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These past few months have been months of transition for the DP CAS students here at VIS. The Grade 12s have been working hard at letting go and the Grade 11s have picked up the reigns of a number of projects and are doing a fantastic job. No event displayed this more clearly than the VISMUN-Peace Lab BBQ. Through the work of MUN, the VIS-Peace Lab Partnership and Migrant Women Association Malta student teams, we were able to organize a BBQ that had the support of the UNHCR, AWAS, Kopin and the Sudanese Community House.
“Once upon a time, fire led our ancestors into the circle. It made sense to put the fire in the center and to gather around it. A circle defined physical space by creating a rim with a common sense of sustenance lighting up the center. These ancestors needed the circle for survival - food, warmth, defense - and they discovered that the circle could help design social order.”
From “The Circle Way, A Leader in Every Chair” by Ann Linnea and Christina Baldwin
For the Peace Lab Partnership student group this was the perfect handover event. It was bigger and better than anything we’ve done before. The afternoon and evening of sharing, fun and the sound of African drums was the culmination of many months of hard work on the part of our Grade 12 students. It was also a great kick off for the Grade 11s who are taking over. The success of this event and the ways in which each CAS student on the team worked to make the day what it was cannot be over-stated. The group worked with maturity and facilitated the coming together of four different groups (VIS, Peace Lab Residents, visiting schools, AWAS boys) in a meaningful way. They shared the space and their experience and can be very proud of the way led and served.
The MWAM student group has worked consistently throughout the year to build relationships in the local community. They have done fundraising, held awareness events and even ran a clothing drive for those living in the Hal-far Tent Village. The relationships built by these students with local stakeholders opened a door for a group of unaccompanied minors to join in our celebration and work.
A key element (besides the food!) to our VISMUN afternoon was the playing of the new African drums. The drums were brought all the way from Togo inside suitcases! We are so grateful to the students and staff from the British International School of Lomé who had them made and donated them to our project. The boys from the AWAS house even taught our VISMUN students to play drums. It was a beautiful coming together of cultures.
Words do very little justice to the beautiful chaos of our afternoon. It rained. It was muddy. It was smoky. It was amazing! And we are looking so forward to the second round of this on the 5th June! Watch this space!
“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence."
(Harvard Business School definition of leadership)
― Sheryl Sandberg
CAS in Action
Ms. Danielle Van Rooyen - CAS Coordinator