Activity #7: After Thanksgiving lunch

A Second Visit to AUPI

Date: Wednesday, November 27th, 2013

Went: Se Jeong, Lucia Duarte, Mica, Oli, Francisco, Belen, Jin Kyu, Jane, Eukyung, Josefina, Nina, Jade.

Adults: Miss Sarah, Mr Foege, Vicky, Dr Schoolman.

Helped in packing: Kun Hee, Tiffany, Lucia Pradel.

Following the Thanksgiving lunch and the whole-school-picture-taking, members of NHS as well as other people prepared and packed food. This, along with toys and clothes donations, were brought to the Hogar Maruja-Sterling (aka AUPI). 

Modes of transportation? Miss Sarah's car, Dr Schoolman's car, two taxis.

We stayed there for around two hours, some longer, some a little less. 

All in all, we all had a good time, at least I think so. Guillermo, the children's guardian, told me he was delighted in seeing us, as our presence was a "fresh and dynamic change in the children's routines."

Oh! Anyone who wants the pictures taken on this day, I think that Javi has them, if I am not mistaken.

Activity #6: Distributing Donations

Better late than never

Date: Monday, November 4th, 2013

The donations were given to another Hogar, called Hogar Bancario, presented to me by Guillermo from AUPI!

That childcare home is coed, and there are around twenty children I believe housed there.

Pablo, the guardian of the children in the Hogar Bancario, was so happy when he saw the piles of donations! Thank you all for helping in sorting the clothes and toys out, and also to carry them around the school with me. And thank you to all the people who brought the donations in as well; it would not have been possible without the support of everyone.

The rest of the donations were either kept for AUPI or sent to the Red Cross in Uruguay for the flooded rural areas.

Activity #5: First time at Peluffo

First time at Peluffo Giguens

Date: Thursday, October 31st, 2013.

Went: Se Jeong, Francisco, Josefina, Mr Foege, Vicky, Mrs Duhart.

Today, the five of us went to Peluffo, specifically Hogar La Campana. We did not do much with the children because the main point of this visit to see how Peluffo worked and talk with the people working there. 

Josefina's godmother showed us around. There are three floors with seven rooms each. There is also a floor that seems to work as a play area (with toys and two foosball tables, for example), and there is also a sort of multi-purpose room.

Josefina's godmother told us that the number of children in Peluffo varies all the time, and that it is difficult to predict how many children they will be much ahead of time. There could be as little as three children to as many as fourteen. She proposed that we could visit them at Peluffo, or that the children can come visit us as on a field trip. Ideas that we had was inviting them during a Coffee House rehearsal, if StuCo and the school allows it of course. The children love to go to new places, and the parents support that the children are shown other realities as well. 

As it was Halloween, many (or all) the volunteers had come to play with the children. It was so nice to see the children happy. And the mood was so bright! It made me all happy and warm inside to see so much happiness around me. Um, okay, that was a very redundant sentence. Sorry about that. Anyway, point is, I think that Peluffo Giguens is a great place, and that we should think about organizing activities for the children there as well, in the near future. Thank you for introducing me, us, to Peluffo, Josefina :).

Meeting #3: Beginnings of Field Day

Wednesday, October 30th, 2013

Talking about Field Day

• Division into houses/groups.
• Houses led by NHS members. Although NHS people will be the "leaders" in a way, we will be participating in the activities. Or at least, that's what the majority thought, and no one really objected.
• Some teachers will help in supervising and organizing the children. Because, let's admit it, it can be difficult to get people to listen to us high-schoolers. Other teachers should participate in the activities alongside the students.
• Activities we mentioned were: Inventing a cheer, designing a team shirt, "water slide". And I have a whole list of others that teachers have collected and given me from homeroom.
• We talked about having the "more messy" activities at the end, as a way to wrap up and let everyone just have fun.

Before making too many other plans, we should think about how we are going to be dividing ourselves. The number of houses and the number of people per houses will help us in determining what activities we can organize, and all the rest. Anyways, for next meeting, we should all think about more concrete plans on how to organize ourselves. We have a lot of ideas for activities. We need to focus on the more difficult part in organizing the day itself.

Activity #5: Helping at Parents Night Out

Extra help during StuCo's Parents Night Out

Thank you to all the people showing up! I hope you enjoyed yourselves. Although some of you must have been exhausted, the children who came seemed so happy as they were leaving. I hope you have all slept well and recovered your energy!

Date: Friday, October 18th, 2013.

People from NHS: Jin Kyu, Micaela, Jade, Kun Hee, Se Jeong, Francisco, Nico, Nina, Jane, Juanma.

Meeting #2: "Share your passion"

Origins of Community Service Project ideas

We have come up with a list of things we wanted to do in NHS in the future. This is the list that we asked Mr Foege to send to all us by mail. As a summary, this is what we have:

- Juanma: Penguins; Charity Water.

- Kun Hee: Spreading happiness and delivering needs (ex: wishlist from AUPI).

- Mica: Charity Water.

- Lucia D: S.O.S Fauna Marina (penguins); Gardening with kids

- Jade: Field Day (a day consecrated for everyone at school to get involved; separate into teams of different colours).

- Francisco: Charity Water; Field Day; AUPI (ex: go and play music to them).

- Nina: Help animals; Announce things through art.

- Josefina: S.O.S Fauna Marina; CAIF; Peluffo Guigens.

- Lucia P: Art mural (elementary); Charity Water.

- Jane: Art; Art gallery.

- Se Jeong: AUPI; Gardening project (expand to many people, including AUPI, CAIF, elementary in our school...); Field Day.

I have written a couple down under my name. But that does not mean I do not value the other ideas. It is just that the ones I have written down are the ones that I have a clear understanding of, and that I have things I can contribute to the organization of. Also, remember that we can all work outside of the meetings as well. We can talk at school, on Facebook... Well, you already know how you can talk to each other.

Guys, I have a little favor to ask you. Could you and your group always include me in, and keep me on top of, the things going on in your projects? That would make things easier to organize for the meetings and all. As I have said and repeated many times, I believe the job of the president is to organize the meetings, not decide what NHS will be doing. A president's job is to help others plan their ideas and help them carry it out. A president's job is to lead others towards their goals, what they want. Not to be the voice of authority that chooses to have her way. Anyway, I'm not going to give a speech.

So those were the ideas that emerged. Of course there are many others as well. But don't forget. Do one thing at a time. If we work efficiently, one project at a time, we will be able to do all the things we want to. I think that by next meeting, we might even have a project we can carry out!

Date: Wednesday, October 9th, 2013.

Meeting #1: Potential ideas

"Idea generator" meeting

Those who could came over to my house on Saturday, August 31st, did so. This was when we divided ourselves into the groups for Peace One Day. And we also discussed ideas for the future. Although we did not stay on topic for more than five minutes each time we dragged each other onto NHS business, we did manage to get together some ideas. 

1) Field Day.

2) Potential fundraisers during 3x3 tournament, Flea Market, Family Fun Day, International Day... We talked about providing drinks and snacks during the 3x3, having a raffle during International Day, asking PO about having an NHS booth/stand during Flea Market or Family Fun Day. Oh! And the thing where people can pay to tape the principal, or something like that.

3) Ping Pong contest or Foosball contest

4) Valentine's Day grams. We could turn this into a Halloween's Day grams. We could sell candies or cupcakes or cookies or something. The money we raise could be donated to an organization we decide upon, whether Charity Water or another one we find. If we are going to have these for Halloween though, we should plan this out quickly. Because Halloween is in two weeks.

Um, I think those were the main ones. These are very broad, but since we never mentioned them again, I thought I might record them, as they are all very good.

Date: Saturday, August 31st

People who attended: Se Jeong, Kun Hee, Jin Kyu, Lucia P, Francisco, Juanma, Nico, Jane. 

Activity #4: Peace One Day

Peace One Day

I hope you guys liked Peace One Day! I think it was successful, and I've received much positive feedback both from secondary and elementary.

Elementary Peace One Day:

We divided ourselves into pairs and a group of three. Then, in our individual groups, we organized a twenty-minute session for our assigned grade.

Lucia P, Jade and Jane went to Kinder. Nico and I went to 1st grade. Nina and Josefina went to 2nd grade. Lucia D and Micaela went to 3rd. Jin Kyu and Juanma went to 4th. Kun Hee and Francisco went to 5th grade. If you guys don't mind, could one person from each group write what the group did as a comment on this post?

All in all, the sessions revolved around the theme of this year's Peace One Day, which was "Who do you want to make Peace with?". 

Secondary Peace One Day:

I contacted Mrs Ragsdale and she agreed tell us about her experiences during the assembly. 

Date: Wednesday, September 18th.

Activity #3: Donation box organization

Organizing clothes from the Donation Box

We collected so many clothes from the clothes drive! We still have to make a definite decision about where those clothes are going to go. But I think we almost had a consensus of sending some to AUPI and most of them to CAIF.

On Tuesday, September 17th, some of us stayed after school to sort these clothes out. We tried categorizing the clothes into type, age group and gender. The clothes were mostly of good quality and clean. We also named the bags with the different categories. Though not perfect, the names will facilitate knowing what bags contain what. 

Date: Tuesday, September 17th.

People who stayed: Josefina, Lucia P, Lucia D, Jane, Se Jeong, Kun Hee.

Activity #2: Visit to AUPI

Visit to AUPI-Hogar Maruja-Sterling

Following a toys drive at school, Lucia D, Jin Kyu, Francisco, Kun Hee and I visited AUPI to deliver the toy donations. As it was a Friday, most of the boys had gone home, and only seven were left. Even though we were a small number of people, all of us had tons of fun.

Initially, the boys were absorbed by the toys. They were taking them out of the bag, spreading them on the table, admiring this one and that. But they were pretty soon bored of them. Three of them asked Francisco, Jin Kyu and Kun Hee to play soccer with them on the rooftop, in the field we had painted for them last year. (Oh! By the way, I was so happy by how intact the field looked when we got there!) Lucia and I stayed downstairs for a while, with the younger boys. But after a while, we both chose to go upstairs. The younger boys stayed under my father's care (my father had driven the five of us there). I think we probably played soccer for an hour and a half at least. At 18h00 or so, the lady who tends the house and cooks called us downstairs, because it was the boys' snack time. We stayed for another thirty minutes, as we warmed ourselves and drank hot chocolate, and we left at 18h30.

Date: Friday, September 13th.

People who went: Francisco, Kun Hee, Se Jeong, Jin Kyu, Lucia D, Se Jeong's father.

Notes we made: 

We noted that, though the boys love to play soccer, they do not have a good soccer ball to play with. We thought that next time we go, we might consider bringing them one. Plus, when I asked the boys what they really liked as presents (to create a wishlist of some sort in my mind), many said they really enjoyed reading. Maybe we could use the donation box for this. I think we should change the purpose of the donation box to turn it into a "Books & Balls" drive, or something along those lines. What do you think?

Activity #1: Impromptu babysitting

Babysitting corner during Parents Welcoming Evening

Upon Dr Schoolman's request, NHS and StuCo worked together to organize a relatively simple babysitting corner during the Parents Welcoming Evening on Friday, August 16th, from 19h00 to 21h00. Overall, the evening seems to have gone smoothly, without any major problems.

Summary of planning out:

The entrance was in front of the gym, in the cafeteria, where parents had to drop off their children and pay. In addition to receiving money, this post was used as a check-in place, because we also put name tags of some sort to keep track of the children better. The name tags were masking tape with name and grade of the child written in pen. The children stayed in the gym for fifteen minutes, after which we began proceeding to the individual rooms at 19h15. We began the movies at by 19h30.

We set up two movies, "Despicable Me" for younger children in Mrs Vocale's room and "Alice in Wonderland" for older children in Sylvia's room. We also decided to leave the gym open, with two to three people in charge, in case the children grow restless or do not want to watch the movie. In the end, no one wanted to watch "Alice in Wonderland". Children either watched "Despicable Me" or went to the gym. 

Food-wise, girls brought popcorn and boys brought drinks. We kept the food preparation going almost from beginning to end (two people in charge). The food was put on a couple of tables in front of the movie rooms. The people making food brought it to the table, and the people with the children gave it to the children.

At 21h00 the parents picked up their children. We stayed for about thirty minutes cleaning up and putting things in order. 

Date: Friday, August 16th.

Financial matters: 
We charged 50 pesos per child. We split the profit 50-50 between StuCo and NHS. 

People who helped:

Jin Kyu, Jade, Francisco, Se Jeong, Kun Hee, Juanma, Nico, Lucia D, Lucia P, Josefina, Nina, Mrs Vocale.

Notes and things to keep in mind:

If we are going to give popcorn, let's consider using a room without a carpet. Mrs Vocale's room is great as a movie room, but the carpet killed us as we were trying to clean up. The kernels got stuck, and we had to manually pick them up because the brooms were not much help. Plus, although we did find a vacuum cleaner, the school's is very weak and doesn't work that well.

Also, if we ever have a babysitting corner again, I think we agreed that we will definitely charge more than 50 pesos.