Day eight

As this became a routine, and a fixed schedule in my life, I realized this is the last week, as fun as it was, it would feel a little different after all this is over, but I didn't leave empty handed from this experience I left with a sprained ankle... But hopefully I could see the students tomorrow and bid them farewell.

Days six and seven extended at ZHO

As I was behind 2 hours with my volunteering time, I decided to do 4 hours of days 5 and 6, which gave me a chance to see a different group of students, not the ones I have been working with from the beginning.

My regular group who fancy handball are the majority with down syndrome and a minority of other disabilities such as DASH (Disability in the Arm, Shoulder and Hand) and FADI (Foot and Ankle Disability Index).

But I also met a different group, they were all deaf mute, but despite that, they have overcome those disabilities by learning sign language, as well as they really enjoy playing soccer, since I know nothing about sign language it was pretty difficult to speak to them or even understand them, so the instructor helps me along with them to tell me what they're saying.

Overall it was a nice experience.

Day Five

Today, we played dodge ball, and soccer.

Surprisingly the older students enjoyed dodge ball way too much, while the younger students were playing hand ball but just passing it around, and I was teaching a few how to dribble a ball.

It was a good day.

Day Four

Today, Professor Gregory came to ZHO sports, I briefly explained the schedule that we are required to do with the students in order for them to progress with the sports.

As soon as the bus arrives and the students step out, we all sit in a circle and begin stretching as a warmup to later on play some sports such as handball (my groups favorite activity) as some told me they feel its much better than playing soccer, I also started to bond with them and understand them more as every session goes by.

Day Three in ZHO

Tuesday October 27th 2015

Things were pretty quiet today, since a few of the students did not come, it was a little hard forming teams to play soccer and handball.

However, we sat with a few students and started talking about their interests majority did not share much information, but a few did open up, and I was surprised we had the same interests such as cars for example. 

It is pretty short, hopefully tomorrow things would be a bit more interesting.

First Two days in ZHO Sports

I apologize for not posting what I did yesterday, just a hectic week with exams and such, but I will provide a summary of what happened these two days.

Day 1:-

It was relatively short, we just spent a few minutes getting to know the people there, from Miss Nabila, to the coaches to the students, to even the security guards.

I was relatively uneasy about the whole thing, but I gave it a shot, and I am glad I did, even though it is just the first day, it was a different experience for me, to be able to help someone in actual need, and just converse with them as a group and slowly learn everyone and in the condition they are in. Slowly the walls started to loosen up and we found common interest in the group I was with, I admit I couldn’t learn everyone's name on the first day but it was an enjoyable experience.

When it was time for us to go, the coach told us the people would greatly appreciate it if we were to show up in sports clothes and play with them the next time they see us, and so we agreed.

Day 2:-

Resting and saying goodbye

Dressed in sports clothes and went to the indoor gym seeing everyone warm up, the coach showed me what I should be doing, such as coach them and act as a referee on hand ball (something I never played before) but it was easy to handle the first hour.

We were then split into two teams to play soccer, there was a dispute on who wanted to be the leader on each team, even though most of the older students were with me, the coach showed me how to handle the situation, so then the soccer game commenced and it was a lot of fun, despite my team losing 10-11, we all had fun and we formed a bond which was a pleasant experience, these two days did impact me a lot, and in a way showed me we can all just ignore our differences and just bond and have fun, something we once had in our childhood days.

Playing handball 

Playing soccer

2903 Community Service – Volunteer Project plan

1.    Title of plan:

-    Zayed Higher Organization (ZHO)  – Community service

 2.    Names of group participants:

-          Mohsen Ahmed Alshadadi          --- H00254816

-          Khalid Ahmed AlQubaisi             --- H00247285

-          Ahmed Mohammed Al-Mehairi    --- H00213889

-          Saeed Abdullah Almansoori        --- H00269420

3.    Organization (name) and contact person (supervisor + email):

-    Zayed Higher Organization (ZHO)

- Contact Person:

-   Nabila / 0501934219 – Abdullah / 0559959977

4.    Purpose / what do you wish to accomplish?

-       I would like to get this chance to communicate and try to help the disabled people, it will enhance my communication skills as well as it will make us understand the huge effort that this country is providing to help and educate those people.

5.    Time/ schedule: students will volunteer for how many hours / week? Days?  

-          The schedule will  be 4 hours per week divided into two days for 5 weeks. because of the conflict in the students schedule the volunteering will be as shown below :

Name	Date
Mohsen and Khalid	Wednesday, 12:30 - 2:30       Thursday,  10:30 - 12:30
Saeed and Ahmed	Tuesday, 5:00 – 7:00       Wednesday, 5:00 – 7:00

 

6.    To be successful what need to be done?

-       In the end, students must be able to communicate with the people there and try to give them positive energy. Also make a good impact for them and others. Because they are disable people, its a bit hard for them to deal with the things that they have to accomplish but mostly it is doing something specific like playing games in teams or do other specific activities such as painting.

 

  7.    What are the Benefits to the participants?

-       Volunteers will get a positive experience, enhancing our skills and revealing our talent.  While also participating we will learn new things and look at life from another perspective.

8. Any potential problems you see arising??

-          The only problem we may face is the hardness of dealing with some of the disable people because they need special care, attention and being patient with them.

Exercise #8 Research project - Volunteers in Education

1.                   What are the aims of the project?  Helping and encouraging the orphans in Kabul, Afghanistan by providing food and shelter as well as education and encourage them to try new things.

                                                                     

2.                   Who are the target audience, and why? The Orphans, to give them moral support in what they would be doing.

3.                   What activities would your project involve? Education, sports activities such as football and encouraging them to do new things with each other and form social bonds.

4.                   Who would be volunteering? Why? Anyone who would be willing to volunteer as it is open for all ages. We see that when volunteering is open for all, not only do the volunteers help themselves but they also help the community.

5.                   What are the benefits your project could bring to the target audience? Since the orphans would see various people help them and encourage them, their self-esteem would boost up helping them be more confident in what they do even when they become adults.

6.                   How would you look into launching your project with reference to the relevant authorities in the UAE and in the country you have targeted? We would look at schools, science and sports centers to help with catering the minds of children to better benefit them throughout their life, whether it is in the UAE or any other country.

7.                   What problems do you think you might come across and how would you try to get around them?  The main issue would be communication, as some might not speak the common language, we would get around this from schools or language centers, the other issue would be financing these facilities, to overcome them we would have to get donations and volunteers. 

Activity #7

What is Takatof?

Takatof is a social volunteering program based in the UAE, it is a charitable organization which was established in 2005 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Takatof in Abu Dhabi began in 2007 and since has been growing to form a culture of volunteers throughout the seven emirates. It is not only for the nationals but Takatof is for all the residents within the country, just to give them a fair share in the Emirati environment through various activities.

Takatof also has various traits that include training volunteers, collaborates with organizations to help with the community and lets everyone volunteer in where they would fit across the UAE.

UNICEF Activity #6

How can you help UNICEF? Working in groups, fill in the table below. 

Community Service Learning – Exercise #5

 This page is also from AGE UK. 

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/volunteers-week/ 

What volunteer roles do the following people have?

	Name	Job
1	John McArthur	Admin and Information volunteer
2	Samarah Hashmi	Survey Analyst Volunteer
3	Oliver Stannard	Copywriter Volunteer
4	Stanley Parker	Market Drayton Shop Volunteer
5	Camilla Williamson	Parliamentary Assistant Volunteer

Look again at these people and their jobs. What can you say about volunteering from the information in your chart? 

>> It doesn't really matter what your speciality is, you could volunteer in any way you see fit since there are many places you could volunteer in.

Community Service Learning – Exercise #4

1.              How old were the Games volunteers? 

             All Ages

2.              During the Games, the volunteers had a special title. What was this special title? 

            Games Makers

3.              Complete this quote from David… “… for a moment in time volunteering had a Profile and an image that they fully deserved  but don’t always get.”

4.              David mentions that some of the volunteers are semi-retired. What does this mean? 

            Giving back to the community.

5.              Zoe worked in Events Services. Where was this located? 

            Olympic Stadium in London.

6.              How does she describe the experience of volunteering for the Olympics and Paralympics? The best experience she had.

7.              What benefits of volunteering, according to Zoe?

a.     Fun

b.     Satisfaction

c.      Meeting new people/Socializing

d.     Increases confidence

8.              Why does David feel that volunteering in the community is so important?

It increases the diversity in the community as well as volunteers are unique people, because they are selfless and it also benefits organizations because they support the community. 

Human Rights Activity 3

My Neighborhood 

This neighborhood has some form of concentration of rights, such as education religion and shelter, it may be lacking in health and safety rights, but they are all close within a five minute drive.

Human Rights Activity 1

Human Rights Activity # 1:

Working in pairs, discuss and write how these rights relate to the different levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

> They relate to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, because they almost seem identical in a certain way, as in, Maslow states that we are all equal, we all have certain needs and we all strive to be better. Human rights share the same interest, it states we are all born equal, we have survival instincts (seeking food and shelter), socializing and feeling a sense of accomplishment when these milestones are met. 

Human Needs Activity 3

Human Needs Activity 3:

Working in groups, discuss and answer the following questions:

1) Does every human being have the rights to reach the top of the Maslow pyramid?

> Yes, every human being has the right to reach the top of Maslow’s pyramid once they meet the requirements. 

2) Does every human being have the capability of reaching that level?

> Depending on the person and their capabilities, and wether or not there would be limiting factors or not.

3) What are the opportunities are needed to get to the higher level?

> When all the needs are met, reaching the higher level would be a breeze.

4) What are the obstacles could stand in the way of reaching these levels?

> Could either be manmade or natural causes, manmade would usually mean wars and riots, while natural causes would be floods and typhoons.

5) What could you do to help others to reach the higher levels?

> Give moral support, guidance and be as helpful and selfless as anyone could be.

Human Needs Activity 2

Human Needs Activity 2:

Match the specific needs with the five levels by writing the level number in front of each need. 

Human Needs Activity 1

Human Needs Activity 1:

List the levels and specific Maslow’s human needs required by the following cases