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Post Trip Reflections - Bing Hao

L.E.G.O. forever

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Vanessa's post-trip reflections :)

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A little something that I really want to share

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OCIP reflection
Haig Girls’ School

Frankly speaking, I was rather surprised when I saw that most people have already posted their reflections on this blog, despite their Project Work Oral Presentation being mere days away. I guess this is the sort of commitment all of us should deliver, especially when we’ll all be on the plane in 2 weeks’ time!
To everyone in the team: all the best for your OP!
Meanwhile I will force my slothful self to wake up before noon and start working on all our programme proposals, before it’s too late.

Now, allow me to start my reflection proper.

The entire L.E.G.O. team of 29 went to Haig Girls’ School last Thursday. I felt a little uneasy during the bus journey, as I have never been fond of children. Since young I’ve had this innate hostility to screaming children who just can’t seem to keep their mouth shut and who have nothing better to do than to annoy you by running around in circles.

I essayed a smile, suppressing my anxiety and dizziness when I joined my group of 8 Haig Girls, whose names, sadly, I could not remember.

And the disaster began.

Although my group was the better-behaved ones (as I found out later), I commanded no respect whatsoever and struggled to control them. They’re in their own world, happily chatting away in their avid anticipation of High School Musical 3. When we’re having our ice breakers most of them just looked tired and bored. Not that I was any better, of course. I have long lost touch with anything remotely popular with primary school kids nowadays. (Darn, I should have done some research.) I didn’t know what to do.

It was awkward.

Thankfully I got myself together after the 15-minute break, and managed to hold a decent conversation with most of the girls. I even had this funny feeling that some of them liked me. When all was done (including the distribution of candies as a token of appreciation, of course), I walked off without a word, relieved that it’s over. To my surprise, the girls waved to me, flashing me a kind of smile that I haven’t seen in years.

During our bus journey to the hospital (for both *lunch* & vaccination), Ms Tan asked us to think about the objectives of the activity.

My primary learning point: Maybe children aren’t as bad as I’ve imagined (although it’s kinda upsetting that P6 kids are taller than me.)

Kidding.

To me it’s an opportunity to discover ourselves. Not only did this short interaction session provide me with a taste of what it would be like when we teach the kids in Yunnan, it also taught me to believe in myself. This may sound clichéd, but I believe faith in oneself (as well as in our teammates) is one of the things essential to making this outreach programme a success.

During our stay in Yunnan, we're bound to encounter many adversities, and things might not go as well as we want them to be. But instead of giving up/whining/complaining/pointing fingers, we should think of ways to rectify the situation and make the best out of it. I know it's only natural for people to feel resigned when faced with adversities, but we must believe in our capabilities and venture out of our comfort zones. (I promise I won’t cringe when I see the kids in Yunnan.)

Sometimes we may fail a lot, a lot of times. But that’s okay, because with each attempt we grow a little. One baby step at a time, and we can go wherever we want.

-sauyee

P.S. Whoa, didn’t know I could write so long. Thanks for bearing with me. (:

The cornflakes making sessions were tiring to say the least but I’m sure every one of us understood the rationale behind it -- to raise as much funds as possible for our trip, which would then be used for subsidising/offsetting various trip costs.
I found it a bit unfair that some people only had to sell 5 extra tubs of cornflakes (which does not take as much energy as making 9000 cornflakes) while the few of us slogged it out, although I understood that circumstances did not permit the even and fair distribution of tasks. But of course, someone has to do the job and through the cornflakes making sessions, to a certain extent, we learnt how to “give and take” which I feel would be essential during our trip to Yunnan.
Those sessions also showed how different people work and how effective we were in completing a given task together. The right job delegation was important to ensure efficiency as different people are good at different things. Hence, I feel that tasks delegated in Yunnan should bear a certain amount of consideration to what the person is good at.
Lastly, the cornflakes making sessions allowed the few of us to get to know each other on a more personal level as we spent quite a fair bit of time talking as we worked. I think we are now more comfortable with each other and have a better understanding of each other’s habits and pet peeves.

Farah

The first cornflakes-making session was at Joanne's house, where not many people went at first. They joined us a while after that later that evening.

On the way to Joanne's house in Ms Tan's car, we talked about many useless things and Ms Tan told me to shut up, if not she would drop me at the roadside. =( I realised that I talk too much crap and should talk only at the necessary times. I have learnt my lesson and will talk less in future.

In Joanne's house, we just started without instructions from anybody. If not for Yvonne and her decision-making, it would have been a complete chaos. So, we delegated tasks and everybody had a role to play. At first, if things were to carry on initially, the production would be very slow as there would be people idling around. After some adjustments, everybody would specialise in their specific roles and thus increase the efficiency of making cornflakes. The production went on very smoothly thereafter, as everybody put their hearts and souls in making them. It got a little dry after that as we kind of lost some enthusiasm.

After that, more people came and crap, it was total chaos! I, who was in charge of sprinkling coloured rice onto the cornflakes, was pushed out of the kitchen into the packing 'industry'. This is where we packed the cornflakes into boxes of 12 and 27. I forgot to mention, actually the whole process of manufacturing the cornflakes went well, because we took a good risk. We desperately needed the chocolate on the cornflakes to dry up asap as we there was a HUGE demand for the trays because the chocolate was melting way too quickly. Hence we utilised Joanne's refrigerator but did not know how the end result would be like. But poof, it went well. So, well done! Thus, the learning of point of this is that if we take a good risk, things would work out faster than you could ever imagine.

In the process of packing along with occasional swapping of people (coz they were too bored doing the same things), things went well I would say. It was quite efficient in my point of view, but some people tried to snatch and pack into their various containers whenever the fresh cornflakes came out. Maybe they were too enthu, lol.

At the end of it all, we wrote a card to thank Joanne's mother for using her place for the cornflakes-making session. I learnt to thank people for their contributions and acknowledge them all.

Overall, there has been much learning points. Firstly, think first before you speak. Secondly, efficiency comes from enthusiasm and specialisation of tasks. Thirdly, by taking a good risk the results might turn out better than what you think. Lastly, I learnt to acknowledge people for their help and contributions. I hope this entry was not crappy, though.

Leonard
30/10/08

Labels: leonard's reflections on 1st cornflakes-making session

i believe i owe everyone an account of why i made a slip of tongue during the haig girls anti-smoking talk. it was an absent minded let-out on my part; i guess what i meant to say din match what i said in the end.

initially i was thinking its probably okay, since i know what i mean and the girls din seem too bothered by that. but after cross checking with people around me, i found out; its actually not just about me.

this i always knew: "you are wearing the (enter school name here) uniform so dont do anything that will marr the image..blah)".

but sometimes knowing doesn mean we put it to practise, and what i did was precisely that(or lack thereof). =( the fact that we were representing an organisation complicates the whole process because its not just about how the girls or teachers think of me and me as an individual but actually the kind of 'talent' tj harbours, because, thats how people work- they group things together- but thats not the point. the point is that such appearences still have to kept up with, because if u mince your words, it makes it easier to swallow. today, its a school but in a few weeks its going to be country and i cant keep making such absent minded mistakes on such an unternational scale- even if the cute yunnan children dont get what im saying.. =(

to end off the encounter, i guess i should have been more responsible with my words and well, followed my script more closely (something i struggle with) and simply think through before i start talking. it has always been my achilles (everyone is no stranger to my verbal diarrhoea) and i swear, if i offended anybody before, it was never intentional. i apologise.

is it too late yet?



danielle.

Okay talking about the trip to haig girl's last thursday. I feel that it was generally quite successful, especially in the engagement the group ICs have with the primary school kids. The logistics team was quite well prepared in what they need to have and there was no lack of items needed if i am not wrong. Although there were ways to improve what we did there, which the teachers have discussed, i feel that it will be good enough if we are able to achieve this level of organization when we are at yunnan. We should take into consideration that this is only a one morning event unlike our trip which consists of 14 days of uncertainty. A few people i asked, who spoke from experience, told me that normally in such trips, everything u plan will change to a large extent when u get there due to the uncertainty. However, it is still important to plan and be ready as no matter what happen there, we can still play around with our plans if we are really well prepared. I feel like i am stating a very 'duh' thing but well i am not trying to crap haha.

Going back to haig girls'. For myself, i think what really struck me was the part when some of my group students showed seriousness as they wrote on the cloth for the yunnan kids. Like i say, i took a group of students who are relatively less academic incline. I'm not trying to say that these students cannot think that way or become serious; i just feel that it is kind of encouraging to see them as young children already sparing some thoughts for people who they know are less fortunate than them.

Lastly, i would like to mention about the part when the teacher from haig girls' told everyone to keep their volume low due to the ongoing exam. I think this will be rather similar to what we might face in yunnan as we are like the visitors in the school. I thought the cooperation we gave was not enough as most of us continue to play the games that would create noise. Perhaps we were unaware of it then, even for me. But reflecting on the event now, i realise that there was much hesitant before the teacher came out to tell everyone to keep the noise level low as it was also not nice to discipline or scold outsiders, therefore it is really about how considerate and aware we are of the inconvenience we might be causing for the host. I feel that this will apply very greatly when we are in yunnan.


Sorry for the long post because i am writing about something that only happen last week thus i remember it rather clearly. Sorry for my english too coz i think it really ....
Anw i think writing diary in yunnan is very important; because ten years down the road when u read it again, it will be full of memories and meaning! (this is random)

-Binghao

Cornflakes-making with the bio-ocip people was fun! Although the job, stretched for a period of 3 days, was tiring and monotonous, it made me learn many important things.

Firstly, it taught us the importance of splitting the labour effectively, and to work efficiently. Due to the lesser manpower we had as compared to in Joanne’s house, it was even more crucial that we stuck to our duties closely so that we can reach the targeted amount of cornflakes in the given time period.

Even so, we tried to be flexible with our duties, moving about the areas of the manufacturing process. For example, many people were stationed to fill the cups with cornflakes as it was the most tedious task. When the cornflakes were dried and accumulated, some of us then took the initiative to package the cornflakes.

Of course, through this process, we got to know each other even better. Some examples: Ms Azyanti shared with us her experiences about PW, we all complained about our body aches together, and we got to know each other’s habits. Bonding is important because we will be depending on each other throughout the trip in Yunnan, and we to do so, we need to feel comfortable around each other.

Lastly, as Jimmy has already mentioned, through the selling of cornflakes, we know better the friends who truly support us. For me, the readiness of some of my friends to buy from me made me realize and see clearer those who were willing to render their support in times of need.

To sum this up, I feel that fundraising activities like this have played a vital role in preparing us for the trip, as it has taught us some important skills we will need for the trip. The only pity I feel is that this activity could have also involved the rest of the ocip group, so that all of us would have benefited from it.

-Jingjing

These few days of cornflakes making have undoubtedly bond the team together much closer, especially the biology team people. We share the same joy, sense of satisfaction, fatigue and the mundane feeling of repeating the same steps over and over again. Although we ended up with muscle aches, blisters but I feel that at the end of the day, as we see our fruit of success the thousands of cornflakes, I do feel much sense of satisfaction. Not to mention the nonsense fun we shared while making them, exploring the house, it was indeed memorable.

When I was told to write a reflection, the very first thing that struck my mind was the very fact that when we were complaining, Ms Azyanti mentioned something that we joined the programme to serve to break out of our comfort zone. It just struck me speechless as I realised how little I could bear without much complains. After these sessions, as I prepare for the main trip ahead, I’ll definitely be more mindful about the purpose of going for this trip- To break free of my comfort zone, to experience life beyond.

Secondly, after we brought the 20 boxes home, I wondered how I am going to sell all of those. Perhaps this is when I realised the true meaning of friendship. That people buy your cornflakes to support you, that very fact are very valuable to me which again reminds me to cherish the friends around me.

All in all, these sessions have strengthened my faith, my determination to preserve as much as I could and not to give up that easily at the slightest difficulty. Not to mention the bonus fun all of us had while making them allowing us to know more about each other as well as Ms Azyanti herself.


-Jimmy

Before the trip, I did not expect the trip to be much of the eye-opening one in term of exposure as I believed that the characteristics of the Yunnan would be mostly similar to that of my hometown which is also the rural area. However, I was wrong and realised that the trip was indeed very much beneficial and enriching. One thing that I have learnt from the trip is that the lifestyles, the environments, the cultures and especially the people of one place are certainly unique on its own. One can never be too prepared for a new environment especially in a foreign land, and therefore must possess an ability to adapt and certainly a mindset that is ready for change.
Life in rural area is definitely slower in pace and, from my point of view, has a much lighter atmosphere in term of stress. People, from what I observe, adopt a more care-free lifestyle especially those living further from the urban area. Restriction or legal rules that pose a significant impact on our lives here tend to be less influential there. The factors that really affect people are rather cultures and social manners. Therefore, it was very important that we, the visitors have to have the basic understanding of their cultures or at least their values. For example, the practice of “giving face” proved to be very vital when dealing with the locals. I have come across this when dining with the local officials when I learnt that it is not very suitable to treat the host in China.
I also learnt to keep an open mind not only for the place but also the people and their behaviours which usually differ or sometimes can even be seen as not so socially acceptable if based on our own context. Therefore, one preparation that I believe necessary for the visitors is that we must travel without a prejudice or our tendency to judge others. It is important for a visitor to understand that it is impossible for us to change their way of thinking or even practices. There is also a question to the values that is used to judge their practices. What is wrong for us might be right for them vice versa. One example is the smoking issue which is socially undesirable here but is indeed a norm in Yunnan. Hence, we are not able to point out certain things and state that it’s wrong simply because our values say so. We can only point out how we think or explain our “belief” to them which hopefully would prove beneficial to them in the case that we want to interfere. What I learnt to do is also to try to understand the reasons or at least the factors that affect their practices. This I believe will help us in adapting and make us learn new things at the same time.
Another thing that surprised me was the locals’ reaction to our presence. It seemed to me that it was not only us who were ignorant and curious about the other party. I have to admit went to the Yunnan with the expectation of seeing something different or even strange. However, as it turned out, as much as I have seen something different, I was also seen as something different or even deviant by the people there. From this I learnt to be humble and rid of the mentality that we are superior to the people there, including those that we are helping.
Lastly, it was my personal reflection to the issue of helping the people there that was triggered by the recce trip. My initial mentality towards the project is that we are going there to learn and gain experience. I did not fully believe that we could make an impact to those we are helping. However, upon seeing the people there and how well they embrace our help, I must say that it was very inspirational and I felt that we have to make a difference. I was told by a person that although our project’s direct impact might not be very large especially in the long run, we still can act as a catalyst for further improvement, bringing the problems to the larger pictures of other organisation or even the local authority. From this, I learn that it is crucial for the team to first believe that they can make a difference before they can give their full support and effort to the project.

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