I have decided that my CAS Project is going to be an activity that I do with the girls for girls service. Wall climbing has become a very popular activity amongst the girls over the years and it has been one of the most highly requested activities to be done. For the girls from emerge it is a new experience for them and they really enjoy doing it, at first they are scared but they come around and all the girls will do it.  This activity is challenging and not at all easy, it takes a lot of mental courage to get to the top and touch the board. Personally, I am not the biggest fan of climbing the wall but the girls at emerge love it so I will do it for them.

I think that this activity has a good metaphor to it.  Climbing the wall at first is very hard but once you get the hang of it and once you know what you are doing, it get better and you become more comfortable and finally when you touch the board when you are up there, it feels very rewarding. The message that I am trying to send the girls is that sometimes in life you through situations that are hard and you feel like it is never going to get solved but there is always a way to the top. If not this way there is always another and rock climbing teaches you that through the steps that you take to get to the top.

These girls are survivors of sexual abuse and when someone goes through something so traumatic the recovery takes a long time. They would have not had a very easy time as some of their families have disowned them and they have no place in society, they are finding themselves and working to get to the top. Since they are only in the center for 3 months before they get their jobs and leave, this should be a good lesson for them learn from and hopefully carry with them.

Learning outcomes through this activity

Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

• Wall climbing itself is challenge that we are giving the girls to do and the skills they develop are that they pushing themselves to get to the top and touch the board. like mentioned before it takes a lot, physically and mentally to climb to the top. I am doing this in the hope that this will teach the girls that the climb is hard but once you make it to the top it is great.

Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

• Planning:  For this CAS project the first session which will hopefully happen on the 26th of September, I have emailed teacher who could possibly help G4G as well as some expert students on wall climbing. I have gotten the approval from Mr. Lockwood and I will have at least 3-4 wall climbing sessions with these girls. In a year we have about 3 batches in the first semester and I hope to do it at least once with each batch.

Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

• I have conducted this wall climbing activity about 4 times before and every group that we have worked with has loved this activity so much. They love the challenge and they are super committed to climbing the wall and its a good way to get everyone together.

Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

• The wall climbing activity need collaborative work, everyone needs to work together in order for it to be successful. The girls from emerge will be helping each other and we will be helping them as well. The girls who are not climbing will be guiding the girls who are climbing in order to support them.

Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

• Sexual violence against women is the global issues that we as a service is trying to tackles. to help and empower these young girls out there to help them feel normal again and to easy their transition back into society. Each one of these girls after they graduate will go into doing their own thing in the world, some will go on to teach, some will go onto to do teaching, and some will go on to working at big restaurants such as Shangri La. We are helping the girls easy in with society so that they can learn to collaboratively work with other people. This kind of activity empowers the girls to strive for more.  This can be also connected to the SDG’s number five in particular as it directly connects to gender equality.

Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and action

• The girls are not allowed to get their faces photographed, so when we are documenting these events such as the girls wall climbing we make sure that their faces are not photographed. We also want to do the right thing by them and make sure that they feel good doing and if a girl is not comfortable we instantly get them to come down and we will ask if they are comfortable doing it, if they want to they will proceed.

This activity consists of all the learning outcomes a CAS experience requires and I think that it will be a good activity to do. This CAS project is 80 hours of work and I know that it is going to be a good activity. After the wall climbing we give the girls milk shakes and food and celebrate their achievement. I am hoping that this would be encouraging for the girls  to step out of their comfort-zone and strive for greatness in their lives.