I’ve loved dogs ever since i was a young kind, and I didn’t care whether they were 

someone’s pet or stray, whenever I used to see them I always pet them and played with them which is the main reason I took this experience (service) of feeding stray dogs proper dog food. I always wanted to feed them, but I was not able to because of my academic commitments and other extracurricular activities that took up most of my time. However, CAS in grade 11 gave me the opportunity to feed stray dogs. This was a long term process of at least 4-5 months where I set up a goal of feeding stray dogs almost every day with my friends. Feeding these dogs was very important for me, because I feel a strong connection with them, and this motivates me to be consistent with feeding them everyday.  

L3-Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

As I mentioned earlier many people try to ignore or avoid stray dogs and consider giving them food as they think they could get some kind of disease, on top of that the pandemic has made this case of stray dogs not getting enough food has worsened even more. So to take a step, me and my friends decided to feed the stray dogs in our area.

We gathered at a meeting and voted for a leader who will make sure that everyone who has been allocated for feeding stray dogs at specific streets in the area does his/hers work. If a person is busy and is unable to feed the dogs he will inform us and the other person who is free can exchange the date of feeding. Both organising and initiating was easy for me as I have already done an activity similar to this.

L4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

Taking out time was one of the difficulties where perseverance and commitment was required as I was not always free, as I had my tuitions and other classes because of which I was not able to feed the dogs sometimes. This made me feel very disappointed  and disconsolate as these dogs were always waiting for me to feed them as there were very few people who fed them healthy food. And if I was not consistent enough, which is the main commitment required to complete this task, then I would be unsuccessful in my goals. However it was not that easy to commit as I had many assignments which I could not have left pending. I also had tuition which I could not miss out on because my exams are coming up.however after brainstorming and working on time management i became consistent, now it have been almost six months since i started feeding stray dogs moreover seeing these dogs joyful and healthy gave me a motivation to keep feeding them.

L5-Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

As there are hundreds of street dogs in my area and it is next to impossible for me to single handedly feed each and every one, working collaboratively made the task 10 times easier and faster. The activity also became more productive .

Adding a point to the last statement: Working collaboratively was much easier for me as I find it interesting as I do not get bored.Working in groups enhanced my teamwork skills and also my leadership skills as I was nominated to become the leader of the group. It gave me a confidence boost.

L6-Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

Poverty and hunger is already a significant issue in India for people and many people die because of starvation. Just thinking about how many dogs die or get extremely sick just shocks and disappoints me. People’s mentality on not feeding stray dogs because they are not important as pet dogs is absolutely wrong and has to be changed, in fact this mentality is not only in indias but also in forign countries. The pandemic has even made this issue even worse and it has now become a global issue. Knowing this created an impact in my life because of which I took the step of feeding stray dogs.

LO7 : Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

In order to feed the dogs in the pandemic every day we recognised the ethical implications and we made sure that whenever we go out to feed we wear gloves and a sanitary mask with hand sanitiser. We also took care of the covid guidelines and maintained our distance from each other and other people. Recognising and considering the ethics of choices and action is very important because eventually we are doing this for economic and animal well-being.

We made sure that we are giving every dog proper healthy dog food and nothing unhealthy or left over food as this would also create problems and would be unethical

ConclusionIn the end I want to say that this experience was the most beneficial one so far as I learned/developed  so many new skills  and qualities which are not only beneficial for me but also my community. I developed the caring characteristic of the learner profile as I showed empathy, compassion, and respect and commitment towards this service, and I acted to make a positive difference in the lives of others and in the world around us. I also developed communication skills by working in a group. Now people do not have to worry about feeding these dogs and can carry on with their work and I also helped my friends in developing new skills and creating a meaningful connection with these dogs. I even learned teamwork skills from this experience which is the main highlight for me of this experience. Eventually I was successful in achieving my goal which made me feel blissful as this was a very meaningful project for me. I can even use my learning from this experience to be caring and punctual in life as I can use punctuality in college so that i do not miss out on any lesson and understand everything.  however if i was to do this project again i would be more organised and prepared. Even though I achieved my goal, I would still contribute to society further through this service by feeding all dogs in my area and keeping them fit and healthy.