Pet Animals are those who are fed with food and water, played with, and also are taken care of every day, whether it be physical care or mental care. Street Dogs/Animals don’t even get their necessities in life. I want to spread the same love and excitement you will have when you pet a pet animal. With care club, a non-profit organization working with volunteers all-around surat, trying to make sure every street animal or bird is taken care of and are supplied with food and water while trying to shelter them by accommodating them to a good owner. The aim is to make sure no street animal sleeps while being hungry and thirsty, making sure the animals facing challenges are taken medical care of while also trying to give them a home. As volunteers, we are supposed to spread the word making sure that in the area, no animal goes hungry or thirsty while taken care of. Most people are fond of animals, whether a dog, cat, cow, horse, elephant, etc. Usually, street dogs and cats during this pandemic made me feel that I should be taking a step to care for and fulfill their necessities. Care club provided us the opportunity to make the change required. Care club supplied us with everything we needed, food, water, first-aid, food bowls, and also we had animal specialists with us in contact if there was a medical emergency or medical help required.

LO 1 – Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

I love pet animals. They are someone that you can easily get attached to. Street animals are someone people sometimes fear. I had the same fear when I was small as there is this mindset set to us regarding the difference between pet animals and street animals. Knowing the truth, alongside the care club, I took a step towards helping out the street animals in need. In the start, I was frightened because of what we heard earlier but gradually caring and loving them was the same love I would be giving to a pet animal as they are nonetheless the same. It’s just a matter of love and care. 

LO 2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

In the start, it was challenging to directly opening up to street dogs. Bringing the barrier down to confront and generously share the same love and care I would be having for a pet animal is something I worked upon and eventually conquered. The main challenge was scheduling myself according to all the curriculum activities, sports, and leisure activities. Gaining knowledge on time-management skills from most of my past school assignments and activities. It helped me pave my way through scheduling myself so that I don’t disturb mine or any of the family member’s schedules. For sure, it was not something that is expected to be done overnight. I started taking up small steps to get the appropriate plan so that I can time myself accordingly. 

LO 4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

The commitment made this adventure difficult. There were times where I would have a busy schedule, and it was difficult to make up time for the experience. My plan was congested, and giving up time off from my leisure time was required. After the starting few days, I felt happier giving up my leisure time for something more relevant. The commitment was not easy at the start as everything was congested, but a proper schedule and decline in my leisure time made sure I gave 1 hour at least every day. Being an IB DP student, it was a little easier from what I thought. Despite the starting few days, time-management skills have been taught in IB from the start, and this experience used the past experiences to schedule me.

LO 5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

I was alongside a few volunteers while working in my area, we had group meet-ups for volunteers, and most of the time, I worked alone in my reach. Being shy and not a talkative person in social gatherings. It was highly demanding to communicate with the volunteers during the meet-ups and group working. Conversing was a little unmanageable in the beginning, as most of the people were anonymous to me, but gradually making new friends while being a little open helped me work collaboratively. Working collaboratively with the team helped us cover every inch of the area, satisfying our aim. Having a leader with us throughout this helped us reach out to everyone effortlessly, and we got to know our participation required in this experience. 

LO 6 – Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

The purpose of this experience is to provide the necessities that the strays are not able to receive. In India, there are enormous figures of stray animals who are starving, thirsty, and are looking for love, care, and a home. Like other countries, India doesn’t have an animal shelter for all the stray’s, and this is where Care Club is taking small steps to create an organization so that the strays get their necessities. I heard about the Care club from my cousin sister, the founder of Care Club. That is when I understood the importance of this global issue. Knowing the importance of this global issue and how the strays are treated in India made me think about my actions. Knowing that the strays are not safe on the road and are starving to death, this global issue made me change my actions. It felt wrong, making me take a step with Care Club in need of a change for the ones in need. My work in this experience made me proud because of the stand I took, as many strays don’t get access to the necessities that pet animals or an animal shelter could give. 

LO 7 – Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

The global issue brings in the conception of ethics. Knowing the dark reality of how stray animals get treated in comparison to how pet animals get treated is unethical to me. Pet animals get treated with love and care, and the owners would look out for them in every possible way. While coming onto stray animals, they are not protected at all. They can die in a matter of minutes, whether in case of accident, starvation, infection, or even injuries. Knowing and understanding what’s going around is the reason why I was and am determined-looking forward to making a change that counts. Experiencing this changed how I look towards stray animals. It made me realize the importance of necessities in life. We took matters into our own hands and helped any conceivable stray animal we could in surat. 

To sum up this experience, the experience made me go through a rollercoaster of emotions. This adventure made me develop learner profile characteristics such as Thinker, caring, and balanced. This journey has made me understand the importance of necessities in everyone’s lives. Spreading the knowledge I got to the community will help people understand ethics and equality. Including all the ups and downs and the emergency or urgent meet-ups to help the stray animals in need made this experience successful in terms of the thinking, time, and effort given as everything was for a cause. I along, with the care club, wish to spread the word all over India while getting the care club to a position that it can help all the stray animals in the area they locate in. I will and am continuing this initiative and am spreading the word while balancing and giving in my time and effort to make a change. This experience has brought me to a different perspective, and this action is something I will and am willing to continue irrespective of CAS. 

Evidence –

Few photos of me feeding animals:

Supervisor Form: