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Discovery Week Trip Options 2015 1 2 Going Native Animal Welfare Noriza Idrus James Grierson This year we are starting a community project with the Orang Asli (Indigenous people) in Gombak Selangor. Students who sign up for this trip will be involved in the setting up of a ‘Herb Garden’ in front of their community centre and teach the children of the Orang Asli community English and Maths. Students will have a better understanding of the Orang Asli in Malaysia in terms of their way of life, culture, tradition and language. The senior members of the Orang Asli community will also share some of their knowledge of wood carving and crafts or even hunting tools with the students. Open to students from Year 7-­‐10 The maximum number of students for this trip is 35. The students involved in the Animal Welfare Discovery week trip will spend 2 days at ‘Furry Friends Farm’ http://www.furryfriendsfar
m.org.my/ and 2 days at the SPCA http://spca.org.my/v51/ . At these Selangor and Kuala Lumpur based shelters we will be spending time with rescued dogs, cats and other animals giving them much needed exercise, attention and supplies. We will also have the opportunity to help clean and fix the shelters, as well as taking photographs of the animals to help publicise the shelters, raise awareness and funds, and increase the chances of adoption for the animals. The trip will close with an educational visit to Zoo Negara http://www.zoonegaramala
ysia.my/ on the Friday where we will have a chance to learn more about the animals there from the experts who work at the zoo, experiencing a side of the zoo normal visitors do not get to see. The maximum number of students the shelters allow on a visit is 30. 3 FRIM James Donaldson Once again we will be taking 20 students out of their everyday comfort zone to the jungle paradise of FRIM. We will be joined by 15 of our Myanmar refugee friends. Forest treasure-­‐
hunts and nature trails will be designed to challenge all our participants. GIS students will design and lead games for the refugee children, as well as help them to appreciate the beauties to be found in the FRIM reserve. We will also have presentations delivered by WWF and TRAFFIC. On the final day we will treat our Myanmar friends to a celebratory lunch at KL Bird Park. 4-­‐7 Reach Out Option 1: Reach Out Teaching Option 2: Reach Out Painting Option 3: Reach Out Day Trips Anna Berney Mark Solomons Natalie Clark We are once again delighted to offer Reach Out activities for Discovery Week 2015. These are all non– residential trip’s based in/around school and KL/ There are four different options for you to choose from (you will only participate in and pay for one of the options) This will involve 5 mornings of teaching refugee children at GIS. In the afternoon both refugee children and GIS students will opt for either; music, drama/dance, art and ICT/movie making, jewelry and textiles and music. You will work with the refugee children to produce a performance/exhibition piece to be performed/shown on Friday afternoon at the creative show case. Open to Years 7 -­‐ 13. This will involve painting, minor maintenance and renovation of some of our KL based refugee centers over the course of 4 days. This year we will also include one day trip for both GIS and Refugee Children. Open to Years 9 -­‐ 13 only Maximum Number of GIS students: 40 You take 20 different refugee children on 5 different day trips around KL. You will partner up with one child to visit great locations Option 4: Reach Out Special Olympics around KL for a fun learn Open to Years 7-­‐13 Maximum number of GIS students: 40 3 days will be based at school with our GIS students working with our community partner children on sports coaching and sport skills development. 1 day will include a Special Olympic event/competition. 1 day will include a sports related day trip for both GIS and our Community Partner Children. Open to Years 7-­‐13 Maximum number of GIS students: 40 8 9 H4H Kuching H4H Phnom Penh Helen Lopez Sarah Havercroft This community service trip will require students to spend 4 days at a site where Habitat for Humanity has a house-­‐building project for the less fortunate of our society. Students will work under the supervision of the H4H supervisors and undertake a part of the construction of a house. The actual work will involve all activities that go into the building of a house such as brick-­‐laying and concrete mixing. The trip will expose students to the less fortunate strata of our society and how they live. It will also be an opportunity for team-­‐
building and collaboration with peers to achieve a common goal. The maximum number of students who will be permitted for this trip is 20 and they will have to be at least aged 14 at the time of the trip This community service trip will require students to spend 4 days at a site where Habitat for Humanity has a house-­‐building project for the less fortunate of our society. Students will work under the supervision of the H4H supervisors and undertake a part of the construction of a house. The actual work will involve all activities that go into the building of a house such as brick-­‐laying and concrete mixing. The trip will expose students to the less fortunate strata of our society and how they live. It will also be an opportunity for team-­‐
building and collaboration with peers to achieve a common goal. The maximum number of students who will be permitted for this trip is 20 and they will have to be at least aged 14 at the time of the trip. 10 Redang Mike Davies Ever wanted to be a qualified scuba diver and preserve marine life! Well this year we are offering an opportunity to combine the Term 3 CCA and Discovery week to become a certified PADI Open Water Diver and contribute to reef propagation and education of local children in Redang. This program will begin with 10 weekly trips to a local pool where you learn the skills necessary to dive. Then for discovery week you will travel to Redang and complete the dives required to become a qualified diver. You will then use these skills to help with reef propagation and educating the local population on the effect this has on their community. You will also be spending time with local students where you will teach them the importance of communication and social media and in return will learn how to fish and live from the land. A project will be set up between the two schools to have a long term contribution to the community and you will also have the opportunity to volunteer at the local Sea Turtle Sanctuary. To apply for this trip students must commit to the CCA and Discovery week trip and must be over 12 at the start of term 3. 11 Kiulu Valley Mark Stewart The trip has been designed so that you have the opportunity to explore both community service activities and conservation activities. You will get the opportunity to partake in 3 days of community service with our community partners in the Kiulu Valley (renovating a community building or building sports facilities) and 2 days of marine conservation on Pulau Gaya (one of the islands off KK), including diving and/or snorkelling with a Platinum PADI 5* organisation. 12 13 Chiang Mai Pauline Chee Vietnam Adam Robinson Students going for Chiangmai trip will get the opportunity to help out with the community as well as experience the culture of northern Thailand. All activities are organised and lead by staff from TRIADHOS centre (‘Three Generation’ organisation, which is fully accredited with qualified and trained staff ) . Students will first head to an International School in Mai Rin, located 45 minutes north of Chiang Mai. Here students will get to experience some Thai culture like going to the night market, visiting the Elephant Nature Park as well as trying out some Thai art and craft. After that, students will also partake in a community project for a few days. Last year, we managed to build a playground as well as renovate a school for the community. Join us in Vibrant Vietnam as we visit the wonderful capital city -­‐Ho Chi Minh city for 5 days of community service. On the Monday we will arrive in Ho Chi Minh in time to sample the local cuisine and enjoy a guided tour of the historical sites. From tuesday till friday we will be working in partnership with our friends at BIS (British international school, Vietnam) -­‐ working with street children from different orphanages. On one day we will create a huge buzz at the British school when we plan and carry out a huge MUFTI day event for all the street children. In the following days we will spend time to get to know the children, the country and the culture. Join the vibrant Vietnam trip to get a taste of what life is like for the street children of vietnam, develop friendships and help to make a difference to these children. 14 Pangkor Mah Keng This trip is based in and Hoe around Lumut and Pangkor. The aim of this trip is to engage with local underprivileged community and also connect back with our environment and make it a better place to live in. Students will be working with people with physical and intellectual disabilities at specialised centres, orphanages and old folks home to clean up and beautify their living conditions. With this we hope to bring cheer and a little happiness to the residents. Students will also be tree planting and beach cleaning. This trip is open to Years 7 to 11
15 Chengdu Sally Cheah This Discovery Week trip will take students to the Bifengxia Panda Reserve in Chengdu. It is a unique opportunity, as the students will have a chance to see areas of the reserve that are not normally visited by the general public. We will be working as volunteers at the reserve cleaning Panda enclosures, delivering bamboo and helping to collect panda data. We will also have a chance to visit the Panda hospital and observe how the Panda’s bread is manufactured. On the last day students will visit Chengdu Panda Eco-­‐
park, the largest research base of giant panda, where the students can see the red pandas, explore Jinli Folkways Street -­‐ one of the oldest streets in Chengdu and tour the ancient water village, Huanglongxi -­‐ an ancient town with a history of more than 1,700 years. The maximum number of students: 30 Students will need to apply for their own Chinese visa. 16 Kuching Vijaya Experience Ratnam Kuching, the Land of the Hornbills here we come!!! Once again this year we go out to Kuching with one ultimate aim to help the less privileged children in Kuching gain an experience they will treasure for the rest of their lives. In order to make this a reality we visit two orphanages, a very remote school and finally but most invigorating of all, we get an opportunity to meet the indigenous people -­‐ we visit an Iban settlement by boat meandering through murky Sarawakian river waters through indigenous countryside. Here we spend most of the day cooking for them while enjoying the whole experience, we then enjoy the meal with them. A real treat to see how well our students adapt themselve to this unique experience. As for now we will work with our ever so creative GIS students to plan a fulfilled five day trip that will not only keep the children from Kuching engaged but also add immense pleasure to our students whilst educating /bonding/entertaining them. Of course not to mention the invaluable experience and exposure that our students from GIS will enjoy. So come join us and make this trip work, make it happen and believe me you will enjoy every minute of it just as all the students who have been on this similar trip in previous years will tell you. 17 18 Perhentian Jonny Fancy spending a week on an Casalis de idyllic tropical island and Pury help maintain the precious marine environment? All whilst getting to dive in one of the best dive areas in the world? Then this trip is for you! We take both qualified divers (who will dive to record data on the condition of the reef) and those with no experience (who will undergo a Discover Scuba PADI course) staying and working with the fantastic crew at Flora Bay on the Big island. In the past, GIS students have propagated their own coral to make our very own coral reef (we think we are the only school in the world to have done this!) whilst promoting the value of the marine environment to locals and tourists alike. This trip is open to year 7-­‐9 Cambodia Renie Leng Discovery Week Cambodia or Disco Cambo as it is affectionately known has run successfully for 6 years. Students will spend more of their time at ARCEP( www.arcep.kh-­‐org) where they will spend time teaching English and Maths to the children in the rural village school in the UNESCO heritage site of Siem Reap. They will also help dig more fish ponds for the sustainability of the centre. Last year, we managed to sponsor the salaries of two local teachers for a year as well as donated bicycles and build a toilet. Every year, there is also some building work involved where we turn the largely attap building into something more sustainable for the children. This year, our main focus is building a library and sponsoring books and book shelves. Students will also get the opportunity of some cultural experiences at the Siem Reap night market and old market along with the major Unesco heritage temples such as Angkor Wat, Ta Phrom and Bayon. 19 Belum Ric Faulkner Discovery Week trip to Belum Temengor Forest Reserve Complex. We intend to take 24 students from Years 10 to 13 to Belum Temengor to help install a solar powered water pump and filter which will supply fresh drinking water to the Orang Asli village of Kampung Ceri 2. We’ll leave Monday morning arriving in early afternoon at Tasik Banding where we will embark on the houseboat that will be our accommodation for the week. The boat has six rooms for students equipped with comfortable beds, as well as a kitchen where food will be cooked for us. Allowance will be made for those with special dietary needs. It will take the houseboat 2.5 hours to reach village and we’ll have a couple of smaller boats for emergencies. The plan is the assembly and installation of a water pump. We’ll be working with “Engineers Without Borders” and the work will mainly be manual, although I expect the students, and I, will learn quite a lot about plumbing. We intend the students will work about 6 hours a day, with a break for lunch. In the spare time there will be other activities. The Orang Asli will show, and then teach, us the Sewang Dance, they’ll teach us raft building, and we’ll trek out to a waterfall and go searching for Raflesia. We’ll leave Friday and on the way back will make a stop at Lenggong Archeological Museum to pay “Perak Man” a visit and be back late afternoon. 20 Kinabatangan Clare Holden This trip’s aim is rainforest conservation in Sabah in order to protect species like the orangutan, pygmy elephant, tarsier, slow loris, sunbear, clouded leopard, amongst others. You will be involved in tree planting and river cleaning activities as well as field work which contributes to the education of local people in conservation. You will also be learning about the local environment and the problems conservation efforts face in Sabah. This will involve some wildlife watching activities where you will have the opportunity to observe many of Borneo’s amazing residents in the wild! Years 7-­‐13 can attend this trip. 21 22 Tioman Nepal Alice Williams and Dan Norbury Beth Walters This trip is for Y7 & Y8. It has been successfully running for 7 years in conjunction with high quality Outdoor Education specialists www.ourlittleplanet.org Participants will get the opportunity to go jungle trekking, kayaking and snorkelling and do team building activities on the beach. The community service element of the trip is mainly carried out at the very worthwhile turtle conservation project. www.juaraturtleproject.com Another focus of the service activities will be on creating a waste management system for the village using reduce, reuse, recycle principals. This exciting new trip is open to year 9 -­‐ 13 will give the opportunity for students to visit a remote village in Nepal to support local schools. During this trip we will venture by 4x4 into rural Nepal to help a small Nepali community to access drinking water and make renovations to the school-­‐ including making a library. Participants will be required to be able to handle off road 4x4 vehicles, some trekking and rafting. The journey will begin in Kathmandu where a night will be spent in a hotel on arrival, before heading off to Dhading for lunch and onto the small village of Falate. Accommodation for 3 nights will be based in the school classrooms and so you will require sleeping bags, sleeping mats, torch etc. all of which will have to be carried in a sturdy backpack. The villagers will be cooking up some local delights for you to try and you will also get to do some cooking of your own. As well as providing a water system, we will also be making and fitting window shutters and doors to the school and providing them with their first ever library. There will be opportunity to engage with the local students and villagers during the activities -­‐ they are a very welcoming community and although they live a minimal lifestyle, they are very warm, hospitable and you will enjoy the interactions with them. After leaving the school, you will raft down the river to an outdoor education center where you will spend the last night in luxury tents. The Friday morning will be spent enjoying the highlights of Kathmandu and taking in some shopping and visits to the square and temples within it, before returning to KL. This will be a challenging, but very rewarding trip providing students with a once in a lifetime chance to support rural communities and learn about their culture.