Malir SOS Summer Camp

For eleven years, the Non-governmental Organisation in Karachi called FESF (Family Educational Services Foundation) has been organizing the annual Summer Camp for the kids at the SOS Orphanage in Malir: two intense weeks of activities, games, excursions, vocational workshops, movies, a bar b q night, and a final closing show. The kids and the volunteers wait for this event the whole year round.

This year was my third year working for FESF. I was appointed one of the few group-leaders this year, and I realized the heavy responsibility on my shoulders. I was responsible for heading a group of volunteers, many of whom were my age and some older than me. This would require good leadership and communication skills. As we begun to critique last year's camp and brainstorm ideas for this year's camp, I realized the importance of staying positive and focused. Looking back at it now, I can say that it was all worth it and it really was an amazing experience!

WORKSHOPS

The workshops this year consisted of leadership, communication and team-building skills which went a long way in helping us interact during the camp. We also had a sign-language crash course for the deaf children who would be attending the course. Since this was my second time, I felt more confident. However, we also learnt American Sign Language this year along with Pakistani Sign Language which further challenged us. We also had workshops on working with children, and conflict resolution. We learned to define clear rules and to have clear awards and consequences for the children. During the workshops, I got to know many of the volunteers and made some good friends. I used this time to interact with my group as well to know them better in order to enable me to understand them and work with them better. Tea and biscuits were nice after a long intense workshop, and provided us with time to interact with other volunteers.

During the brainstorming, I began to realize the immense trust Mary (head of the organisation) started to put on me. She trusted me to get everything done, relied and believed in me throughout the whole process. This trust was detrimental for me to get all the work done and kept me motivated. I also realized the role of an organizer in organizing such large projects. It requires team-building and trust - everything cannot be done by the organizer, she cannot afford to micro-manage when heading such a large project.

So our group planned out each of the eight days of the camp, carefully keeping back-up activities, as well as carefully making a list of all the materials we would need for each of the activities. We added themes of focus on each day for example the first day was 'Underwater life.'  Since we were working with young kids of ages 4-6 years old, we made sure the themes would grasp their attention and would be meaningful to them and allow them to learn about different aspects of life. Moreover, we planned our own excursions for the group, and the owners of the excursion venues had to be contacted and transport had to be sorted out. It was very important for me to coordinate effectively with the main leaders of the camp as well in order to get everything ready and sorted for the camp.

We planned extra games and activities for the Bar B Q night and the closing show. We had it all sorted out, and discussed possible factors that could affect our planning and made sure we put down solutions in case something occurred during the week for the camp. Looking back at the planning we did after the camp is over, I can safely say we had it all covered and the planning was indeed done effectively.

The camp went fairly smoothly. There were a few arguments between volunteers at times, and it was my job to try to encourage communication between the volunteers, and to sort out their arguments by encouraging them to talk it out. The conflict resolution workshops really helped me understand the nature of conflict and provide better solutions for them when they occurred. I felt a little awkward conversing with older volunteers about something they had done wrong on one of the days for example, left when the rest of the group had to pick up the trash, but I realized it was important and that I needed to do it in order to promote team-prosperity. Working with the kids, as always, was amazing. I let out all my artistic skills during the camp and had a lot of fun on the excursions. It was intense, and it was tiring, and I felt I would collapse at 8 pm when the camp ended. However, it was all worth it, and I would be ready to go again at 7 am the next day. The children gave meaning to my life and I realized the importance of being with them in order to make me appreciate little things in life.

Overall, it was a great experience of leadership and working with volunteers and kids. I cannot wait for next year's camp, and I miss the kids already.

I love this kid.

The determination in his eyes is precious.

Painting Children's Ward at Liaquat National Hospital

Summer really allows me to get away from the pressures of my academic life, and engage and try to give back to the society I live in. Hence, I decided to lead a project of painting the Children's Ward at Liaquat National Hospital with FESF (NGO I work with). I went to buy acrylic paints with Roxy and John (volunteers at FESF) and brainstormed a few designs with them that we would paint on the walls which would bring joy to the children there. We decided to do the theme of underwater life, and decided to do it on a Saturday. Hence, early morning Saturday I went with Roxy and John to the Liaquat National Hospital, and we also invited some students from the Szabist College to work with us. We went to choose a fitting wall for our design and I lead the whole group to come up with ideas to work together as a team to get the work done quickly and efficiently. Hence, we divided ourselves according to different sections of the wall, and our abilities. Hence, some people felt more comfortable with painting, and some with drawing. We worked under the scorching heat from 11 am till 2 pm, had lunch at 2 pm and painted from 3 pm till 6 pm. It was a great experience and I cannot express the joy painting brings to me. It was a chance to show off all my skills at art that I had learned from doing O Levels Art at school. Here is a picture of our work and the volunteers:

We invited some children to come see the work, and they were thoroughly delighted. It was a day well spent :)

SOS Summer Camp

The SOS Summer Camp

Alas – it is summer again. Summer for me means volunteering for FESF’s annual summer camp for the SOS Orphanage in Malir, Karachi. I have been working with FESF- a foreign NGO, for the past three years and I have been part of several activities including teaching at a garage school of less privileged students, carrying out fund-raising projects, and carrying out a summer camp for orphans in Malir. For two weeks, FESF organizes a MOVE program for teenagers – seminars on leadership, communication, and team-building skills. We also learn sign language during these two weeks to be able to communicate with the deaf who also attend the Summer camp. After the seminars, the volunteers are divided into several groups with two group-leaders and a group coordinator to head them. In separate groups, we carry out careful planning of the schedule of the summer camp – filling in a planner with the activities that we come up for the children to do. Then the actual camp begins. The camp is tiring, yes. We reach Malir by 9 in the morning and leave by 6 in the evening.  When we reach home we are tired, exhausted, worn-out and drained, but there is one thing that makes us get up in the morning the next day and go to Malir again. The kids. Yes, they are truly amazing. If you deal with them properly and are able to show them that you genuinely care for them, they will give you all the love in the world. They will make you cards and bracelets and stick with you, and wait for you early in the morning when you reach the camp. They will cry on the last day because they say they will miss you and you will end up crying with them as well, and then they will make you promise that you will come back the next year. The camp starts on the 12^th of July! I cannot wait!

UWC!

When I first browsed through the UWC website, I felt uplifted. To be able to go to a college where thoughts and ideas can be shared with people from all over the world was extremely appealing. I was always a believer in talks. We need more conversations to avoid war, because wars arise from misunderstandings, miscommunications and lack of forums where issues can be solved by debating. The idea of not only studying, but also living and eating with people from all walks of life and from all corners of the world was so alluring. However along with all of this, I was also accompanied by a whirlpool of other feelings and thoughts. The movement was so big, so huge, so … amazing. How could I, a student from Karachi, coming from a class of 30 students even apply for the UWCs? At one time, I thought of quitting, it was like the ‘doubt’ stage of the five stages of man had set in, I felt it was ‘impossible’ (as Shontelle puts it, I’m listening to her right now.) Then I sat down, opened Microsoft word, and simply planned to write down 10 reasons why I should be given the opportunity to go to a UWC. I wrote about 6, but they were enough to get me back ‘in my zone.’ After that, I began working on my application.

The day of the selection test came, and it consisted of three tests, one was the general knowledge quiz, the other was the personal statement, and the last one was about general world issues. I’m not bragging, but my personal statement (which was the first test) went relatively good. The general knowledge test was simply frustrating. Yes, I had not researched like crazy for current issues, but I do have a genuine interest in what goes on in the world, and the current happenings and I like to talk about them as well. I am also an avid reader, and so, not getting most of the answers was simply annoying. It was like the person who had made the test had entered my mind and had asked all the questions about things I did not know. Anyway, I tried to make up for it in the last test which required us to write solutions on some current issues. That was all. They said they would call us for the interview in about two weeks. Two weeks passed. No call. I wished I had researched online and read general knowledge books like this other boy I had seen doing before the tests. But thank god, after three weeks, the call finally came, and the interview was scheduled for the coming Sunday.

At the day of the interview, I came to know most of the people there. I made a new friend, who had travelled all the way from Islamabad( I think her name was Misha.) She showed me a watercolor painting she had brought along, and I complimented her artistic skills. Another boy from Islamabad had brought his guitar. There were 6 of us from Karachi, out of which 4 are going to different UWCs! – Piyari (who is now going to Adriatic UWC), Rabail(who is going to Nordic UWC) Samreen (the one in the Netherlands) and me (to LPCUWC.) The interview was funny. I felt like it had gone well, the interviewers were nice, though they pretended to be strict and stern, I knew they were pleasant people. Well, anyway a few weeks later I heard I had got admission plus a scholarship. I don’t think I can fully describe the feelings that I felt at that moment, but I was definitely very happy, though a little apprehensive. I knew my life was about to change forever if I went to LPCUWC.