My 5th cas experience a project in which I go to clean dumas by picking up the trash and putting it in a garbage bag with the help of my friends and relatives. It is a short term experience (service)of only one month. I first came up with this project when me and my family a few days ago went to Dumas to eat and there I noticed that there is a lot of garbage like cans, plastic bottles etc lying around here and there. So I took the initiative to come to Dumas with my friends. By proper planning. We decided to have two drives in the month of September with a garbage bag and gloves in order to fulfil my role and clean the city. My main goal was to pick up as much garbage as possible and throw it in the bin.i always wanted to take this initiative early but i could not, however grade 11 cas gave me the opportunity to take this initiative.
L3-Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
We decided to take dumas for location because after the lock down ended the majority of the people started going to dumas to have fun and while having fun they forget that they do not have to spread garbage. I first selected a venue for both the drives, then I called my friends and relatives to help me in this project of cleaning the beach. After calling them I gathered at a meeting where I discussed how we all will divide in 2 groups to increase productivity and get rid of the litter as quickly as possible. Then i selected the date with the help of deciding we will do the drive on 11th september and 25th september. We also planned that we will go in the evening as less people come to the beach in the evening compared to the morning and we can clean the litter they spread in the morning. In order to organise i shifted my work and managed my time so that I can give my full time to clean the Dumas beach. I also made sure that each and every member gets their mask and gloves. We beforehand checked over the temperature and carried bin bags to put the garbage in. For this project I would say planning was much more difficult as it required brainstorming. And after planning we did not have much trouble so the initiation was easy. During this project I discovered that I am good at leading the team and I have leadership qualities.
L5-Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
Cleaning a beach which is a sub urban type of area is not a one person’s job and i cannot even imagine cleaning even a part of the beach in one day. Henceforth I called my friends and relatives to cover as much area as possible and working collaboratively with proper time management indeed made the job easier. If I alone would have tried to clean a part of the beach it would have taken me a day however collaborating with volunteers made the job a piece of cake and we were able to complete our task in just 2 hours. Cleaning dumas is a lot more difficult than it sounds like. Since it was a very busy day at the beach that weekend, it was challenging for me to clear out trash. There was a big crowd and people seemed to be throwing more trash on the beach. I felt like my efforts were futile since the trash kept piling up as more people came and went. In order to overcome this challenge, I set up a large trash can in the area where I was cleaning, so that anybody who came by could throw their trash directly into the trash can. Once I did this, I was quickly able to clean the area and pick up any trash that was there.
L6-Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.
Only because of the increasing issue of environmental and urban pollution decided to take this opportunity. I not only cleaned the venue in two drives but I also put up some signs about not wasting and spreading garbage on the beach and I also told the harmful effect it can create in the near future if the spread of garbage is not stopped.
L7 Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions
An ethical issue that we had to keep in mind throughout the experience was the global pandemic. Even though the situation was relatively in control, we still had to take precautions beforehand. Going out on a public area where the majority of the state’s population comes to chill, without any precaution, is extremely unethical. Me and the volunteers took care of the guidelines by maintaining distance from each other, wearing masks and gloves at all times and not going to areas where there are people because we do not know about their physical health.
In the end I would like to say that this experience helped me understand the thin line between beautiful nature and the stubbornness of the public for throwing garbage everywhere. This experience not only helped me but also others as I picked garbage in a public place so I even helped them. Furthermore I achieved success in my goal as I was able to collect as much garbage as possible with the help of friends and family. It made me feel enjoyment and gave me a sense of accomplishment. I learned that it is not that difficult to fulfill our social responsibility and it could actually be fun if you do it with friends or relatives. I would like to say that this experience helped me understand the thin line between beautiful nature and the stubbornness of the public for throwing garbage everywhere. This experience not only helped me but also others as I picked garbage in a public place so I even helped them. This experience even gave me the opportunity to learn new things like leadership skills. And communication skills as I had to communicate with the volunteers every now and then. I developed reflective skills as we had to reflect upon every decision we took. It doesn’t matter how big or small it is. After planning and organization of the project was done, me and the volunteers reflected upon how we could together have managed our responsibilities better, so that if we do such a type of service again we don’t repeat the mistakes we made and make the project more efficient.
