On the 23th and 24th of December my family joined a  group which is in charge of helping people in need and in this case be able to celebrate Christmas in Pamplona alta during festive days every year.

 

On the 22th of December I went with this group and my mum to buy food (especially paneton, chocolate milk, rice, quinua and pulses. Then we went to the toys section and we bought dolls and football balls for 156 girls; after that, we went to buy car toys and also football balls for 172 boys, these children were the ages of 5-14 years old. For the children less than 5 years old we looked for soft toys, such as teddy bears or disney characters.  For the older people of this community we decided to give bathtubs and the food.

 

On the first day, I went with my mum and two friends to help. In order to get to meet the community, we put the boxes where the food and toys were into 3 small buses. The trip took around 2 hoursto get to the main square of Pamplona and when we arrived to the community we saw people already making their ques. The best part to see was the children getting excited, jumping around and all of them with smiles on their faces. The group and I placed all the things we had bought in a small school and waited until everything was in order; we told everyone that the first ones that were going to receive a present were the children of a younger age and then lastly the older ones.

 

When we started to give out the toys and balls, we found that some kids were coming back to ask for more therefore we had to start making a mark on their hands to identify who had already received the present. We finished handing all the toys at 9pm and drove back home.

 

On the next day we returned to Pamplona Alta but to another community; we gave more toys and food to people, I could see their expressions changing into joy, and that was a feeling I will never forget, making someone happy, making this day better than the last one.

 

I demonstrated the following Learning Outcomes

LO 1 - Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth --> We needed to divide the community in terms of ages in order to give the presents, therefore our good organizational skills were demontrated

LO 3 - Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience --> I had the idea to join the group.

LO 4 - Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences --> We stayed until late hours handing out gifts. 

LO5 - Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively --->It was much more easier to work in a group as we divided the tasks and helped each other.

LO6 - Demonstrate engagement in issues of global significance ---> We conducted a small talk with the children about global issues

LO7 - Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions --> We were helping poor people that do not have a proper facilities in their homes.