Final Service Reflection - The Pursuit of Happiness

My service the Pursuit of Happiness aim is to create awareness about people and situations that have not been able to tell their stories. We also focus on the generating a meaning of conveying our messages. This year y part in the service is focusing on the service group that works with the Lanka Alzheimer's Foundation Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka. I have spent this year getting to know that people who run the service project at school and the people that they visit at the centre. I am happy to say that I have helped create awareness about a serious issue of global importance and to have been able to personally encage with the area as well. I was really happy that this year I was able to work collaboratively with others in their service groups and help them help us promote the true aims of the groups and create a wider scale awareness for the better of all those involved. 

Yoga Friday Afternoons

I have been participating in Yoga of Friday afternoon for the last month and a half and along with other peers I have engaged in a series of different forms and types of yoga.

During each lession how we tried many different poses and pushed ourselves to try new things and to explore the extent of our capabilities in the area. it was interesting for me because it allowed me to undertaken new challenges and developed new skills I learnt different types of yoga poses and to know what my strengths and weakness (Increased awareness of strengths and areas for growth). I would like to continue with yoga at a later date because I found that it is invigorating and allows for a better understanding about myself. 

Alzheimer's Service Group Next Leader

I recently had the chance to talk to the potential leader of the Alzheimer's group here at school next year after the current leader graduates. Yannis Grimm is currently in DP1 and has attended The Overseas School of Colombo (OSC) for two years. 

What was your first Alzheimer's center visit like? 

    On my first trip there was an old gentleman that I talked to, he was not as lucid as some. We covered topics such as his family and personal history. During the activities he poured tea onto his plate as he was painting and tried to drink the mixtures. It important to realise that these people are real people and not all of them are like what people stereotypically think an alzheimer's patients should be.

What was some of the stories that they told you? 

One of the ladies remembered me from last year, this really touched me because this was the first time someone had remembered me and after such a long time. On the last last visit to the centre I met a lady who I spent the whole trip talking to her. As we began to talk we got into our histories we discovered that we have lived and visited the same places and we could share the knowledge and stories. 

Do you enjoy this service?

            Yes, it is fun because we really get to interact with people. I find it quite rewarding and sometimes they don’t react as much as other people. But we get these times when they interact with us in a way that allow for them to truly connect. It’s hard sometimes because they sometimes lose track of what they saying. It’s important to remember to be curtsies and to ask questions that are not directed towards their condition.

Where you see yourself in the future for this group?

            Possibly leading position but I will join the group anyway because I think this an important to raise awareness about the condition and how to interact and behave around someone with. What happens sometime is that the person became dehumanised because they become the condition not the person.

Link to Yannis Grimm's CAS blog: https://casblogreflectingonpersonalandsocialiblife.wordpress.com

Change in Action Note

For my last semester of DP2 I have changed my action from Personal Fitness with a trainer to yoga on Friday afternoons at school. While I will still continue to engage in personal fitness it will no longer be my main action in CAS due to the absence of a trainer. I hope to throughly enjoy yoga and be able to challenge myself and gain new skills from this experience. Yoga will begin on Friday the 13th.

Spreading Awareness

 As a part of my service, The Pursuit of Happiness, one of our main aims is to create awareness about people and situations that have not been able to tell their stories. We also focus on the generating a meaning of conveying our messages. My part in the service is focusing on the service group that works with the Alzheimer's Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Post of interview with Alzheimer's Centre member 

Post of interview with Alzheimer's Group leader

As a part of generating awareness booklets were also made up for each group or people that our service interviewed. One of the special parts of our service is our collaboration with other services/groups that allows fro us to create a wider scale awareness for the better of all involoved.

Alzheimer's Centre Booklet

Alzheimer's Centre Booklet

Personal Fitness

My goals for personal fitness is to gain a healthier lifestyle and lose weight. These personal fitness sessions are held at the gym in my building with a personal trainer Romesh who is trainer who is studying to become a physiotherapist.  This is my fourth session which run for one hour once a week, in between sessions I must do two hours of personal work outs on my own.




 During these sessions we focus on building cardio and muscle. Half of session would be spent on the cross trainer or treadmill. Then we will work on doing short burst of a

Alzheimer's Center Visit

On the 15th of October I visited the Alzheimer’s Centre in Colombo with the service group from school. It was a group of five and we spent most of the time at the centre doing activates with the patients. We do jigsaw puzzles and played pass the parcel. But most of the patients really enjoyed when we played music and danced with them. I really enjoyed going to the centre it really opened my eyes about the disease and how people who are affect are looked after. I saw how hard to was for some of them to interact with people and was able to view how important it was to care for these people. It is said that the worst thing to do about Alzheimer's is to neglect  the patient and issue. I was glad that I was personally able to engage with issues of global importance. 

This is an issue of global importance because Alzheimer’s is an issue worldwide with no permanent cure found yet. One of the main problems is the lack of support that main countries have for people and their families who are affected. The service leader of the group, Anjleen Hannak,  addressed this problem; “I want people to understand the seriousness of the problem and want to them to be aware of how to this can effect peoples lives because Alzheimer’s can happen to anyone.”

Photo Credits: Ysobella Grieve-Darcy