Clique Netball - ENL league

Today is my 2nd match of the season.

It was suppose to be my 3rd match, but I missed one match because I went overseas for the service trip. My team lost that match, but it was alright. Today match was against Bedok CSC B. I was having a very strong feeling that I would play very well today.

I did my warm ups and then it was match time. I didn't play the first quarter. I must say that I was quite disappointed that I didn't play. But also, it helped me to read the game from outside. And the second quarter I was substitituted in, I was happy that I could start doing some real job and work hard now. I didn't intercept any ball for the first 2 goals of the quarter. But from the mid court, I saw the rebound made by the opponent, and next was the pass. I ran and intercepted it so clearly with no mistakes. I feel my hand grabbing the ball, and next thing I remember was I was on the floor and my right ankle was hurting so badly that I couldn't move it. I lay there on the floor crying.

I got carried out of the court and I couldn't play for the rest of the game. I was really upset the entire time. It is my first time injuring my ankle and I was really upset about it. I know that it is a very serious sprain and that I am unable to play sports for the next few months. Another sad thing was that we lost with a score of 54 to 37.

Number of CAS Hours completed for this session: 1.5 hours (Action)

Chiang Mai Service Trip

We left Singapore for Chiang Mai on 1^st June 2009. Before the trip, we have already planned out what we were suppose to do – teach the children and build the house. We also have prepared certain things such as our culture night items, books and clothing for the villagers.

Upon reaching the village, we were greeted with warm welcome from the villagers. We had to travel about 2hours up the village before we settled down on our house we were staying for the next few days. When we first entered the house, the place was filled with dust and insects. At first, everyone was not very comfortable with the environment and started to shriek and scream. But I thought to myself, if I continue to have this type of mind-set, I would not go far in achieving my goals and aim for this service trip. We settled down and cleaned the house, we were provided dinner where we didn’t have tables and chairs to sit on. We had to sit at the pavement to eat our dinner in darkness.

For the next 3 days, we were spilt into 2 groups and some had to go teach at the local primary school and while the others had to build the house. For the 2^nd day, my group had to build the house. When we reached the location, we were wondering where the bricks are. To my surprised, we had to make the bricks ourselves by using the soil and mixing it with rain grains. This is a great learning experience as it is my first time making bricks out of soil! The bricks too very long to harden up, however, we were told to just use the bricks to make the foundation and we did. We did it for a long 8hours. When we got back to the village, we were tired and wanted to wash up. We realized that the toilets were all public toilets and that the water has no heater. But nevertheless, we endured the cold water and managed to bathe.

On the 3^rd day, I went to the local school to teach English. First, I gave out school bags that we brought from Singapore to socialize with the children so that they would not be shy and will communicate with us. My 2 other friends and I were teaching a class of 10 children ranging from 8 to 10 years old. They could not really speak English that well, thus we started by teaching them colours. After that, we gave them colour papers to write the English words of the colour and pasted it up on their classroom walls. We also gave them pictures to colour so that learning will be enjoying. Later we taught them body parts such as knee, shoulders, eyes and nose. We taught them a song so that it would be easier for them to understand and pronounce it properly. The children cooperated well. Later we taught them simple fruits and food such as apple, bananas. We drew the pictures out on the chalk board for them to answer us what we were drawing. We also taught them emotions such as angry, happy and sad. After that, we had breaks and played captain’s ball with them. We also taught them how to fold paper cranes and boats. After lunch, we had to help out in building the house. We saw lots of progress. In my heart, I really wanted to build the house as soon as possible so I can see the progress we have done.

On the 4^th day, which is our last night at the village, we started to build the house and just when we were about to leave the place to head back to our house for a break, the walls collapsed. One of my friends was a victim of the collapsed as the bricks collapsed on her. Luckily, there weren’t much injury. However, we were so upset that all our efforts has gone to waste and that we felt very useless. During the ride back to the village, all of us were just disappointed. Despite the failure, we worked well together, encouraged each other and these things which we learnt would never be destroyed. We had a special night that night as it when we perform our culture night item. It was the most memorable night as they had their very own fireworks and it was so beautiful. We also had their traditional lantern flying, it was a great learning experience.

On the last day were we were going to leave the village, it was a heart-wrenching moment as we were so upset that we are leaving those children already. I cried as I was very sad that I had to part with them, I really wanted to stay longer. I was very sorry that I had to leave, but I really hope that the villagers had a great time with us during our stay.

This whole trip to Pha Mon Village was an unforgettable one and one which would stay in our hearts forever. The kids could not bear for us to leave and so did we. Most of the kids were in tears when we left and this really touched my heart because in this trip, we really made special bonds with them. Shared experiences with the villagers that can never be erased. Things that we will treasure for the rest of our lives. Even though they are living in such conditions, dont have the luxury that we have, they are still happy. I learnt to apperciate everything around me more and know now, how lucky I am.

Number of CAS Hours completed for this session: 26 hours (Action, Service, Creativity)