Y11 Ally Chung - Hunan, China
In our Hunan CAS project, we achieved various learning outcomes throughout the duration of the trip. For our main service, which was teaching students at a local primary school, we had to plan our lessons, deciding what activities to play with the local students and considering the most suitable content to teach before we initiated our service. We were split into groups of 4-5 to be in charge of each class, working collaboratively both before and during the lessons, to ensure we brought a memorable experience to the students. Besides this, we also had physical activities, including rock climbing and cave spelunking, where both were challenges for many of our students at first, but through the dedicated guidance from the coaches, we all showed commitment in completing these activities and eventually developed new skills. Learning a new culture also took a big part in this project, where we were introduced to a language called Nvshu and were also taught time-honoured traditions, including traditional dances and kung fu, as well as the cooking of local delicacies. The importance of cultural conservation, a significant global issue, was heavily emphasised in this project, and all of our students were fully engaged in this opportunity for cultural exchange. Over the course of the project, both the strengths and weaknesses of our students were shown, for example, difficulties in fluent Mandarin communication or interactions with local students, but everyone took the chance to improve on their shortcomings and utilised their strengths without a doubt.