Archive for Global Challanges

Great end to a great week- Our last school in Daugavpils! – Daugavpils Valsts ģimnāzija

May 19, 2009 · Filed under Air Pollution, Energy Management, Environment, Global Challanges, Global Environment Challanges, Land Pollution, Waste Management, Water Pollution · Tagged , , ,

Casey Piquette: Wow its already been a week in Daugavpils! I can’t believe all of the great people we have met and the great memories we have made! It was such a pleasure going to all of the schools this week and meeting the students…and even seeing some of them around town. :)

Today’s lecture went very well! The students were very eager to participate and it was nice to see everyone wanting to work together. It was definitely a great way to say goodbye to Daugavpils and to lift our spirits onward to Liepaja.

We also befriended some international students from Germany, Thailand and USA (WOO!). After lecture we all went with them to the fortress. All week we had been trying to plan a trip to the fortress, so we were excited when we made plans to go with our new friends! The fortress, although very buggy, was pretty cool! We climbed some hills, saw some views, and took some silly pictures of course. ;)

While I am sad to leave our beloved Vesma, and immaculatly clean dorms…I am looking forward to the seaside of Liepaja! :)

Genevieve: The last school for Daugavpils ended our lovely visit here with great satisfaction!=) It was easy to speak to the students and communicating was easy. I enjoyed the session greatly because the students were so proactive especially during the second session, so we could deliver our words with greater passion and less difficulty. Victor, an alumni of the school was there with us so it was cool. For the last day here, our memories for Daugavpils was sealed with a visit to the fortress. Nice! What is amazing is that we met up with students from Daugavpils’ schools and Victor who brought us around. This is the charm of an Aiesec experience and the visit to a small city, that you will experience small surprises along the way;)

Tomorrow we will be moving on to our last town – Liepaja and this is the last part of our journey into Latvian schools. It is filled with great memories 3 weeks into the project and I have learned so much from my teammates, the people I have worked with and lastly the students. Daugavpils memories for me is that of the times in Vesma, the walk to the fountain, the fortress and the Daugava River=) I am excited about our next journey into Liepaja, the place of music in Latvia. Here we go!

Alina Rusu: oh, I liked today’s atmosphere! It had a special something about it, but I can’t tell what exactly. Daugavpils Valsts ģimnāzija- it was very nice. I felt like speacking to AIESEC-ers, really :) The pupils were so active, so focused and interested in what we’re talking about, they really into the group work, they were passionate about the presentation and creative in finding the solutions- I was impressed! It was a pleasure to work with you, guys, thank you! :)

Before the session we had a small Gloval Village and I had one of the best conversations with a couple of pupils from the school- we talked about our countries, but mostly I talked about Moldova and it felt so good! Because they were really interested in my country and I wanted to tell more and more about our Moldova :) Yes, this was deffinetly one of the best days! Liepaja is waiting for us and I’m really curious to see how it will turn out to be. See you soon!

Ana Marija: Today was awesome. We all got up with a feeling it’s gonna be just another day in Daugavpils. I myself felt a bit saturated with everyday routine and task to motivate and inspire high school students to come up with new and creative solutions for environmental issues. I was afraid that the students will feel this and therefore be less passionate. Surprisingly they were proactive and highly motivated to solve given tasks. During the second session that I was moderating they make my life easier because they were active, and eager to speak and share their point of view.

And the best part of all is – this is not all. :) We spent afternoon in sightseeing Daugavpils fortress. It started after we met few high school students from Germany, USA and Thailand. For them it was a first contact with foreigners (during their stay) in Daugavpils and for us it was also refreshing! I was particularly glad that we decided for such a trip since we’ve planned to visit the fortress from the very first day we came in Daugavpils.

The evening ended with salsa – my favorite dance – and with my favorite restaurant in Daugavpils- Vesma!

What a perfect ending of a Daugavpils experience…


Saurabh Gandhi : Daugavpils…I will never forget this city…I am in love with this place. As I said earlier…”The land of Beautiful Mornings”. I have never expirienced something like this before in my entire life. You wake up with the sun rays on your bed and when you open the window, the first thing you listen is the birds chirping and the first thing you feel is the fresh air…Nice mornings makes my day nice.

Today, was again one of those days. We had to reach Vesma at 11.30, but I woke up around 8. Sitting on my window pane, i kept looking outside for 10-15 minutes captivated and spell bound by the proximity to the nature…finally I closed my eyes…and I felt a immense satisfactory emotion building inside me. All this experience gave me new energy and finally I had a really nice session at this school.

This was the last school and the reason that made me happy was that we will be leaving for Leipaja tomorrow (yeah right..we leave at 6 !!)…but at the same time I know how much I am gonna miss Daugavpils…

The school was really nice experience…The students were quiet fluent in English and really had some intellectual level. It was nice discussion and not to forget the fun in second session. :)

I am gonna miss all this…the experience has been mind blowing…Russian Sauna…Pottery (Thanks to AIESECers)…the school like Russian high school..where we had questions like…”why to save endangered species”…lolz…and the school no. 12, which prompted me to redesign my whole strategy…city center…and the Salsa session…thanks to the girl from the school who invited us…I really had great time.

I will miss Daugavpils…I will in fact never forget this place…I will miss my mornings…I must admit…I am in Love with Daugavpils…

I am sure…I will come back here…See you soon..Bye for now :)

Love
_Saurabh Gandhi

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Half way point! Raina Daugavpils 6.vidusskola

May 18, 2009 · Filed under Air Pollution, Energy Management, Global Challanges, Global Environment Challanges, Land Pollution, Waste Management, Water Pollution · Tagged , , ,

What a great weekend! On Saturday we visited an art studio and all tried a turn at the pottery wheel, then we went off to the Banja for a nice relaxing time! The weather was a lot nicer and we even saw some sun on a lovely walk through the woods. It was nice to relax and enjoy the nature and Lativan culture. It was also a pleasure to be so warmly invited to meet some AIESECers families. It definitely made us feel very at home! :)

We can’t believe that we are now over halfway finished with the project! Only one more lecture in Daugavpils tomorrow, then it is off to Liepaja for a week.

Today we were at Raina Daugavpils 6.viduskkola. The school was a bit of a hike, but it was nice to cross the Daugava and get a better view of the river.  The lectures went smoothly, no technical difficulties, and the students really seemed to enjoy the videos we played. Another bonus was the shining sun on our walk to and from the school! It was even warm enough to take off our coats!

Casey Piquette: For my fellow interns, it is halfway through, but for me, the journey is still beginning! I can’t believe it has been almost a week! Every lecture I learn so much from working with my peers and the students. It has really been a very rewarding experience so far.

I had always wanted to try a pottery wheel, and it was so cool to learn from Lasma’s mother! She is such a great artist! The banja was also a very cool experience. I loved meeting JLo’s family and dogs (haha :) ).This weekend definitely helped me to start out the week right! (Special shoutout to Lasma and JLo for a GREAT weekend and opening up your families to us!).

We started our morning with our traditional breakfast and coffee/tea at Vesma. I will miss that place when we leave! Then we headed to the school. The walk was very nice because it is finally warming up, and we were able to see the sun! The school was very welcoming to us, and we enjoyed a nice chat with the Headmistress before beginning. Some things were a little challenging because of the students english level. It was a good challenge though, and we had to be very animated and explanatory in our presentations. Alina had a great idea of changing the order and time that we show our video clips, and I definitely think it helped out! The students really seemed to enjoy the cartoons and it made it easier to explain our message with the pictures.

I am sad Daugavpils is coming to an end, but I am very excited about going onward to Liepaja! I really love to be by the water, and there should be some great views in this next city! Until tomorrow…au revior!

Saurabh Gandhi : Yeah, I agree with Casey….what a lovely weekend. Our journey through Daugavpils is coming to an end. I will remember this place as “Land of Beautiful Mornings” :) (you should see the view outside my room, first thing in morning…its mind blowing !! :) )

I  must say that I was pretty disappointed by the response of the students during my session. Later, when I gave them flip-charts and they came up with ideas, it left me wondering what was wrong during the session. Why was no body participating in the discussion.

I realized, it was not because they were not interested or were not active, it was because as an Asian, when I spoke, it was difficult for them to understand my accent.

The expirience has been amazing. A new thing to learn. It has left me completly into a new space. I must further design my session now…a session that can be delivered overcoming these diffrences in accent…a session that is more successful in transferring the ideas without any boundaries…a session that is able to motivate pupils towards their roles and responsibilities for this planet…

I have quiet few ideas in mind. I will work on Powerpoint. For the time being I am just using two slides, but now I think, I will put more information on slide. It is easy to read a language than to listen it. This will promt them into discussion, even without the accent barrier. They more they will idscuss the more they will be motivated towards their roles and responsibilities.

This school has left me with new challenge. I love challenges :) I hope to rock again tomorrow with my newly designed session. :) YeeeHaawww !!

Alina Rusu: the day started great- sunny and warm and we knew that there’s a nice experience ahead. And so it was! The pupils of Raina Daugavpils 6.vidusskola are the first to applaud after we show the AIESEC movie- it was very nice. The first minutes were a bit difficult, but once we got the disussion going, everyone started to get involved and by the end of the first session the pupils were really into the work and coming up with solutions. The second session was challenging and interesting. I think it went well, we had some cute short movies and some laughs over some of the presentations, ’cause the pupils here are really friendly. No logistics problems, which for me is something that can make my day! :)

After the sessions I had a really nice discussion with the principle, we talked about Moldova, about youth in my country, about universities and many other cultural things, that I proudly presented to her. I think everyone should go abroad for a short period of time, because only there you realize how much you love your country and how proud you are to talk about it.

Today was a nice day and I can’t wait to see how tomorrow will turn out to be. Hopefully it will be sunny outside and inside as well :)

Genevieve: I have just enjoyed the best weekend in Latvia. It is so interesting that I got to try the banja (a type of sauna) and the pottery lessons that I have always wanted to try in Singapore but never quite got down to it. And it’s even better because we had Lasma’s mother who has decades of experience to teach us the Latvian folkart. =) The memories at the banja house with us sitting there in a small hut built by JLo’s father and eating some homey food in the cold weather will be forever etched in my head.

So today was back to lessons in our 4th school in Daugavpils and it is an experience that made me understand that I should try to hear more and talk less sometimes. I realized that most students couldn’t understand us even as we tried to speak slowly. So I was glad that prior to our lessons Alina came up with the idea to play movie clips during the presentations. We didn’t know that we will face these difficulties but the idea came at the right time! Those cartoons were the key in speaking to the students more effectively than our words that we had to say. I learned the significance of improvising according to whatever situation that you are in and I look forward to more lessons like these! ;)


Ana Marija: Finally sun shown its face in Daugavpils, I was afraid it would never happen… When you are deprived of something only then you realize how much you missed it.

We passed our first half, 6 more schools in front of us, yet 6 more surprises .. I’m curious and I wonder how it’s gonna look like, because all have so far been different from one another. But for all schools one common thing was they were all very welcoming. For today’s school I’m especially thankful for the medical care! About sessions- good that Alina came up with the idea of putting more movies in today’s second session, just when we needed inspiration the most. Her innovative idea was to play few short movies to make the presentation more dynamic and to motivate the audience and leave them material for later educcation and discussion..

Looking forward to going to Liepaja and discovering the beauty and nature of Liepaja, especially the sea and nice weather- something to remind me of my homeland.  However I believe that we will certainly miss the breakfast and dinner at Vestma, due to the great company, ambient, food and sevice…

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Русский лицей or “The adventures of AIESEC-ers in Daugavpils!”

May 15, 2009 · Filed under Air Pollution, Energy Management, Environment, Global Challanges, Global Environment Challanges, Land Pollution, Waste Management, Water Pollution · Tagged , ,

Alina Rusu:“Why should we protect the dying species of animals and birds? They will die anyway and they don’t serve good for anybody, so why should we be concerned about this?” This is the question we got and it really made me think. It’s a very reasonable and fair question- why? And by Tomorrow Steps project our team is trying to find the answer to this question and to come up with actions for it.

Today was a very interesting and challenging day for me. Russian high-school was a great experience for me personally, because it made me think that I don’t have the answers to all the questions.. and I think this is ok, because we are here to learn from each other and I’m really glad I can learn from high-school students also.  Learn about curiosity, about being open-minded, about looking at the problem  from a different point of view, about challenging yourself everyday. I will deffinetly think over it tonight and maybe tomorrow I’ll come up with a new strategy idea for the project. Looking forward to visit other schools and see how it works. Special thanks to Russian high-school for making me review my personal and professional attitude towards my work :)

Casey Piquette: It never ceases to amaze me the learning experiences I get from every new endeavor with AIESEC. Today we visited the Russian high school and it was a very great experience. I learned today, that even though sometimes you may not have an answer for an issue, you can always have motivation and passion to bring people together and solve it.  I enjoyed being challenged today and it makes me think even more about why I am here and doing this.

Aside from my personal lessons with today’s lectures, the students were really great and smart! I love to hear new ideas and I strongly believe that all of the students we get to speak with are the key to solving the issues in the environment and that it is amazing that we get the chance to foster this growth.

I am glad to be on to the weekend to have some time to really sit down and discuss with my team so we can continue to improve! Only 2 more lectures in Daugavpils! Au revoir! :)

Genevieve: Today’s school was rather challenging and different from the others schools that we have visited so far. However, i enjoyed it. The students were a little younger than the age group we usually teach but this is not a bad point because they are more energetic and active in our lessons. I loved how everything went on easily in Ana’s and my session that it felt like time passed too quickly. It was wonderful that the students asked questions that may have been a little unusual for us compared to other sessions in other schools. Perhaps the students can do better with a different type of session that we had for the presentation. Anyway, I hoped that the students were able to go home with some new insights on their environmental situation and this can further stimulate their interest in the environment. It would be the best exchange for my effort in sharing!

Ana Marija: I really really liked these guys today, they brought me memories from my high school days and I enjoyed their questions as well! Great english speaking level and intellectual too. Something different from schools before- they didn’t take things for granted- I like :) The only thing that was a little bit disappointing is that I’ve got higher expectations for their solutions- but maybe if we had a different approach it would be better.. Something to think about for sure.. However, nice day with nice experience :D

Saurabh Gandhi : Alina is absolutely right…I was amazed by the intellectual level of pupils froms these schools. I mean we have been to schools where I have met students, who are just 15 year olds and talk about starting business in India. (At 15, I was only talking about Need For Speed and Counter Strike.), but this schoool was completly different. In terms of the English language skills and in terms of their interest.

I was quiet happy with the content and the procedure of our sessions, but this school has made us rethink our whole startegy. I eman, Imagine if a 15 year old can make you think about what you are preaching….lolz.. No wonder our Local Commitee President of AIESEC Riga comes from this school. :)

Today was complete change in strategy. Instead of 3 sessions in first slot, we only were given 2 classes, and thus I did not took any session. The team decided that I will lead the third session, but when I was on the stage, for the first time during the whole project, I felt that I am in a discussion conference rather than a session. There eyes were hungry for more information. They were not afraid to converse in English, as was the case in other schools.I was so happy that I got a chance to be this wonderful group.

The discussion with 3 pupils after out second time slot was just amazing. I felt I am talking to completely grown up professionals,  who were curious about the world and were ready to make a statement. Their curiosity makes me think…that we are on right track. Their eyes made me think that this world is still sustainable…with pupils like these….who understand everything and are not afraid to look for new avenues, will make this world a better living place.

It was an honor being in this school. All i know now is that, we will now have to work hard to make our sessions even better. This school has given us a big challenge.It was honor being in this school. :D

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Daugavpils 12. vidusskola

May 14, 2009 · Filed under Air Pollution, Energy Management, Environment, Global Challanges, Global Environment Challanges, Land Pollution, Waste Management, Water Pollution

Genevieve: The second school in Daugavpils, Daugavpils 12. vidusskola that we visited today was amazing as I could feel the enthusiasm and the interest of the students in our project greatly. They participated so much during our (Ana’s and me) session and in the final presentations that I feel we are really getting the students to understand about the global environmental issues better. That’s the objective of the project and we are almost there!  I really hope that you all were able to feel that we are doing something together, our part for our Earth as the video “‘Earth Hour” in the end of the presentation was played, like it did for me. It’s a good reminder that we need as we go about busy with other matters everyday;)

Ana Marija: Today’s high school students were great! Talkative and proactive and it was pleasure to work with them especially with Edvards , so friendly and warm in receiving us. I’m getting used to this kind of life- delivering sessions, working with high school students, travelling and as this project is moving on I’m gaining insights of Latvia more and more each day and it feels great when I can talk to students about places that I’ve visited in Latvia and be able to say- “I’ve seen your forest, you have great nature, you should preserve it!”

Saurabh Gandhi : Hee haaw..

the most amazing thing that I saw today at the school was the response from the students.  Amazing energy levels…and the solutions they came up with really deserved some appreciation.

I am really thankful to all the schools that give us such warm welcome. Everything was taken care of and everything was working. Yesterday, although there was nothing left undone…the final video in second session did not worked deue to technical difficulties. This time..each video in each session worked perfectly fine. Everything was done perfectly. The sessions at this school were just PERFECT…perfect team work…perfect co-ordination…perfect balance. I would rate it at 9/10.

To all thepeople who are reading this at this moment, 9/10 and not a full house, because…I still feel (Personally) that we can improve it further in terms of presentation skills.

Anyways, we do not have internet at our dormitory…everybody at this moment is working in public library for past 2 hours now. We all are waiting for the Salsa class this evening…we will be going as spectators, although Ana is gonna show us som salsa moves :D . Everybody is excited.

We are ready for tomorrows challange. Lets see whats in store…and I hope tomorrow it gonnna be as good as today.

I am falling in love with Daugavpils. :)

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Rīgas 10.vidussskola

May 12, 2009 · Filed under Air Pollution, Energy Management, Environment, Global Challanges, Global Environment Challanges, Land Pollution, Uncategorized, Waste Management, Water Pollution · Tagged , , , ,

Saurabh Gandhi : A new day, a new challenge. We were walking from the office towards the school for our session on Monday and then suddenly my partner from Singapore asked us that if we can change the presentation style – instead of we suggesting the environmental problems, it was them who will write at flip charts.

With just one hour before the session, this sounded a bit weird but looking at her confidence level about new style of presenting, I had to agree. This is what makes me happy about working in AIESEC…it gives chance to challenge yourself every minute and at the same time also enables you to be flexible.

The session were delivered as per new plan. The changes were made only in our sessions and not the whole strategy.

As usual, while returning from the school, there were heated arguments…lolz…but I feel these things help us know our team better. We ended up going to a shopping mall together and then to skyline bar. Later in night we were watching movie together. :D There is no such thing called perfect team, unless you have been through all this. I am seriously proud of my team.

While watching movie, I was thinking of the day it was…specially the concert and student participation – was mind blowing and out of the world. I have never seen so pro-active and participating students. This was really a nice experience.

Riga is done. Our bags are packed. We are now ready for our journey to Daugavpils…

Alina Rusu: it’s so cool to be part of this project, because every day, every school, every person you meet is a new discovery and a new challenge for me. Rīgas 10.vidussskola reminded me of my first school, my first learning experience, my first teachers, chemistry and phisycs classes :) Even the walls and the taste of the “kompot” in the cafeteria were so familiar, that by the end of our visit, I didn’t want to leave :)

The sessions were interesting and some solutions were really cool! There were some fantastic ones also, like the electronic bug who whould clean the land :) but that is great also, because, as Eistein said, if the ideaa doesn’t sound crazy, than it’s not worth trying. So keep trying, guys, and I’m confident that together we can bring the change in the world ;)

Genevieve: Hello! Rigas 10. vidussskola is a meaningful experience that concluded our visit to schools in Riga well. It was a combination of many factors.

For one, as Saurabh said, I am really learning to challenge myself, to think how we can work better – for the students and for us both as we have different styles that we are used to. Ultimately, i hoped that the small change allowed the students to think more for themselves about Latvia’s environment that they are more knowledgeable in. We were not there to lecture but to create awareness. The students were attentive to our lessons but our team is working to improve our lessons to make it really different and even more enjoyable than it is now. So hold on!

Secondly, I was glad that we were shown around the school’s gym, classrooms etc to get acquainted with the students and also to the concert that they invited us to see. It was realli enriching and of course, the quality of the performances amazed me. It was a mini yet great eye-opening experience to the music in Europe! And the day ended differently with the four of us relaxing in the city’s centre. After some shopping that i missed and good coffee from a very good view with my team, I feel I can work even better with them despite our difficulties=) So Daugavpils forward we go!!!!

Ana Marija: I agree with Alina- every school, every person that we meet is different and therefore they have their own ideas, way of thinking and way of  approaching environmental issues. It was enriching to see how different people react differently and come up with new and creative ideas. The significant things from the last five schools that I’ll cherish are constructive criticisms from all sessions and seeing what we are doing good and what we can improve! That’s our point guys, good job!

Now we are heading to the next five schools in Daugavpils and I wonder how are gonna look like new sessions with new participants.. The unknown and new- I like :)

Good bye Riga, hello Daugavpils :)

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Sunday @ Sigulda

May 10, 2009 · Filed under Air Pollution, Energy Management, Environment, Global Challanges, Global Environment Challanges, Land Pollution, Waste Management, Water Pollution · Tagged , , ,

sigulda
Saurabh Gandhi : At last, we had some free time. After working for whole week, this was one free day. We had been working hard to put in new strategy, to make our sessions more interesting…but I think it won’t be possible to come up with 180 degrees change in just one day.

We have to leave for Daugavils on Tuesday. We will work out our strategy on our way and also we will have one extra day. The Organizing committee will be able to participate in designing this new strategy. For the time being on Monday, we will be sticking to old one.

Girls really had some nice day today at Sigulda. They had been working really hard and were in a desperate need of an excursion :P (God knows…they were more tired when they returned…lolz). But Seriously, they needed a break and I am happy to see them all charged up. Although they gel extremely well with each other, but these kinds of activities are good for team building. I had a lot of work and to catch up with pending tasks, I decided to stay on internet.

Have not been able to complete everything yet, but lets see. The clock says 2341 hrs. and I am pretty hungry. I think I will boil some eggs and will eat it with bread. My room mate will join as well. Girls are already asleep. They were pretty tired. I am really happy with my team. Although we have lot of heated arguments, but the ideas that come out of these discussions are just mind blowing. I love my team.

Time for me to eat something before I go to sleep. We will rock again tomorrow. Keep hanging school No. 10. Here we come…

regards,

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