Model United Nations

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world" -Mahatma Gandhi

And if you wish to change the world then what is better than trying to resolve global issues and preventing wars through MUN? 

Model United Nations or MUN is an extra curricular activity for students that simulates the United Nations an their committees. Although being an International school, MUN commenced only last year and I've participated in the club for three school terms. I'm glad I've got the opportunity to participate in the club even though I wasn't able to go to the real conference (:'(). These are the skills I've gained just from participation:

• Researching - about current events and countries which I previously new little about
• Debating skills - expressing your opinion in a convincing manner or in other words cleverly arguing 
• Public speaking - I don't often get the opportunity to express my thoughts and opinions publicly and when I do I get very nervous, and this helped me become more confident in myself. 
• Building up confidence - as I wrote previously, it takes a lot of courage to speak in public and put up a confident front like a real UN delegate.  
• Learning new vocabulary - the UN is very specific about how papers have to written. The delegate refers to himself by the country's name and in third person and uses a variety of verbs that I personally never tackled before.
• Writing a position paper - it states the position of the country related to the issue and is basically a summary of the research. Here's an example that my peer and I wrote about the crisis in Syria: 
  Delegation:           Russia
  Commission:        Disarmament
  The Question of Chemical Weapons Trades
  Russia sees that it is necessary to create an agreement with the United States that the Syrian government surrenders all chemical weapons. However, Russia believes that the Assad regime is a mean of stability to the country and only agrees to stop the trade of chemical weapons, if no force is used against Syria. As defined in UN General Assembly, Syria shall submit their chemical weapons by middle of next year, established by the United States and Russia, under a contract, which:
  a.    States the full list of the chemical weapons held by Syria, and
  b.    Informs that all chemical sites must be emptied before the end of November; and
  c.     Establishes a guarantee of elimination of chemical weapons.
  Russia sustains an economic and diplomatic relationship with Syria since 1971, providing access to naval facilities, arm sales, military and intelligence cooperation. Russia hopes that the Syrian government will continue to deflect international pressure. Russia opposes critical resolution of the Syrian government and does not intend to involve the Russian military in the conflict. However, Russia believes the crisis in Syria should end by a peace conference between the United States and the Bashar-al-Assad government.
• Writing a resolution - the resolution collects all the issues that the committees have addressed and their proposed solutions. 
• Working together and respecting others' opinions - although MUN is about expressing opinions, you aren't allowed to speak unless you're given the permission and to interrupt when another delegate is speaking.

Overall, as you can see, MUN was a very enriching experience that would definitely help me in University and later in life. I'm not losing hope and I'll try my best to experience or witness an MUN conference first-hand.

 

Lose Yourself in the Music. Find Yourself in Shape.

For those who don't know what Zumba is... Zumba is dance fitness and its choreography included hip-hop, salsa, mambo and other Latino dance movements. 

I've decided to try out Zumba because I'm not a big fan of team sports and the majority of the sports our school offers as a club involved a team. Also, it was a great opportunity to branch off the comfortable school's club environment and attend classes with older age groups. I split my Zumba learning into two; attending classes at Kabira Country Club and learning from a Zumba CD together with my friend. By splitting it up like that it allowed me balance my time with school work. I found it very challenging to follow the steps because the instructor didn't explained the movements step by step and I just tried to copy her as much as I could. As you can see in the video bellow, there wasn't much flexibility and flow in our dance movements. Although after some time and practice we managed to become more confident in our dancing abilities, we are far being perfect.

The goals of this activity was to learn a new skill and undertake new challenges. Apart from these obvious learning outcomes, we also planned and initiated activities. How? We planned a Zumba lesson for our fellow DP2 classmates during one of our CAS periods. Even though we planned, not everything went as we expected. First of all, we couldn't find our Zumba CD to help us choreograph the class and play Latino music. So we eventually resolved to mainstream music and learn the choreography to those songs from videos on the internet (our faithful rescuer). Moreover, for some students it was too difficult because we didn't have the time (40 min period) to go through the dances step by step, and they stopped half way. This situation was similar to our first Zumba lesson but the key here is to keep on going even if it seems as though you're not so good at it. I believe that in the end our lesson was successful because it was an enjoyable physical exercise that gave the students a short break from our usual school routine. 

The video presents our first lesson and the lesson with the DP2 students.

The reason I became a smurf...

Vlog entry about today's activity at Little Light

The gate before the paint

Here's a suitable song to today's painting! :)

The Hope Ward - Fun Run 2013

This is my second time participating in a fun run event of the same organization, The Hope Ward - a charity non-profit organization within International Hospital Kampala that provide free of charge health services for those who cannot afford it.

For more information about the ward please enter the following link: 
http://healthmarketinnovations.org/program/hope-ward-international-hospital-kampala

The fun run had two option, either to walk 5 km or run 10km. Last year I was a little bit intimidated by the number 10 and so I decided to do the 5 km walk instead. BUT NOT THIS TIME! Although I was not physically prepared to run 10 km without walking, I did manage to run for about half of the time it took me to complete the run (around 1h30min). I think I could've done better if I had trained properly before, but there were many other people who were as unfit as I was so it wasn't all discouraging. I'm very pleased that I accomplished the goal I set myself after last year's fun run in this run.

All ready?

A part of the yellow bunch

Before selfies

I realized that I truly love running. It's not the process that I like but the way you feel after a good run and the sense of accomplishment. When I finished the run, I understood that although I've only done something as small as running, I have contributed to a greater cause by participating and being a part of resolving a global issue. 

The learning outcomes targeted:

• Increase your awareness of your own strengths and areas for growth
• Engage with issues of global importance

Cross country season is starting! Let the running begin!

And here's a motivational quote for the next time you'll be running at 7 am: "The faster you'll finish, the faster you'll get to eat." -a hungry DP2 student.

"Man imposes his own limitations, don't set any" -Anthony Bailey

Once again, I'll be participating in The Hope Ward - Fun Run 2013 this Sunday! But this time I'll be running 10 km instead of walking 5 km. Am I prepared? Only tomorrow will decide. See you at sunrise! :-)

Some photos from Little Light Children Centre to brighten up your day!

Drawing on the black board

Playing "Three Sticks"

Swinging!

More swinging! :D

Happy Bridget with her Origami flower and heart 

Angry Bridget 

Little Light - Second Visit

My class became bigger as more students joined and I replaced a teacher who couldn't come. 

As I planned my lesson for only two students I only printed two worksheets, so for the next time I should print more copies to be ready for any surprises.

We studied the multiplication from 0-4 and filled in the worksheets just as planned. However, the game didn't go as well as expected because I failed to explain what exactly the aim of the exercise is.

But one thing I can say for sure is that when I marked their papers, I was impressed on how quickly they can learn and feel satisfied by their fabulous mark. 

The fundraiser for stationary is planned to be a movie night for the secondary students. We have already spoken to the Head of Secondary about it and he said that we need to carry out a "market" research to see whether students will show up and would that be enough to reach our goal?

Lesson Plan - Little Light Second Visit

Topic  

Learning multiplication tables.

                   

Duration 

The session will range from one hour and fifteen minutes to one hour and a half, then it would be play time!

          

Objectives

- to learn the multiplication tables from 0 to 4

Strategies

I plan to teach the multiplication tables using objects and worksheets that I have found on the website http://www.education.com/worksheets. I will go step by step in order to ensure that my students will understand their multiplication tables! 

Resources

- worksheets

- colored pencils

- cards

Warm up

Start with the simpler ones to get an idea of what they already know.

Activities

This time they will be mainly academic, but the other students can join my group and we can the multiplication chain game with us.

The multiplication chain game is a card game. Each student will get an even number of cards and each card will have a number and a multiplication underneath that number, for example, if the card says 16, the one that asks "who has 4X4?" will receive that card, underneath the number there will be  a similar question "who has 3X7?" and the one who has 21 will say "me!".

Closure

We will go to play outside and reflect on what we have done today.

"All we need is just a little patience"

First Day At Little Light!

Little light is my collaborative project, which I had started at the end of IB1. 
Today, I had a group of two students that needed help in completing their workbook. The work we had completed mainly focused on English and so next week's lesson should be more focused on maths. The students were really shy but I tried to integrate songs and other interactive activities in my lesson and I think they'll slowly get used to me being their teacher. We studied for about an hour and half and then had a break, where actually the children had taught us how to play a game involving a dance.

During the lesson

Play time!

A note to myself: For next week I have to find songs that will help the students to memorize the multiplication table and also plan the fundraiser for stationary!

Volleyball

The familiar sport of volleyball was introduced to our school only this year! And what more? I've decided to overcome my weird phobia of participating in a team sport.

Volleyball was a completely new sport for me. I've never in my entire life have played it but soon as joined the club I found that it was both challenging and enjoyable at the same time. Learning new skills was exciting and difficult but my height gave me some advantage during the game. However, the skill I didn't manage to learn at the end was how to serve the ball without going into unwanted directions.  

Although I wasn't part of the official team, I've still showed perseverance and commitment in this activity as I've attended all the practices. But the most personally important learning outcome was working collaboratively with others, because as I've written previously, I don't like participating in team sports. The reason I don't like it is because it's difficult for me to coordinate and communicate amongst my fellow teammates. I also lack a sense of direction and lack an aiming ability. Therefore, through this, I improved the areas in which I lacked.

I think now volleyball is my favorite team sport, and I'm very disappointed that I won't be able to participate next year as it would be during final exams and we won't be at school.

What time is it? PROM TIME!

Although the Beatles Prom wasn't the Octopus's garden, and it definitely wasn't in the shade, but we did sing and dance around. Now, enough with silliness. If I were to sum our prom in one word it would be a simple "Wow". All the effort and hard work did pay off and the result was incredible and I can proudly say that IB1's have achieved their aim and provided a memorable night to all our leavers. 
In our school there's a tradition where the IB1 organize the prom for IB2 as a leavers' gift and also year 11's. Our class started planning the prom from November, beginning with deciding on a theme and also an appropriate venue. We spent a lot of time deciding on the venue, changing from one to another, and trying to get it for free, similarly to the IB2's last year. Eventually, we decided on Kabira Country club since it was the closest, it had a new ball room built recently and of course we got the venue for free.
Even though, we still had to raise a lot of money to cover other costs such as food, drinks, DJ and decorations.
We organized a few fundraisers but our main one was the Dream Team. The Dream Team is a skilled basketball team of teachers and they are up to compete against the students' teams. Each team member had to pay 10,000 ugx in order to participate, and if the students team won they would get their money back. As well as organizing, I was involved in a team myself, called the Jew crew. Even though we haven't won, we still gave it our best and managed to raise around 800,000 ugx which was used as a deposit for our venue.
But the road was still long and time was running out. We quickly decided on the design of the invitations and printed them the Monday after. We began to advertise around the school that it was time to pay and that the deadline was 28th of March. We walked into classes each morning to collect the money and bugged those who didn't pay. 
Now comes the fun part! The making of the decoration!
With the guidance of a designer that came straight from Israel, we made decoration that corresponded directly to the Beatles' theme. Some of the decoration we made included peace signs out hula hoops decorated with flowers and spray painted bicycles.
And the moment we all been waiting for! Prom day! 
It was all very stressful, and we were all struggling with doing last minute touch ups. The night itself went pretty smoothly, with everything according to plan - the voting for prom king and queen has been counted by the teachers and the king and queen dance "Thousand Years" by Christina Perry was performed by Anna and Victor (2 students from my year) and made all listeners a little bit teary-eyed. 
To summarize half a year worth of work in 4 hours was hard to digest and although I was relieved, I was sad as well. The prom was a definite success that everybody enjoyed. This project has allowed me to show perseverance and commitment, work collaboratively, undertake new challenges and plan activities.
And most importantly, the prom and behind the scenes was an experience that I wouldn't forget so easily.

Tadaaaaah!

Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?

Macbeth. The darkest and the most powerful of all Shakespeare's tragedies has been performed in Uganda's National Theater. And what role did I take in the production of the play? I volunteered to make the props which were used during the performance. 

I was presented with a list and together with my collaborator we set off to a journey.

We needed to either buy or make the following items:

Witches cauldron - custom made.

• 10 Swords - bought.
• 2 Daggers - bought and then painted.
• 5 spears - made from bamboo sticks, clothes pegs and foil.
• 2 battles axes - bamboo sticks, carton board and foil.
• A long thin mirror - bought.
• A big bunch of keys - didn't find suitable keys.
• At least six lanterns plus spare batteries - bought.
• 1 candle in candle holder for Lady Macbeth - bought.
• 10 Tankards - custom made.
• 6 Metal plates - bought.
• 3 Plain wooden trays - bought.
• A sack with a pumpkin in it - bought.
• Lots of fake blood - made about 3 liters of blood from cocoa powder, syrup maple, cornflour and artificial coloring.

Preparing the spears and battle axes

Most of the items on the list were easy to find on the Ugandan Market, while some more difficult, for example the keys and in the end we couldn't find any suitable ones that fit the description of medieval, big and jingly keys. 

Moreover, we found out that blood isn't as it easy to make as it looks. When we first tried it out it ended up being too runny, and the second attempt too sticky (which was a good thing at the end).
However, the most challenging part of this activity was time management. Some things was left for the last moment, and we struggled to get everything on time and yet somehow we managed to bring everything together before the first performance.
Overall, during this activity I showed perseverance and commitment in my activities and worked collaboratively with my fellow partner. Oh one last thing, I must admit that the most exciting moment was when we actually got to see our props being used on stage - Big Bravo to us! 

Witches cauldron, spears and tankards

1000 Origami Cranes

There's an ancient Japanese legend that says; Somebody who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane. However, it isn't that simple. One must complete the cranes within one year and all must be done by that person in order for the wish to come true. Sadako Sasaki, a girl who developed leukemia when she was 12 due to being exposed to radiation at the age of 2 during the time of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. Hearing this legend, she tried her luck and tried to fold 1000 cranes in hopes of recovering. Sadly, she died before completing her goal and only managed to fold 644 cranes.

Carrying the cranes on mobiles

A "1000 Origami Cranes" was a long-term project carried out by our art teacher and involved both students and teachers in the creation of the cranes. The aim of this project was to grant the ill children's wishes, giving them a sign of hope.

At first, I was selected to be one of the folding experts in 2 assembly, specially dedicated to make the cranes. As an expert, I had to guide other students, explaining step by step how to create an origami crane. I found it difficult since my first group consisted of 20 oblivious students who didn't seen to care much about whether they are folding correctly and because I'm quite shy and quiet it was hard for me to control them. On the second assembly, I was lucky to get a different group who was more attentive and remembered most of the steps from last time. We managed to create about 20 cranes when the required was at least 10 per expert. 

Hanging the cranes

The last part of this project was delivering the cranes to Mulago hospital in Kampala. When we arrived we were surprised by the size of the hospital and by the amount of patients occupying (the patients were also surprised by our visit) it and thus it was decided it would be better to hang the mobiles at the entrance and at the children's section. We were divided into different groups and were in charge of different areas. The hanging of the mobiles required team work, one holding a mobile and passing it on to the person on the ladder who then attaches it to the ceiling. It required patience and caution since the mobiles are very delicate. Cranes kept on falling from their strings and I almost damage an entire mobile when I moved the ladder.

Overall, I felt that this activity has engaged me in issues of global importance and encouraged me to work collaboratively with others.