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[sobol-achaj]

Sheeshtember

September CAS:

Service:

For service this months, I have been asked to animate children on my little sister's birthday party. I have made my schedule plan and then got to work. Now, since my sister is in 1st grade, I was asked to integrate this group of kids. Therefore I invented games in which there is loads of teamworks and games which are fun. It took around 4 hours preparation time and 4 execution. After the party I was exhausted, doing this alone with 17 kids is tiring. I realized that it's very difficult to do such things alone without support, so next time I will ask someone to help me so I don't burn out.

Creativity:

For creativity, I assisted my Father in the making of plum jam from the plums he bought. He asked me to help him since he didn't have much time to do it himself. Firstly, I had to get the seed out and wash them, then I put them in the oven to soften and I mixed them at hight temp with some sugar. It was 4 hours of work and I felt worn out. After te process has finished, we ended up with 10 jars of plum jam. I realised that making your own product is very time consuming, but fun and cheaper. Additionaly, it is much healthier, as I could control the sugar and other substances I would add - you can't control shop products like that.

Activity:

For activity this month, I have been going to the gym. Firstly, I went on an introductory lesson, on which a coach showed me how to use different machines. After that session, I was able to do my desired activities by myself. I started doing the activities that were the easiest to perform by me, but then I mmoved onto some more complex ones. Thanks to my friend, whom I asked about the theory of working out, she presented me with an idea of how to work out for a desired effect. Now I know exactly how much weight should I use and how many repetitions shouls I do. I must say, it's difficut to spend a long time in the gym when I run out of ideas on what to do . Therfore, a coach would be a good solution.

buh bye

[sobol-achaj]

Juhuuujune CAS

Service:

For service this month I organized with my kadra members a meeting with our kids in Warsaw's old town. We went to the church there, and then walked to a nice square and ate sandwiches together. Once we finished eating, we headed towards Krasiński Park to play some games there. On our way, however, there was the IRONMAN marathon going on, so the couldn't cross the street. We were quite scared to cross the street, as previosly we saw a little girl being run over by a runner from the marathon. We decided to cross the street in groups of 7 and we even got help from police officers who were monitoring the marathon. This showed me that its incredibly important to check the news online before planning a meeting someplace, as in this case, something dangerous could have happened. Additionaly, the parents had a hard time when picking up the kids as they couldn't park their cars close enough.

Creativity:

This moth I have been preparing some creative activity for my kids to do during our meeting. I sewed an old bedsheet in a way which resulted in it being halved and having tunnels for a stick to be put in and hang the sheet. This was a banner which I brought the next day to the meeting, and having bought paint and brushes the kids' job was to paint our groups' name, the symbol and the number. For the activity to not become messy, I brought a plastic sheet to pour the paint on. Additionally, I divided te kids in pairs and 3's so each group had 1 letter to paint. Thanks to that everything turned out nice and organized and every letter was unique. This showed me that it's really important to organize the activities wery well - especially that I'm working with small kids.

Activity:

For activity, I have been going biking. Since I went on a trip with my friends from school to a nice countryside place. There, the weather was really good and there were some bikes (not very good ones) and we managed to fix them. Therefore me and my friend used to go biking nearly everyday of the trip. Once, we had to ride to the shop to supply our fridge and the shop was far away. We got lost twice, and we ended up turning back as the shop turned out to be closed. We were additionally quite mad as we didn't check the weather because it started pouring. For te future, we need to remember to check the forecast and not trust Google maps so much as it showed that the shop was opened, when it was closed. I also need to teach my friend how to navigate :)

[sobol-achaj]

My may

Service:

For service this month, I have been continuing my journey with my KIK group. This month was a very important one, as we finally got accepted by the organizations' administration and we could meet our kids. We met our kids on a 2 day trip we have planned, filled with organized activities. We planned some games in which the kids could get to know each other and we could get to know them. I have also planned a field game where we went to the forest and gathered previously hidden letter made out of paper which the children had to later put so they formed our group name - Navajowie. We also had a meeting with the parents of the kids, explaining to them how does KIK group work and what is our personal aim of educating the kids. This was quite nervewracking as we were EXTREMLY tired from playing with the kids and we had to officially speak in front of the parents. But one of our kadra members made some notes for each of us, so we would know what to say. Even though I wasn't prepared, since my topic was about the psychology of kids and the educational features, it was quite easy for me to talk about it. This shows that if you are interested in a topic and have a wide understanding of it, it's easier to talk about it. Even the parents were impressed ;)

Activity

This month I have been going on bike rides. Since I went to my summerhouse which is close to some beautiful forests and the river Bóg, I had a perfect opportunity to go biking. The weather was also very good, so it was nice outside. The bike which was there was quite old but it was a mountain bike which is why it was good to ride on a terrain as such. I enjoyed doing very fast rides as I could feel the wind and it was an easy way to get tired. I noticed that biking near my summerhouse in the forest compared to biking in warsaw, is much more calming and relaxing, probably because there is more nature and less people.

Creativity

This month I had an occasion of trying a new art form when preparing for the 2 day trip with my kids. Each of the kadra member took one of their shirts to my house and brought some paints which can paint of fabric. Then, each of us personalized our shirts in a DIY way - I cut some parts so the shape was different and I panited my using different techniques. The main aim of this event was to write our names at the back of the shirts, so the kids know what's our name and so they know the symbol of our group. This event was very relaxing and fun to do. We sat in my garden and put on some happy music. I think that since we did it in the garden, it was much more relaxing and fun.

[sobol-achaj]

Ayepril

Hi!

This month I have been focusing on my CAS project. In my group of 3 (Wiktoria Bortlisz, Oliwia Jaskuslka and I), we have organized a school SLEEP WEEK. Throughout the week, we have promoted a regular sleepscedule and mantaining proper hours of sleep by battling with our school communitie's issue: who slept less is better. On one day we did a meeting with our Biology teacher who is an expert when it comes to the biology of sleep, and he gladly did a talk for our year about it. This was meant to show students all the issues of not sleeping enough, raising awareness coming from an expert. At the beginning of the SLEEP WEEK we have displayed a poster at the school entrance, which gave the criteria to get a star. You could get a golden star (in form of a sticker) if you slept 8+ hours that night and a silver if you slept 8-7 hours. This was done to promote good sleeping habits and being able to show off with the stars. Additionaly, On the second day of SLEEP WEEK, the 2 first lesons were canceled so students could get some sleep. To be more reachable to the public, a post on facebook, and multiple posters in our school where put out. This project included: creativity (making posters) and activity (the talk on sleep). I think that the issue we were fighting is quite important in our school community, but a difficult one to tackle. Nevertheless, we did SOMETHING about it. A good thing were the sticker campaign, as lots of them were taken. The canceling of lessons also was gladly received by the audience, however, when it came to organizing it, it was really hard to get it approved by the school's authorities.

Bye!

[sobol-achaj]

Marchess CAS

Activity:

For my activity this month I went on walks with a KIK group in forests and hills in the countryside. The children were in 3 and 4th grade and the other kadra members from 16 - 21 y.o.. On one walk we even ate lunch in the nature of the area. A kadra member who had driving license brought already prepared pasta to the site where we ate. It was the top of a hill. He also brought a gas burner so we could heat up the sauce in a large pot. The pots were extremely large because there were 30 hungry mouths in total. As we were finishing eating a large wall of rain started pouring down on us. We had to take all the pots and bowls and the other stuff with us as we ran away in the rain as the car was already somwhere else. From this experience I learned that it is VERY IMPORTANT to check the forecast and be prepared for any weather (take some raincoats). Overall, however, I REALLY enjoyed eating in nature, and sure that the kids did too. On these trips I also learned the skill of being able to coun't moving kids at any moment and do it accurately and its importance.

Service:

This month I continued with the preparations of becominf a KIK kadra. We are coming to a close in terms of the course, we just need to complete a formal file with the programm for our future group. It is a quite complex task, as the file needs to contain EVERYTHING we've been talking about during the course. Additionally, it is difficult to divide the tasks of filling the file as each section is eaither more or less complex. We tried using the following system: we meet up and do it all together while a person is writing it down and what's left we assign individually. It was also more easier as each member is specialized in a specific area of the programm. Overall, it is quite stressfull as it is the final file that the administration of SR KIK needs to accept for us to be able to open our group.

Creativity:

This month I helped my father assemble a playhouse which he build out of wood during COVID in Spain. We decided that as its getting warmer, my sister and her cousin more often play outside, therefore the house would be perfect for them. The house itself is the height of an adult person thanks to its triangular roof. The process of the assembly of the house took around 3 weekends as its the only free time that we have. My brother and I, sometimes change (when I'm busy and he's not) and sometimes even work together (some actions require 3 people). I enjoy working with wood and doing it outside in my garden. However, one needs to be careful when working with wood (this is however pine wood so it's not that heavy) as a part of a window fell on my dad's leg and now he has a small bruise. Thankfully, he worked with shoes that covered his entire feet, so the bruise was not that bad.

See ya!

[sobol-achaj]

Freebruary

Activity:

This month I have been on mountain trips with my father. I did a trip to Tatry and we went to a town near Kraków to make a hike to Babia Góra. It was really cold and snowy, on the peak of the mountian there was a snowstorm. Thankfuly, I had suitable gear for winter mountain hiking, so it was safe. Due to my anemia, it was quite tricky for me to get on the mountain. It made me realize that my condition makes my daily life performance also worse, which is why I am now seeking some medical consults. A few days after we came back from the trip, a story came up in the news. A man had fainted as he forgot his medicines. He was found by the rescue mountain squad. This was quite surprising and unnerving that just 2 days later, a man got stuck on that peak. This also made my achievement much bigger, as the conditions were quite strong. there was over 1,40m of snow and was incredibly cold and windy.

Creativity:

This month I have experimented with the art of digital photography. I borrowed my brothers fancy camera to do so. I consider him an expert in this area, so I had a mentor and he helped me learn some of the basic technical stuff. After I did some photos, I also played with the editing. This process resulted quite complex, and I think, that without the help of my brother, the end photos would not be as they turned out to be. Also, it was nice to hear some tips from an authority and expert in the field. It stresses the importance of an authority figure in the process of learing, as it greatly facilitates it. A photo I did of myself, I even edited on the computer. This photo immediately reminded me of a band that I enjoy listening to and of their album covers. So I edited my photo to match the album cover, and the result was spectacular.

Service:

This month, I continued my journey in preparations to being a KIK kadra. I have been on multiple meetings with my course supervisors and without them. On these meetings we focused on our teamwork, we were psychoogically analyzed by our psychologist which type of teamworking person are we. This really helped me understand how I work in a group and it helped me learn something about myself. Also my other kadra members know what I struggle with and what are my streanghts. This makes our teamwork more efficient and pleasant for everybody. Additionaly, we discussed bad behaviours in children and how to deal with that. We got a worksheet and had to fill it out in terms of the consequences and actions we would take if that bhaviour takes place.

See you when I see you!

[sobol-achaj]

Jawuary CAS

Creativity:

This month with the help of my Mum I tried different drwaing/painting styles. I did watercolour, oil pastels, dry pastels, acrylic paint (pointilism) and I tried some therapeutic art ideas. I specificaly hate watercolour but I did it anyway, with the hope that I start to like it. I did not. Oil pastels are also not my favourite, but when I merged them with dry pastels, it was really fun to do. My favourite was the acrylic pointilism, even though it took ages, but was the most satysfying to do. I had lots of time during the break so I could spend more time on it than usual. The therapeutic art is just the ideaof drowing what you feel and how you feel. I have lots of stuff going on, with the death of my aunt and taking care of her children and it was nice to express some of the emotions by this drawing. It wasn't necesarily esthetic or particulary beautiful, but it was real. It helped me see what it is that I'm really feeling and it felt good afterwards. It made me realize the importance of expressing emotion and not hiding it - doen's mater if it's through art, poetry, sport, crying, talking to someone - it really feels better afterwards. Maybe this will be a new habit of mine - drawing what's on my mind.

Activity:

This month I went skiing with my friends and family to Zieleniec. Everyday I woke up at 6.30, made breakfast for everyone (scrambled eggs) and coffee, prepared sandiwches, warmed the car and put on my skiing gear, skied for 11h (until 20pm), went home, ate something warm that my family made, played bridge with my friends and went to sleep around 1am. It was a crazy week, but the amount of sport and activity I received was amazing. I found that the low amount of sleep I got was really deep and resting. I think that the high quality of the sleep was due to the activity I did during the day and the fresh mountain air. Surprisingly, I was quite rested in the morning.

Service:

This month I continued my journey in becomin Kadra in KIK. During this month we had meeting on which we discussed difficult behaviours in kids; why they happen and what can we do to resolve them in a peaceful manner. I learned the 4 steps to cooperate with difficult children - a squeme of the points you need to cover while conducting a talk with them. We then practised this in our group when one of us was the child who did something bad and 2 or 1 person was conducting the talk. When it was my turn to talk to the 'kid' I found it tricky to make the 'kid' (my friend) listen to me and understand me. However, I think he did that on purpose. It was also quite difficult to follow the points. The teachers gave us clues. Although, once I got the hang of the squeme, it was relatively easy to talk to the 'kid' and make him listen. This shows the importance of constructive communication between kadra members and children.

See ya

[sobol-achaj]

Christmascember CAS

Creativity:

This month I practised playing christmas carols on my guitar with my brother playing on the piano. We wanted to give a concert on christmas dinner for our entire family. We practised carols like: Jezus Malusieńki, Dzisiaj w Betlejem, Cicha Noc and Przybieżeli do Betlejem. The most challenging part of this project was to sync the 2 instruments because the piano we have at our house is made out of real wood and is acoustic, not an electrical keyboard. Therefore, I had to first of all, figure out how to tune my guitar to be in the same tonation as the piano. This was found to not be the only obstacle that I encountered on the way. The idea of playing with another person, syncing with THEM plus syncing with the instrument was the most tricky part. The learning of chords was relatively easy, the strumming too and finding your pace as well. Syncing your two rythms however, was by far the most difficult. This shows me what for example orchestras and bands have to additionaly work on to achieve good results. Though, I imagine that they must have it figured out, as they are, well, professionals.

Activity:

This month I regulary went on walks in the forest. It was usually Las Kabacki, the forest close to my summerhouse near Bóg river or I once went to Rezerwat Przyrody nad Tanwią during my camp there. The best expedidtion was the one during my camp. It was at the end od December, so the temperature was quite low. The organizators wanted to do a hike to the forest and sleep in it, then return the other day. I naturaly signed up. So, I packed a tent, a sleeping mat, a warm sleeping bag, thick clothes, a pot, gas and a light. We did around 20 kilometers, and ate warm soup for breakfast and dinner. It was crucial to keep high body temperature. I learned that preparations for trips like this need to be careful and thorough. There were people who did not go through the packing process in detail and were cold and uncomfortable. It did however, even more deepen my love for nature and doing summer activities (sleeping in tents) in winter.

Service:

This month I was volunteering in a KIK suborganization called Kolacje Czwartkowe. I helped preparing meals for homeless people from Dworzec Zachodni and serving it to them. The final event was the christmas dinner which took place the 26th of December. This took place at KIKs headquarters in the Warsaw's oldtown. I had multiple jobs: preparing tables, christmas decorating, shopping for drinks, serving meals, cleaning, preparing food, entertaining the guests and serving as a signpost (standing outside in the cold weather with a cardboard sign I made and collecting guests from the street). This event made me realized how much help these peoplm e really need and that it does not require much effort to come in and help. Honestly, I was a bit freaked out by all these people, the dirty smell, but it made no difference at the end - these people nedded help and I gave it to them. It was also amazing how much joy we brough to these people, we sang carols, ate cake together and drank coffee.

See ya!

[sobol-achaj]

Nomnomvember CAS

Creativity:

This month, I continued my journey with guitar playing. I practiced quite an ambitious song: 'Wish you were here' by Pink Floyd, in which I mostly focused on the complex intro. My teacher is a fan of exactly replicating songs to their original tracks, so it ended up being quite tricky. Apart from the notes being difficult to play, I very soon realized that playing it in the right tempo was even harder. I still reach a little over halfway, so it needs more practising. After every session my fingertips feel like they were made out of wood, however, the satisfaction dominates over the pain.

This is a photo of the music notes for this song:

Activity:

For my activity this month, I decided to switch to swimming. This is because my little sister has begun to go to swimmimg classes in our local swimmingpool and she needed help in the changing rooms. I realized that this would be an excellet opportunity to spend my time there swimming. I really wanted to practise my classical style, however, I soon realized that it would be a horrible experience. My knee which hurted in the past started to hurt once I swam in te classical style. On top of that I got lots of muscle spasms which were extremely painful. Overall, the experience was not positive. Conseqently, I switched to the frog style, which I have already mastered in the past, and tried to swim as fast as I can. I even saw a swimming instructor pointing at me to show his pupils how a perfect frog style looks like. My knee still hurt a little but it was negligible. I get tired fairly quickly, so that's a thing I might work on in the future. I think that because I don't live in Spain anymore my swimming fitness has worsened, as I had acces to an open swimmingpool for my neighbourhood just across the street, where I trained nearly everyday for 4 months when it was open.

This is a photo of me swimming taken by my friend Wiktoria:

Service:

For service this month, I started to attend a course which prepares me and my kadra team for being educators and tutors for kids. This course includes lots of different sessions. We will write a 2 year programme for our kids, we need to set a list of aims for our group, we need to get some knowledge about children's psychology and how they function in a group, we will have to learn all the organisation and preparation techniques for camps, and many many more. This course lasts until mid April, when we will receive our children.

This is a photo of our first activity which consisted of organizing these from most important to least in our kadra group (I found this activity quite tricky as every one of the members has different points of view and different things are important to them. We did our best to reach a compromise but it took us nearly 30 min. I realized that these preparations are not going to be easy overall and that it takes really hard work to provide perfect environment and education for kids in KIK groups.):

See you next month!

[sobol-achaj]

Spooktober CAS

Activity:

For my activity this month, I attended Kickboxing classes every week. Each class is 1h 30min long, however, we spend around 20 min on stretching, doing abs and a warm-up at the beginning. Before each activity, our coach instructs us what to do by doing an example with another person. The activities are always done in pairs, therefore it is an advatage if you already have a pair. That's why I always go with my friend Wiktoria - she has similar pace and abilities, therefore we work good together. After every set, our coach always tells us to do activities like: jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-up etc. That's because these classes are not only meant to make as better at the sport, but also stronger and fitter. This month I noticed that I got better at stuff like recognising quicker where the punch is going and what move is required to avoid it, altough I still struggle with it when the pace is fast. When we were asked to do freestyle (do whatever punches or kicks you know but not hurting the other person) I have a tendency to back up and retreat whenever I know that my partner is about to attack. This is curious because I have no problem with attacking, I think that I just have to practise the defence methods more thoroughly then. I hope that these kickboxing sessions will make me more confindent about myself and my abilities. This is a photo taken in the changing room from one of our sessions.

Creativity:

This month I have continued my journey with learning how to play guitar. It all started when a big dream of mine started coming true (that is being kadra in KIK) and I realised that it would be nice if we had a person who played guitar by the fire on camps. I had a very old and small guitar at home and got to work. For the first month I taught myself the basic and not so basic chords, so I could play songs ASAP. This was a great tactic that I really recommend for self-learners for guitar - it's nicer to start playing very soon because it's easier to get hooked up on the playing instead of just learning the whole chords in the books which may result borning. I, however, had the advantage of a great determination, so it was difficult for me to give up. Due to my birthday having come up, I also got a new big guitar from my family which made the playing even more enjoyable. Additionaly, I started to enjoy playing quite quickly and just after 3 weeks of playing I was able to play a couple of songs in front of 20 people singing along. This made me really hooked up on the idea of playing for other people, getting requests for songs, others complimenting my playing etc. It made me reflect on how music is important in KIK camps - how it unites the children, how it's made a routine every evening by the fire, how it promotes a different way of spending time etc. This is a video of me trying to play the bridge to Dni których nie znamy by Marek Grechuta, which has quite a complex set of hand movements and has a very fast pace.

Service:

For service this month, my Kadra group and I have gone through the process of getting accepted by the KIK board. This involved an individual meeting with the clubs priest and then we went together to a meeting with the board. They said we needed one more older person who would take care of some challenging situations when we go to the forest for summer holidays. It took us about 3 weeks to find that person, however, during that time we still had meetings on our own - we discussed technical stuff like (who will have which role, the most important values for us as a group, some brainstorming for programs for camps, what we really want the children to learn and we discussed obrzędowość which is the final theme of the whole group). We spent hours making lists and brainstorming ideas. From this experience I have found that taking care of kids is not as easy as it seems, especially if you are in a KIK group - which is a totally different environment. Additionally, I was amazed by the amount of planning we did over the 3 weeks and when I was told that this is not even a quarter of the work we will do for the next 6 months (before we get the kids). This is a photo from one of our first meetings:

See you next month!!!!

Zosia