jerry Wang, Samir Varma, Mia Kan

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding experience was definitely the beach clean up at Seri Buat, a secluded island near Rawa Island. Our group members, as well as 3 other diving instructors, collected 11kg of trash as a group.

The most challenging moments were when we were completing our diving course. We were required to complete tasks which we had never come across in the past, such as learn how to do a Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent from several metres underwater

We would advise groups to engage in the activity because there are lots of new things that you can learn. Our group had very little knowledge about marine conservation, but we now feel that we truly understand the scale of the problem and how crucial it is for our future.

43

Tioman Turtles & Reef Conservation TIOMAN ISLAND

We volunteered at the Juara Turtle Project, performing tasks that needed extra hands, and did the open water dives required for our PADI certification. The main focuses we had were with turtle conservation, coral conservation and animal welfare on the island.

Members: George Diggle, Alberto Aguilar, Stuart Wood, Sarvasv Kulpati

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Finding the first nest on the last morning of our trip. Boating out at sunrise and seeing the first turtle tracks was a really exciting experience, and then retrieving the eggs and resting them in the hatchery we built earlier that week.

Sometimes you would have to go out on a watch at 1 or 2 in the morning to walk for 30 minutes along the beach searching for tracks. Waking up was difficult, but the stars that were out at night were more than enough to compensate.

Relax. It might seem at times like you have a million things to do and you can often get stressed. Just take a moment to take a breath and just do nothing for just a moment. You’ll really benefit.

44

Tioman Turtles Juara Center TIOMAN ISLAND

We worked at Juara Turtle project (JTP), which focuses on restoring the sea turtle population of Tioman, as well as raising awareness on the threats of sea turtles. During the afternoon we went diving and saw a lot of cool things, ranging from sharks to turtles to moray eels.

Members: Isabel Crippa, Rhianna Cowdy, Philipp Henke, Kaleb McHugh

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

It was so rewarding to know that we were having a direct impact on the natural environment of Tioman. For example, we had to mix cement and then create blocks out of those, so that JTP could plant coral on them to rehabilitate the dead coral in their home reef.

We had to build the hatchery for the turtles as it was a very hot day and we were under the sun for most of the day. It was all worth it though as on the last day we found a turtle nest with eggs and were able to bury the eggs in the hatchery.

It can be very easy to get caught up in all the planning and precautions, but if you work efficiently by dividing the tasks amongst your group and get everything done as soon as possible, the trip will be much more enjoyable.

Get involved - ask the staff if you can help them with anything else. Have fun and enjoy the beach!

45

NEPAL

CWIN Balika Peace Home KATHMANDU

We volunteered at the CWIN’s Child Helpline Centre for 2 days and volunteered at Balika Peace Home for the day.

Members:Â Amani Arora, Rhea Shankar, Keegan Sterley, Ethan Carter

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding and memorable experience of our project was the last day we spent at the Child Helpline Centre. When the kids said goodbye to us and told us that they would miss us in perfect English, we were so proud to see that they understood what we had taught them

The most challenging moment of our project was the first day we spent volunteering at the Child Helpline Centre. we were having trouble communicating with the kids due to the language barrier, We used gestures and facial expressions to communicate things.

Stick together, have multiple local contacts and carry a map at all times.

47

CWIN Balika Peace Home KAVRE

The CWIN Balika Peace Home is a transition home in Nepal which houses at-risk girls from across Nepal.

We spent a few days at the home helping out with the daily routine and facilitating creative activities with the girls.

Members: Ivy Meng-Han Chan, Sinphaxay Thongsombath, Rothswell Montegrai, Michelle Osiro

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The girls at the home are very talented and friendly. We had a great time learning dances, gardening, tutoring and having beautiful conversations on the swing seats.

Nepal is generally really cold and during our stay there we didn’t have a water heating system, so showers were a bit cold.

Be adaptable, carry some snacks because there aren’t too many shops around, and always check your ISOS!!

48

LINK GC KATHMANDU

SMD school is a place for unprivileged Tibetan/Nepalese children, supported by UWC.

Members: Nanaki Singh, Tanishka Nahar, Galina Drozdova, Ana Barros

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most memorable experience during our project was the process of getting to know children and working with them. They are all enthusiastic and full of energy which helped us with activities.

The biggest challenge was when we found out about the national strike, so our plans were crushed and we didn’t have enough information for further actions. We had enough training so we didn’t panic, however, it was problematic to connect with ISOS.

One tip for the SMD school is bringing lots of materials for different age groups and plan lessons thoughtfully.

49

Maya Universe Academy TANAHUN

Maya Universe Academy in Tanahun is one of the three schools founded by two UWC alumni that provides free quality education to children living in rural Nepal.

Members:Â Hasan Jashari, Maia Woolrich, Tara Zulfikar

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

It was so rewarding to see how much you mean to the organization and the kids, and how important everything you do is. The children are so thankful, happy and motivated to learn and to be the change in Nepal, witnessing that was the best thing.

Leaving it behind. The kids, the volunteers, the place,... they all inspired us and leaving the service even though we were only there for 4 days was hard. Some of us will definitely go back!

The ride to Maya Universe from the airport might take 6 - 7 hours, not 4 5. Take lots of snacks, toilet paper, a water bottle and clothes with you. Buy a local sim card (you need a passport photo to do so!) Fill in the form for your VISA application on arrival beforehand to save time.

50

SMD Boarding School & Trekking KATHMANDU

Three days of trekking with one day of travel back into Kathmandu and some sightseeing of local religious sights. We spent one day volunteering at SMD Boarding school.

Members:Â Sara Zaman, Morgann Rene, Gaia Freydefont, Alessandro Chiang, Euwan Budden

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

At the end of every hike, we all felt a huge sense of satisfaction and reward which made our sore feet all worth it!

The scenery and the stars were also incredible, we were able to see the Himalayas during our trek and at the hotel.

There were many difficult segments of the trek, for example on the first day we had to climb many steps and on the second day we walked 25km. Though we were exhausted, the satisfaction we felt when admiring the view from the trek made it worth the hard effort.

One tip is to not book using budget airlines! I know that this is inevitable in terms of pricing but these airlines can cancel your flights at any time (this is what happened to us!), and because Nepal doesn’t have an abundance of flights from Singapore, it was very difficult for us to rebook.

51

PHI LI PPI NES

Chosen Children's Village SILANG

CCV is an orphanage for physically and mentally disabled children and teenagers. The service mainly involves playing with the children, and helping with chores in the organization such as feeding the kids, washing and drying dishes.

Members: Rhea Singh, Navpreet Singh, Zohra Hak, Ashley Nam, Kean Zhu

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

It was really rewarding to see how the children grew attached to us, because although at times the service can feel repetitive, the fact that the children really enjoy you being there is a valuable and rewarding feeling.

It was difficult to adjust to the food at the organization as it was very different from the food we are normally accustomed to in Singapore, so there were times when we weren’t eating much which led to us being more cranky and tired during the day.

Make sure to bring some food with you because you don’t know whether you'll have food you can eat. Keep in mind to make your group choices carefully, and go with a group that is like-minded and on the same page about the service as you are, and do a service or activity that genuinely interests you.

53

PACE Project Calamba Centre CEBU

Lihuk is an organisation which works with multiple communities across Cebu. They primarily support the education of children but also work to build stronger relationships and communities.

Members:Â Vanika Mahesh, Maja Werner, Aaliya Samuel, Misato Niwa

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

When we just sat and talked to the scholars about their lives - it was interesting to see how much we actually had in common!

We did a community visit and went to see the homes and families of the scholars. All of the kids we were working with had such positive attitudes and always came in with a smile on their faces but to see some of the difficult situations they were in was truly heartbreaking.

Traffic can get really bad so find a hotel close to your project! Also set aside a day for exploring the city and doing touristy things because Cebu has some beautiful places to visit!

54

PACE Project Talisay Centre TALISAY

We completed bookshelf clean ups, lunch packing and completing activities with scholars that ranged from 6 to 18 years of age.

Members:Â Anisha Kaul, Vibhuti Amin, Christy Chang, Sabrina Lee & Anton Van Gyseghem

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most memorable experience of our project were the children who had learnt a dance that we taught them, this enriching experience showed us how hard work pays off.

The most challenging part of Project Week was making sure that everyone’s ideas were heard and voiced. This allowed for a smoother experience where everyone felt valued.

Make sure to plan travel times accordingly, meaning that everything should be sorted out in advance.

55

Pinoy Enchanted Farm BULACAN

Visiting GK Enchanted Farm. Doing Service: Working on the farm, working with local businesses, teaching in a school, cooking for children Members:Â Aryan Saju, Arnav Tapadia, Dhruv Goswami, Gitansh Arora, Rohan Punamiya

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

For two days, we went to a school located half an hour away to prepare lunch meals for the students. We spent roughly 6-7 hours preparing meals for 4,000 children. The truly rewarding part, however, was at the end of the second day.

The most challenging moment of our project was the first day. We had to wake up at around 4 am and go to a kitchen and cook. We were cutting beans and pumpkins for close to 4 hours. It was very tedious, but we knew that it was for a good cause.

First and foremost, be as organised as you can be. Secondly, make sure to be open-minded to their different views and opinions as there is a lot to learn if you keep your mind open. Lastly, book flights as early as you can!

56

Pinoy GC BATANGAS

On our project, we visited the Pedros Palacios School, which is located in Calatagan, Philippines, and taught 4th and 5th graders academic subjects such as English and Maths.

Members: Nadine Salonga, Ciaran O’Donnell, Alexander Ohlsson, Angela Chea

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

We realized that we made quite a significant impact on the children, and based on their reactions, it was evident that they enjoyed our company. The children sang us songs, asked us for photos and gave us letters and cards, thanking us for the lessons we taught in the school.

The kids, being in Grade 4 and 5, were sometimes difficult to keep track of. They had a very varied skill set ranging from memorising multiplication tables to not being able to complete simple addition it was difficult for us to be able to cater to all of their needs and interests.

Donations are something that would be extremely useful! Unfortunately, these kids don’t have the same financial reach and the school is also in a position where they are unable to buy new books/textbooks. Definitely make a list and organize this thoroughly - it is something that helped us a lot.

57

The Cararoo Foundation MANILA

We taught children English, Arts and Crafts, and Basketball. It was located in a shanty town and was a wonderful experience.

Members: William Schwarz, Eli O’Sullivan, Vincent Koster, Thomas Taylor

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding moment was when we first walked in to the shanty town. It was a completely surreal experience to be able to see that aspect of the world.

The most challenging moment of our project was the different levels of English the students had someone asked us about alliteration and another asked us what a verb was.

Research the Foundation before you commit to it, and remember to keep communicating with them. Come prepared if you want a fulfilling experience.

58

SRI LANKA

Light For Sri Lanka COLOMBO

Helping CandleAid GC at two different locations. We helped teach children to paint, along with making pillowcases and carpets in order to raise funds, we also helped paint a school.

Members:Â Ravesh Dadlani, Aryan Agarwal, Luuk Karmarker, Yoojun Kim

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Exploring Galle, Sri Lanka.

It was hard dealing with emotions in certain situations.

Always carry your First Aid kit, and make sure you save the ISOS number and the ISOS app is installed on your phone.

60

Sea Turtles INDURUWA

We helped at a turtle sanctuary which helps disabled turtles found in the ocean who can’t help themselves, and worked at a hatchery for baby turtles which get released every night.

Members: Alex Crombie, Mini Wiesser, Maria Ariken Jimenez, Audrey Dumas, Sanya Shete

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Watching Alex get over her fear of multiple tiny frog-like creatures. She went from not being able to look at them to holding them and giving them tiny kisses.

Dealing with the stress of traveling, as we had over 10 hours of travelling on the way there alone. Managing cars, and booking hotels and flights was really stressful.

Enjoy the time you have there, don’t stress small details like who gets what bed. Project Week was one of the best weeks of our lives, so don’t ruin it by being petty.

61

TAI WAN

Kaohsiung Red Cross Nursery Center KAOHSIUNG

We worked at a Nursery Centre in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. We helped clean the area, played sports and games with the children, and helped them with homework.

Members:Â Dongyeon Jin, Nathanael Kusanda, Hanmin Lee, Aditya Mehta, Shaun Ray Ong

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Playing basketball and badminton with the kids on the last night, a completely free, warm, liberating experience, the culmination of a week of growth and learning.

There was some tension between one of the kids and us, due to our inability to connect with him on his maths homework. It took some time to fill the void, to thaw the coldness, but we managed to do so by presenting an unaffected, amiable demeanour, which proved to be infectious.

Break the ice on the first day!

63

THAI LAND

Children's Shelter Foundation CHIANG MAI

Our main goal was to teach the new children English and help improve their confidence. We also spent time helping them with their daily activities such as arts and crafts, sports, yoga, cooking, cleaning, and gardening.

Members:Â Giulia Di Bella, Sarah Hein, Vibhuti Vijay, Isabella Ghersi

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding experience was seeing the children make such big improvements on a day to day basis over the week.

The most challenging thing was finding a way to communicate with them while teaching, but still incorporating fun activities.

Plan ahead and incorporate simple, fun games for the children; but also be flexible if some activities don't go as planned.

65

Elephant Nature Park PAW GC CHIANG MAI

Elephant Nature Park is an elephant rescue and rehabilitation center, which takes care of elephants and allows them to be able to live a life that they deserve and be able to roam freely in their natural habitat.

Members: Polen Ton, ZiQi Yang, Floria Rathgen, Nelson Matthew Tan, Sylvain Yabre, Si Yu Miao

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The fact that we got to learn about the background of the rescued elephants, their past and their present and how much this place has accomplished for the past years, has made us realise how our contributions have such an impact on their project.

We signed up for this project in expectation of working directly with the elephants; however, it didn’t go as we planned because of their protocol as an rehabilitation centre.

We weren’t allowed to be close and make much contact with the elephants.

Be organised. It is essential to prepare everything and get it done on time rather than leaving it for the last minute. During the trip, be respectful and considerate of your friends, it would help avoiding any unnecessary arguments which may potentially affect your experiences.

66

ENP Surin Project SURIN

An elephant project located right in the center of the well-known elephant village with the largest amount of domesticated elephants in the world.

Members:Â Hannah Herrmann, Isabel Yong, Elenya Chuan

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most memorable experience was definitely getting to bathe and swim with the elephants. We got to interact with them the most during this part of the trip.

The most challenging moment or part of the trip was attempting to communicate with the mahouts.

Their English wasn’t the greatest, making it difficult to form relationships.

However, this motivated us to learn more Thai.

The trip to get there from Bangkok by bus was quite a long one and we ended up losing two whole days because of it. We would recommend you try to find another way to get there that would cause less hassle!

67

Earth Home CHIANG MAI

Our project was to help out the earth home farms by help growing their crops and maintaining them.

Additionally, we helped with the system of distributing organic seeds.

Members:Â Ronan Mulligan, Saatwik Koul, Joshua Nathan Raj, Chase Baldwin

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

On the final day of our project, we our efforts and contributions to farm. We saw all the plants planted, all the mulching, all the we put down, all the care we put the farm. It was breathtaking.

saw the we hay into

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most challenging moment of the project was always the last hour of the service where the heat was at its peak and you were sweaty and tired from the day's hard work.

My tip for future groups is to plan as soon as possible so that you don't get into last-minute emergencies, also to bring extra money as projects charge groups for the hospitality and could be more expensive than you may think.

68

Gibbon Rehabilitation Center PHUKET

We helped the gibbons by cleaning their cages and the jungle, and looked after Gibbon families that left rehab.

Members:Â James Hamilton, Ferdi Hatecke, Ari Tsamasdos, Alex Pozo, Elliot Cocks

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Cleaning the cages and seeing the huge impact we had on the gibbons.

Hiking for many hours through the jungle to find the gibbons, as well as cleaning cages.

Make sure you do all of your planning early and hand in all the forms.

69

Mercy Centre GC BANGKOK

Painting a kindergarten for Mercy Centre, along with Muay Thai sessions.

Members:Â Arya Vohra, Matthew Chan, Oliver Staples, Tim Rzesacz, Ten Takeda

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding experience was when we had finished the painting project and saw the end product that would be used by the kids in the kindergarten. It was great being right next to the kids and directly seeing the outcome of our work.

The first day of Muay Thai was the most challenging because we weren’t used to that training.

Communication with the Thai locals was another aspect that was slightly challenging. We did manage and found it enjoyable to work on the painting project with the locals.

Ensure that your planning is done well so that there are minimal problems when you get there.

70

Naucrates NGO Sea Turtles KO PHRA THONG

We performed tropical island conservation by collecting data to study the turtle activity on the island with the aim of conserving the natural nesting habitat for the animals. We also learned about the island lifestyle of the people and their participation in the conservation efforts.

Members:Â Adi Sharma, Heshan Seneviratne, Mia Shlaen, Aaliya Vij, Mea Stanley

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding part of the trip was being able to experience an environment very different to Singapore’s city life and to be able to bond with our group members through the many activities we did with our project.

A challenging part of our project was the sometimes physically demanding aspect of it. We woke up very early in the morning in order to complete 10-15km beach walks as a means of monitoring turtle activity along the shorelines.

Come with an open mind and willingness as the range of tasks and activities is diverse.

71

New Heaven Reef Conservation KOH TAO

This project preserves, restores and protects the coral reef ecosystems of Koh Tao, by educating and helping students become more aware of the consequences of climate change on corals.

Members:Â Caroline Beck-Petersen, Teddy Lee, Jacob Diermayr, Fredric Ngo

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Being able to travel and contribute to helping the world's oceans. This project made us more aware of the existing threats to coral reefs, how to preserve them, and the consequences that affect coral reef ecosystems as a result of these threats.

The most challenging moment of our project was building the artificial reefs as mixing cement and using metal wires is hard labor work and gives blisters, also the lectures are very long so be prepared to concentrate.

Research and communicate with the Foundation. Come prepared for a fulfilling experience at Koh Tao.

72

School for Life CHIANG MAI

We helped at a school consisting of students from Northern Thailand. Usually from tribal regions. They plan to educate the students up until the 9th-grade stage.

Members:Â Andrew Delios, Logan Sethu, Dhruv Ramnarayan, Atishay Dikshit

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Being able to interact with children from the poorest of backgrounds and being able to witness how said interaction was able to teach them and us something new, in terms of applying education to vocational skills.

A great exchange of information overall!

Dealing with the new conditions and the various problems that plagued our group - broken doors and insect infestations in the night, as well as a sudden fever that caused a little bit of anxiety for a time.

Always remember to be safe, and focus solely on the project. Don’t put yourself at risk in any way, shape or form and do not forget your Panadol! Be aware of your surroundings and always have a number of someone from the organization!

73

Soi Dog Foundation PHUKET

Working with Soi Dog Foundation to socialize the many dogs and cats at the shelter. Our main tasks were walking and playing with the animals.

Members:Â Celine van Es, Sabine Kneepkens, Josepha Becker, Mahima Jain

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Seeing how the dogs formed bonds with us over time was an amazing experience, especially when some of the shyer ones were able to approach us by the end of the week.

Seeing how many dogs were at the foundation and how many aren't adopted. Knowing that some of the dogs had really suffered at the hands of humans made us realise how important it is to show empathy towards animals.

Make sure you eat food that is safe.

Plan early, don’t get into a rush in the end. Know what you can do in your area.

74

Wildlife Friends Foundation PHETCHABURI

Volunteering at a rescue center that helps rehabilitate animals that were hurt or abused that hopefully can go back into the wild.

Members:Â Ryan Chong, Luca van Breugel, Varun Banati, Vivek Venkatram, Zach Reis

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Making enrichments for the animals.

The continuous hard labor and going through the forest to put out a fire.

Eat a snack before morning work which is from 6:30-8:00am, bring a water bottle to work and have a positive attitude!

75

VI ETNAM

Blue Dragon GC HANOI

We spent four days at Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation participating in activities and getting to know the children. This included helping out in the Dragon Valley Farm and leading an English lesson.

Members:Â Aya Tamaki, Hope Walton, Anushka Ray, Natalie Marshall, Ayesha Pointer

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

We found the work at the Dragon Valley farm, a newly bought plot of land, incredibly rewarding as not only did we get to see the impact we were making but we made the most of our time there talking to the kids that came with us and exchanging language.

One of the most challenging moments for many of us during Project Week was the streetwalk, where we learned about where many of the Blue Dragon kids come from and the conditions in which they lived in prior to coming in contact with Blue Dragon.

We would advise you check with your local contact about accommodation and ensure you have a safe in the room to store your valuables when you are in/ and out of your room and that you are staying in a location you believe you and your group will feel comfortable and safe in.

77

Blue Dragon GC HANOI

We spent five days working with Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, who helps street kids and rescue children who have been/ from being trafficked. We did activities with the kids at Blue Dragon, including teaching an English class, farming, and cooking.

Members: Anais Cramazou, Cecilia Eek Thorstensen, Lily Donosky, Maximilian Clausius, Hyo Bin Moon

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Farming, as we were able to see the difference we made at the end, but also how our help was beneficial to Blue Dragon. Being in the drop-in centre with the kids allowed us to form friendships and we really became closer with the kids.

The streetwalk was the most challenging part, as we were able to see the conditions the kids lived in before being a part of Blue Dragon.

It was quite shocking to see the concrete pillars below a bridge that the kids would sleep under.

Learn some basic Vietnamese vocabulary before the trip. Don’t overcommit yourself and limit service to 8 hours or so every day.

78

CNCF GC & Martial Arts HO CHI MINH CITY

At CNCF, we helped underprivileged children and played games with them. We also went to the Vietnam Cookery Center, where we cooked some lovely Vietnamese dishes.

Members:Â Malcolm Amour, Ivor Teagle, Ethan Borden, Haris Van Keulen, Aman Summerly

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Definitely playing with the young children at CNCF and putting a smile on the children's faces.

The language barrier and coming up with activities that don't require too much reliance on the teachers to translate for the children. It was also hard to find activities that all the kids enjoyed.

Book flights and accommodation early, so that you can save as much money as possible and spend it on activities and experiences you want to try while away.

79

CNCF GC Sunshine School HO CHI MINH CITY

We spent three days volunteering at CNCF in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We worked with children of different ages and we also visited the medical center to interact with children who had been affected by the long-lasting impacts of the Vietnam war.

Members: Marina Ghirardello, Su Yen Lee, Sophia Gonzalez, Diya Kraybill, Nina Huang

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding experience was talking to one of the students who had been in the boy’s home since he was very young, and is now pursuing a mechanical engineering degree.

The most challenging aspect of our trip was the language barrier.

Because the majority of the children spoke Vietnamese and little English, there were times where we felt as if we didn’t have a strong connection with the children because we were unable to communicate with them.

We would advise future Project Week groups to learn common Vietnamese phrases in order to enhance communication with the students and staff. We would also advise groups to plan backup activities in case the original activities end earlier than anticipated.

80

ECOV/Blue Dragon GC HUE

We worked with Blue Dragon to build a Green Mobile Library in Phu Dien Primary School in Hue Vietnam.

Members:Â Tanushree Banerjee, Angela Gupta, Noyna Roy, Seiya Peacock, Ananya Ravi

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most rewarding experience of our project was seeing all the children enjoy the library after we completed it.

The happy expressions on their faces as they ran towards the books lit up a spark of hope within.

One of the biggest challenges was the language barrier. We struggled because most people didn’t speak English, or only minimally. It was hard and frustrating to communicate with the construction workers and the students, despite our good intentions.

Blue Dragon was an amazing global concern to work with. They helped organise the activities that we wanted to partake in and gave us a daily schedule based on their preferences.

81

ECOV/Blue Dragon GC HUE

We worked at the Phu Dien Primary School. We created positive memories and a safe atmosphere for the children to learn, and supporting each other through games and English lessons.

Members:Â Kiaya Cornish, Lina Lee, Aina Yukawa, Min Ji Kim, Napat Thongtanakul

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Witnessing the children having a lot of fun while we taught and played games with them.

The language barrier between us and the teachers and students of the Phu Dien School.

Do not be afraid to start conversations with the children, even though they might not understand what you are saying. It is important that they know they can talk to you, because they really want to.

82

Green Bamboo Warm Shelter HO CHI MINH CITY

We spent Project Week teaching and playing games at a shelter for homeless boys. Also additional cooking and pottery classes.

Members: Avantika Dutt, Dewi Kalis, Ilana Fernandez, Ninoshka Merchant, Rhia Bansal

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The fact that the boys quickly opened up to us and were very friendly, this way we had more time to enjoy our ourselves. Also just the ability to manage and organize everything perfectly was very satisfying

We prepared some stuff for the boys, however, they didn’t really want to do it, so we had to quickly improvise and think of other activities to do with them. Also, it was quite tedious to organise the money.

Make sure to do a variety of things to keep you busy and make it more fun, this way you will never get bored of your activity. Also make sure to plan thoroughly in advance, this way you wouldn’t be stuck with a project that might turn out boring. Lastly, be flexible.

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Little Rose Warm Shelter HO CHI MINH CITY

Little Rose Shelter is a home for girls who are at risk or victims of sex trafficking in Vietnam. The shelter enables them to stay in school and helps fund vocational training so that the girls can financially support themselves and their families.

Members:Â Caitlin Gill, Ashley Wong, Julie Pluijmers, Mia Hamiyeh

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

On the very last day as we said goodbye, the little girls started to cry. It was heartwarming to think that our one week with them had this much impact on them. It was very memorable to know that being with us was so enjoyable to them.

The most challenging moment of our project was to make sure that everyone’s ideas, and thoughts were heard. That we would take into account all ideas for the activities with the girls. It was nice to have different activities this way.

Make sure to plan ahead activities for your service, and know before you go what they enjoy doing the most. With this information, it can help you plan ahead which lets you have less stress during Project Week.

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Sapa o'Chau SAPA

We spent Project Week teaching high school students to adults (oldest 30) English and we shared our cultures (America, Japan, Myanmar, Singapore).

Members: Rika Tan, Emily Heskamp, Shu Watanabe, Jennifer Duan

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

We really enjoyed interacting with the students. They were very passionate about learning English, and seemed to really miss us even though we were only there for one week.

We had to alternate our teaching methods between teaching high schoolers and teaching adults. High schoolers prefered more fun, gametype learning, however adults prefered more serious, traditional teaching methods.

Read EVERYTHING when signing up or paying for anything. Don’t use Expedia or Scoot. Don’t get bubble tea when the bus you NEED to take leaves in 30 minutes.

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Thien Phuoc Center HO CHI MINH CITY

We spent a week assisting the nursing staff at the Thien Phuoc Center for disabled children. Work included massaging, stretching, exercising and feeding children suffering from several different health conditions.

Members:Â Ewan Cobban, Isha Nair, Chae Won Yoon, Madhura Patwardhan, Tavishi Shukla

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

The most memorable moment for all of us would definitely be the warmth and sense of care demonstrated by the staff and residents of Thien Phuoc alike. It was extremely refreshing to be surrounded by such inspiring and optimistic people.

One of the things that everyone in the group found most challenging was seeing a lot of the kids in pain due to their health conditions. We were often tasked with exercising the children suffering from cerebral palsy which was often incredibly painful for them.

If you are considering helping out at Thien Phuoc for a week, the entire group needs to be extremely motivated and willing to get heavily involved in the care of severely disabled children both in an emotional and physical sense.

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Wildlife at Risk HO CHI MINH CITY

We helped the organization by completing tasks that had to do with expanding and renewing their center for wildlife. Most of the animals we interacted with were rescued from different parts of Vietnam.

Members: Ilena Berro Pizzarossa, Liya Yussubaliyeva, Tanisha Naqvi, Teresa

What was the most memorable experience of your project?

What was the most challenging moment of your project?

Do you have any tips for future Project Week groups?

Getting to know the people working at the center was very rewarding. It was very nice to see how passionate these people are about saving animals and preserving wildlife not only in Vietnam, but across the globe.

On the first day of service, we were supposed to meet with our local contact so he could pick us up from the last bus stop along a bus route.

We didn’t take the bus, instead opting for a driver, and he dropped us off further ahead than we were supposed to be.

It’s good to challenge yourself and try to get out of your comfort zone! Make sure you know how to get to your service safely. Check the address multiple times and research about the transport that can actually take you there.

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Project Week Tips Check your passport expiry date - it is compulsory to renew if you have less than six months left

Don't walk around with your passport - keep it in a safe and carry a photocopy around with you

When picking a project, don't fixate on the location of your project - pick what is close to your heart

Buy a local sim so your group can stay connected and use data to access the ISOS app

When browsing for flights, use incognito mode so Google doesn't inflate prices

Find safe methods of travel if you have space in your budget, hire a driver. Do not use unregistered transport.

Collect supplies to donate from Singapore, so leave some luggage space aside!

See if you can take part in more than one CAS experience in your area

"A MIND THAT IS STRETCHED BY A NEW EXPERIENCE CAN NEVER GO BACK TO ITS OLD DIMENSIONS.” - OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES