Final Community Service Self-Reflection

The Abu Dhabi Science festival, amazing volunteering experiences that filled my time with joy and made me feel appreciated. Therefore, it didn’t only allow me to integrate with younger ages, however, I have learnt how to deal and communicate with them.

In my opinion, this event was all about improving communication skills, giving a feed back to our community and improving our science skills, as we were engineering students. Furthermore, we improved our communication by dealing with the kids and getting points up to them. In addition, giving a small feed back comparing to what our community gives us is the least we can do to support the social communication. Thus, It was quite tough and challenging to work with unsettled kids, but in the end it was doable and rewarding working with them.

The highlight of this volunteering event, meeting a two years old little girl that was so attached to me and made me filled with joyfulness, She left joy and a lasting impression on me. Further more, the two visits of my course instructor was so supportive. The instructions, advices and guidelines he gave me would last with me even in my daily life. “A good teacher is like a candle it consumes itself to light the way for others. - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk”. Besides that, I would love to thank the team leaders for their effort and contribution they have put through our volunteering program, without their experience and support we would haven’t learn how to benefit from this event.

To sum up, I would certainly recommend people to join the Abu Dhabi science festival for an affordable and honorable volunteering program for life changing experience. In the end, we left with so memorable memories that would last in our minds, which gave us such an amazing feeling of gladness, bliss, delight and appreciation.

Interview with the team leader "Matilda"

ADSF Day 3,4

ADSF – Day3,4

Location: Cornish

1:30pm – 6:30pm

An amazing volunteering experience that filled my time, gave me joy and made me feel appreciated. It allowed me to integrate into kids and younger ages rather than to be a spectator to part of community. I wasn’t just a volunteer there. The highlight of these two days was mainly a visit from my little brother who is about 3 years old. Meanwhile, I regularly did what I used to do, help children, guide them and give advices. By the time my brother came, I introduced my mother to Matilda and Emily “the team leaders”, chit chatted and made some comments. In the same way, I taught him and he was super amazed and excited with the experiment we’ve done. In the end, I would certainly recommend people to join the Abu Dhabi science festival for an affordable volunteering program for life changing experience.

ADSF Day 2

ADSF – Day 2

Location: Cornish

1:30pm – 6:30pm

My day to day routine consisted of getting the children ready for building rockets, helping them getting started, organize the front desk, greet the people who came and of course showing the kids how to use the racing room. However, It was tough to work with unsettled kids, but it was doable and rewarding working with them. For the most part, I was honored to acquire a visit from my instructor “Greg.” He actually surprised me. Therefore, he gave me some instructions, advices and guidelines to learn from and to follow in life. On the other hand, we decided to build our own rocket to let our inner child out and to have some fun, we called the rocket “McGregor” to give it a scientific sensation. In fact, there was a saying that always reminds me of the way my teacher influences us; “A good teacher is like a candle it consumes itself to light the way for others. ~Mustafa Kemal Atatürk”. Finally, I would just like to thank him for his great support ,it was a great and honorable experience.

ADSF Day 1

ADSF – Day 1

Location: Cornish

1:30pm – 6:30pm

In the first place, we arrived at the ADSF Cornish offsite wearing our science communicator’s coat and HCT badge on, then off to the signing in place. I was so excited to start the day with and amazing volunteering experience abroad at the ADSF event. Further more, at the workshop “Rocket Rail” we were arranging the tables and preparing the site for the children who were about 4-11 years old. Every student of us had a shift schedule that changes every 30 min and a break of 30 min. the shifts were either at the desk or greeting area or helping the kids or being at the racing site. The kids had to build their own rocket and then try to test how fast the rocket could go, applying newton’s second law “for every action there is a reaction”.

Besides all if this crowd and helping here and there, I had a free time to explore such an adorable and beautiful young lady called “Marry” she was about 2 years old but left joy and lasting impression on me. In the end, I ended up my day with a lunch break at 5:30 to 6:00 pm with my colleague “Nora”. It was a quite tiring but wonderful and amazing well spent day.

We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body –Ralph Waldo Emerson

ADSF Orientation

ADSF – Orientation Day

Location: ADMC – Auditorium

8:30am – 3:00pm

First of all, as the students started to come I was the only lady who was sitting and one of the team leaders came to me surprised and curious about me being alone in this program! Afterwards my two colleagues arrived and had a form to fill about us. In fact, it was more about what type of workshops we would like to be in and what age groups we most will be best to work with. Furthermore, the group has introduced themselves to us, gave their speech and their aims. Indeed, I was quietly interested they were super vegan. To continue, we were divided into groups with a team leader instructor which spent all the rest of the time with us helping and giving whatever experience they’ve got to us to be a good future science communicators. When all is said and done, we applied what we have learnt and presented the experiments in front of the rest students and instructors. Despite the noise and how messy the guys where the instructors had always a way to bring them back to the actuality.

Volunteering plan

2903 Community Service – Volunteer Project plan form

1.    Title of plan – Abu Dhabi science festival – Community service

2.    Names of group participants:

Fatima Jamal al Naqbi – H00279491

Nora Ahmed Al Wahedi – H00251935

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

Edinburgh International Science Festival – Rana Mansour: rmansour@hct.ac.ae

4.    Purpose / what do you wish to accomplish?

I would like to get this opportunity to communicate and demonstrate our capabilities to the public, it will enhance my communication skills as well as sending a good message that the audience will receive and understand clearly.

  

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

The ADSF will start on the 13^th of nov and will end by the 22^nd. It will take place at Abu Dhabi cornice in the arena. Students will volunteer for 20 hours in two weeks.

6.    To be successful what need to be done?

In the end, students must be able to communicate, present, engage audiences, simplify messages, communicate without words and make an impact for the younger ones.

  

7.    What are the Benefits to the participants?

Volunteers will get a positive experience and rewards, enhancing our skills and revealing our talent. However, the kids will also learn and get to try beneficial experiments and games.

UNICEF Activity 2

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

Ideas of supporting UNICEF	Ways of achieving it	Date of completion
Housing	- Supporting them mentally - providing them with shelters - provide them with basic food and needs
Helping everyone to be educated	- Paying for anyone who can get education. - Donate books. - Open centers to teach the old people.
protecting the society from Chronic diseases	- Periodically check for everyone specially the elders. - spread the awareness about Diabetes because its one of the highest Chronic diseases in the UAE.
worker human rights	- spread the awareness campaigns.   - Support the laws that forbid hiring children and obey them

Activity 3 : Takatof

What is Takatof?

The Takatof Program for Social Volunteering is a nationwide volunteering initiative in the United Arab Emirates. It is one of the principal initiatives of the Emirates Foundation, a charitable organization

Which year did start? And who started it?
Established in 2005 in the UAE under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces. Launched in Abu Dhabi in April 2007

What volunteer work have they done?

- Takatof for School Renovation: This program gives volunteers unique opportunities for semi-skilled work in revamping schools – painting, cleaning, gardening and site cleaning, as well as replacing furniture and modernizing library and laboratory facilities.

- Volunteering in the Health Sector:

Volunteers for this program perform highly useful health and administrative activities at hospitals and health centers, such as providing personal support, guidance and other services for patients, as well as receiving visitors and helping nursing staff.

- Takatof for Special Needs:

Participation in this program provides frequent opportunities for volunteers to utilize their leisure time through voluntary work for people with special needs. This develops their skills and life experience through humanitarian action, in collaboration with the various UAE centers for special needs.

How can you help?
Involve in such organizations and help to benefit and help as much as we can from these opportunities.

UNICEF Activity 1

List and discus the latest newsline events in the United Arab Emirates

-        A new annual award is being initiated this year to recognize media stories that accurately depict the situation of children and young people in the Arab nations.

-        UNICEF has joined forces with the Gulf charity Dubai Cares to support education programs in Africa, Eastern Europe, South Asia and the Middle East. The new partnership is part of a campaign by Dubai Cares to bring education to 1 million children in developing countries and help contribute towards the achievement of universal primary education 2015.

-        UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS. The aim is to focus on raising awareness about the disease among children and young people to prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS.