I think
that's it's about time I actually got started on my real reflections rather than
just posting pictures so I'll start my writing now.
Or
like now…
Okay,
I’ll actually write now -__-
So, long
story short, let’s get to the actual CAS of things. I reckon I’ll split this up
into the different activities I’ve done so it’s more organized that way and I
can collect my thoughts individually. It’s probably going to be a long spiel
though so make yourself comfortable.
Here goes…
S.A.P (students against prejudice)
I’m not quite sure how to describe SAP. I’m
pretty sure I mentioned it in one of my earlier posts so you know the general
drift but there’s no way that I can explain to you what I feel is the immensity
of SAP. SAP was really a unique opportunity to get to know ourselves better
whilst engaging with issues on a much larger, more global scale. It was, I
think, the first place I realized how far my actions stretch and how a little
can go a long way.
I remember
my first SAP meeting; I was hyped for it because I’d heard all these great
things from my brother who did it before me. I was excited even before I began
(in grade 9) and that excitement carried itself through the years. The thrill
of the excitement turned itself into a passion that reflected SAP’s mission,
visions and values. Through SAP, I gained for myself the knowledge, the skills
and the understanding to deal with issues of prejudice in any form.
I think the
first thing I learned was how to stop using the word ‘gay’ with a negative
connotation as in ‘those shoes are so gay’. Even now, when I hear anyone, even
an adult, make a statement like that I’m willing to step up and ask them
politely to stop. If you were to ask a lot of the people in school, especially those
in my grade, all the SAP members, myself included have repeated our mantra:
<< I would greatly appreciate it if
you used the word gay in a negative connotation as that implies that being gay
is a negative trait which it is not. >>
It may seem
like a small thing but the effect of this, believe it or not, was substantial.
Through SAP we managed to get a majority of the school not using the word gay
as they normally would, at least not in the presence of SAP members and that in
itself was a win regardless of what anyone else would say. No-one in my family
now, nor in my circle of friends, uses the word gay and we as a whole are proud
of that.
Beyond this,
we focused on classism and how people treat their domestic help or drivers or
houseboys as less than human. For this we hosted several lunch sessions for the
OIG’s (the school cleaner) and took the time to talk to them, play cricket with
them and helped them raise money to send money back to their families. WE
smiled at the workers in passing when no-one else would, a gesture that they
returned with more honesty that I’ve seen some of my friends show. One of the
most profound things I heard in SAP was when one girl raised her hand and said
for everyone to hear << The most beautiful thing about them is that they
have the same hopes and dreams and aspirations that we have for ourselves
>> in reference to the OIG’s. I suppose, I hate to admit it, but I hadn’t
seen it quite like that till that moment but I’m glad I do now. That statement
opened my eyes and I’m glad to say that I haven’t really closed them since.
I strongly
believe that with SAP I have gotten rid of personal prejudices and have learnt
to accept everyone for who they are. No-one is too weird or nerdy or stupid and
no-one ever will be in my eyes. These values and ideals I still carry with me
now and I intend to carry them with me for a long time to come.
Amnesty
Amnesty was
another opportunity that I am truly glad to have been in given the amount of personal
gain I got out of it. Admittedly I was dragged along to it in the beginning,
missing my lunch period to go to this service but later no it became natural. I
found myself in school on weekends, on optional days, from 8 in the morning
till past lunch with the sparse members that decided to turn up. Out of my own
free will I went and didn’t stop. Why? Because it was the right thing to do.
It was the
right thing to ask governments to stop taking land away from people who farmed
and made their living off the land simply to give way for urbanization. It was
right to speak up for the people that were politically or socially oppressed.
It was right to exercise and extend our basic human rights to others in the
world that couldn’t afford to do it for themselves.
One of the
most hilarious and exhilarating moments in all of Amnesty was World Toilet Day.
Don’t laugh, actually, no, go ahead, I did too initially. I mean, at first we
played the toilet song to raise awareness about sanitation after which we
thanked our toilet as a class. But then it became more serious. We built
toilets out of recycled materials and asked people to ‘flush’ money down the
handmade loo’s. We put up posters for the cause and had bake sales. We
collected just over 100 rials (300 dollars) just from the ‘flushing’ money
project and even more with the bake sales profit. All that money went to build
toilets for a school and community in Tanzania (a partner project that help out
Dorobo).
It was
frankly quite amazing because if we could raise awareness and do so much for
such a strange sounding and comical cause, then we could do so much more for a
more serious one. What we learned that year was when a situation is approached
from the right angle, with the right drive, and with a little bit of man power,
we really can change a small part of the world for the better.
Next time,
it won’t matter how silly the project sounds, even if its toilets again, I know
to give my hundred percent for the benefit of others because after all, what
are we without one another? And what are we if we can’t help out each other?
U.N Day
I’m actually
really sad that I don’t have the video of our UV dance to put up yet, I’ll have
to go look for it (ie: beg/borrow/nick it off a friend) but for now the
reflection will have to do.
At first,
the dance was just our way of being cool. My friends were nice enough, as I was
leaving, to make this the big thing that I got to end with and be remembered for
so we signed up. We wanted to be the first in the school to do an ultra violet,
glow in the dark dance and we did that. There was immense satisfaction in choreographing,
mixing the music and performing it all on our own but what stunned me was our
change from wanting to be the next big thing to this.
This is the passage
I wrote on behalf of our group to explain why we were doing our dance. I’m surprised
at how our team managed to think beyond just the theme of water conservation
and turned it into something bigger. The write-up should explain it better than
I could right now.
<< Hi Mrs. Malik,
Here's
that write-up you wanted to introduce our dance. Our apologies for taking so
long but it's here now so better late than never I suppose :) Hope you like it
and we hope it explains what we're trying to do with our piece.
***
Water, although perceived as a peaceful, soothing element, is often one of great power and awe inspiring beauty. As much as the soft pitter-patter of rain against a window pane makes you sigh, watching the cresting and breaking of waves on a sandy shore can take your breath away.
With this dance, we hope to bring to the audience the many faces of water as it goes from soft and flowing to hard and pounding. We want to lull them into a false sense of security and then startle them awake the same way summer showers turn into unpredictable thunderstorms. We want to show them that despite a calm and collected facade, water can be angered and easily stirred.
Our group hopes to showcase water in all its majesty, regardless of whether it is good or bad. Consider it a political dance. The more we waste water, the more it fights back. Hopefully, through this dance, we can bring about awareness to this issue; we need water, as scarce a resource as it is, but we are destroying and this destruction has to stop.
In showing both sides of water we want to show not only its beauty but its power and hold over us as well.
***
As
you can see, the write-up refers to some of the movements we use in the dance
such as the soft beginning which goes into a more popping/locking middle.
There's an incorporation of a pot and shimmering blue to give the effect of
waves and the unity of the water as it carries the vessel on it's waves. There
are speed shift to represent unpredictability and such like.
Hopefully by the end of this dance the audience will go away with a feeling quite unlike anything they've had before. The entire performance should be something they haven't seen before and hopefully the surprise in it will allow the audience to pay attention to the message we're trying to convey.
Like I mentioned, with the dance being so hard and fast allows it to be more political and therefore the message we will raise at the end will tie in to the conservation of water.
I do understand that
our write-up is slightly vague but we want to keep the plan hidden so that it's
fresh and new in the performance. Shock value. We'd be glad to explain more if
you'd like, just let us know :)
Thank you for this
opportunity Mrs. Malik, it really means a lot because we want to be different
and yet true to the nature of water. Hopefully this fits what you wanted. Any
edits are welcome.
Thanks
again. >>
That was our entire explanation and I
really hope that reading it you can see why we ended up doing what we did. I
think we finally grew up beyond ourselves, beyond our egos, and realized that
even in our showcasing we could bring about awareness and a message.
We did have fun with the dance though as
you can see from the pictures. It wasn’t all work and no play, that was the
great thing, and we had an amazing time working with each other. There were
tears and fights and so much drama but it undeniably brought us closer to each
other as a group. With Sam and me acting as the police and middle-women we got
it all done. We discovered our unknown, surprising, strengths in dance. Who
knew we could all pop and lock? Funzies :D
Cinderella (backstage)
I’m not
going to say that there was anything profound behind this because there wasn’t.
Like no way, at all, but, it was the most fun (I was about to say ‘funnest’
there :P ) and definitely the most creative project we did. This Cinderella
play was a chance to let our creative juices flow. We ended up making a giant pumpkin
(and yes, it was about half the size of a person so it was giant) and a movable
limousine (it literally could be pulled along) and all the backdrops. The
coolest part was when we were painting tress on a white cloth for the forest
scene and the paint leaked through onto the floor. Strangely enough, the leaked
painting looked better than what we originally put up.
And that’s
about it.
I’m getting
pretty tired of writing now ‘cus I’ve been at it for a while and my mind’s
going fuzzy with memories. I kinda wanna hole up and cry because I’ve really
had some of the best times in my life doing this as sappy as that sounds. I
just really, really, really, pretty please with a cherry on top, want my CAS
here at OSC to be just as productive and meaningful because I’d die if it
became a chore. I want to do this for myself not because I have to. So yeah,
hoping for the best.
So yeah, this was the deep reflection stuff,
hope ya’ll don’t mind reading all that. It’s a bit much, I know, but I’ll put
up more pictures in the next post as I get them off my friends. I already sent
a mail out so it should be here in a couple of days, just hang tight till then.
I’m planning on doing an entire picture post so that should be fun :)
Right, I’m
off to bed so goodnight to all the lovelies that read this. Thanks for bearing
with all this :P I’ll see you (metaphorically) in the morning maybe…
Cheers
Saj
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