January Update After the Event- DHOD was a success!

This event has been a success! :) I don't know the exact number now, but we had over 300 or at least close to 400 domestic helpers on the day. The day went by pretty smoothly with not a lot of hiccups. Most volunteers did as they were supposed to, but a couple didn't show up or had to leave before due to illness. That is understandable, but is always better to have all hands on deck when needed. I arrived 2 hours before the actual event stated, and had to run up and down asking Hong Yip to have the supplies and tables ready in all locations. We were missing a couple of chairs, and so Hong Yip delivered them soon. I had to confirm some final details with Mrs. Wible about the lucky draw. I also helped a bit with the clothing drive, but Eun Hee had a good grip on what was going on for that, so that was good. The rotations for the different events worked at first but it fell through as helpers began to leave. Overall, it was a very successful event, and we received very positive feedback from the helpers on our facebook page. It was amazing blessing them.

January Update

The two weeks before the event in January, I had to figure out the nit-picky details of the event, like the order of how offering will be collected on Fri/Sat shows, if we're going to talk on stage about the rotations, when the NGOs are introduced, who will be doing what on the day, etc. It was a little stressful and nervewracking to think about all those details sometimes. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and like things to go as they're planned, so I like to have everything covered and ready before the day. I made a volunteer sign-up sheet for Fri/Sat/Sunday where students from the various service-related clubs signed up to help. There were some people who signed up and then said they couldn't go, so that was a little headache. At least they gave advanced notice, or I would be stressing out on the day. The PA graciously supported our event and gave us supermarket vouchers for the lucky draw. Thos were bought in January too. I sent out a final reminder email to the teachers who were doing the workshops and provided them with a schedule of the day and the room they're going to be in. The NGO details were finalized, and Melanie from Helpwise helped to organize them. Oh and during several days afterschool and during the weekend, I helped to sort clothing for the clothing drive. We received A LOT of clothing, which is absolutely amazing. We had all sorts of clothes - baby clothes, children, woman, men, toys, shoes, bags, scarves, etc. Anyways, I just made sure that all the little details were good during these two weeks before the event.

December (and January-ish) Update

This month was the busiest. Details had to be mostly finalised before the break, and most of the communication things were done this month, due to timing. If we advertised back in Sept/Oct, it would probably be too early and the DH would forget about the event. So, advertising one month in advance would be better. (However, we actually ended up advertising a little late - during late december and early January - it still turned out well and we had a good amount of people coming). Regarding the communications things, I put up several posters around school to advertise to the DHs at school. I also spent several days afterschool (in January) and passed out flyers to the domestic helpers directly. Also, during Christmas break, I went out to pass out flyers on the street. My helper was amazing and helped me give some of the flyers to her friends too. Regarding logistics, I made the facilities spreadsheet and volunteer information during the break, so I wouldn't be as swamped during the two weeks back at school before the event. We had Mrs. Nollan post about the event on schoology, but I felt that it didn't receive much feedback. I confirmed details regarding the loctations/scheduling/budgeting with Mrs. Chan, who has been a great help for this event.

November Update

During this month, I sent out emails to teachers who volunteered to help with the various workshops and booths for DHOD. I included information regarding the day and asked them if they needed any student volunteers or materials. Charis and I also began to contact the NGOs, and we received emails back saying that they were interested, and that they were figuring out the manpower. We have monthly meetings about DHOD, where we talk about how communications can spread the word about the event, the logistics, etc. Also, because there was a slight mistake on our 1000 flyers, we had detention students edit each one of them.

October Update

The Domestic Helper Open Day planning has been going well! We're going to begin to contact churches early and mid November, and the logistics of the event are mostly confirmed. There are teachers who volunteered for various workshops, so that has been going well too. We have the design ready and we ordered 1000 flyers and a pull up banner for publicity. We have meetings 1-2 times a month.

MAD Brainstorming - September

Senior year is going to be pretty busy, and I want to do something meaningful during my last year for my mad project. I canceled out the other three ideas I originally had because they weren't as do-able or it didn't fit my schedule. I talked with the service learning office and they said that volunteering at orphanages are hard to work with in Hong Kong. For the library-related and music-related services, I can't do those because I'm busy 3-4 days afterschool, so timing is an issue.

That left me with one. I've been on the committee since last year, so I really enjoyed it. As I have a domestic helper myself, the issue of domestic helpers really speaks to me. So, I've decided to do the domestic helper open day as my mad project. I might switch mad groups because three other people in another mad group are doing the same one. If I can still switch, I'll switch over, but if not, I can still plan/work with them during other times.

12th Grade MAD Brainstorming - August

I'm part of the Domestic Helper Open Day Committee, and I'm one of the heads. I might want to do this as my MAD project, but I'm also interested in doing something outside of school. I know that Hong Kong has a couple of orphanages, and it seems pretty interesting to volunteer at one of those, but I'm not sure how I will be able to arrange that sort of thing. I've never heled out at one before, so I think it'll be a worthwhile experience. There's a list of service opportunities in school that are available, and a couple of those stick out to me. I'm also interested in the library work because I like to be organized, and I think that my skills will go along nicely with those kind of projects. I also saw some opportunities related to music, and I think I can also use my musical knowledge/skills to serve those who are interested in learning. Music plays a large part in my life, and I hope that those being served will be able to share my joy in music.

So, so far my MAD project ideas have been narrowed down to these four:
1) Domestic Helper Open Day
2) Volunteer at an orphanage
3) Help the ES/HS library
4) Music-related services