Community Work

Every Monday and Tuesday the GVI volunteers and a few members of staff get together with the Seychelles International School for Community work on Port Launay beach. Two classes of about 20 children between the ages of 9 and 10 come on either the Monday or the Tuesday where they listen, learn, play and have some fun. A lesson is prepared each day which lasts approximately 20 minutes. The children are split into three groups and taught different parts of an overall theme. After the 20 minutes of learning, they report back to their class what they have just learnt. Once the learning is all done we spend about an hour playing games and running around.

Last week the themes were Sharks and Turtles. However because it had been raining, the Monday group had to come over to our base at Cap Ternay, not too much of a train smash. We brought the children into our kitchen and split them into their three groups. One group was taught about Great White sharks, another about White Tip Reef sharks and the last about Whale Sharks. The children were excited and enthusiastic to learn about their respective sharks. Once talking about the sharks were over we had the children colour in pictures of the sharks and write down a fact they had learnt to help them overcome shyness and report back to their class. It all went really well and the children learnt a lot particularly that sharks do not eat humans and that they only bite us as a mistake.

Tuesday’s group also went well, where we were able to have it on the beach. The three groups learnt about Green, Hawksbill and Leatherback Turtles.

The games that were played involved a lot of running around for both Monday and Tuesday groups. Games where children pretended to be sharks or fish, and sharks had to try catch the fish while they all ran towards each other. Other games that were played included Chinese whisperer, catching a ball and telling a fact they had just learnt. But all in all games in which they could run around and be the energetic children they are. The two hours went by quickly and it was time for the children to return back to school. They all left with new knowledge and smiles on their faces.

Community Work is an incredible opportunity for anyone who has the chance to do it. It left me with a feeling of accomplishment and overall joy and I really look forward to the next week where Monday’s group will be learning about the threats

Community Work