Shelan Emre: Sleepover for low-income children

Shelan Emre from Manitoba organized a sleepover for low-income youth

TELL US ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES AND IMPACT OF YOUR PROJECT

My project was a sleepover event for low-income youth in Winnipeg. We did activities focusing on the pillars of Duke of Ed: Skill, Service, Physical and Adventure. For service, we wrote cards to the Canadian Armed Forces. For skill, we baked muffins and made cards. For physical we made muffins and for adventure we did a scavenger hunt. The project was developed in the hopes that the kids would have the opportunity to learn new skills and have a fun weekend they wouldn’t have necessarily had the opportunity to have.

TELL US HOW YOU RECRUITED AND INVOLVED YOUR PEERS IN THE PROJECT

I recruited my friends as support for the project! Each played a different role, some helped me fine tune my planning while others helped at the event. Some were hesitant to help because it was something new for them to do while others were very excited for the challenge. In the end everyone was a great help and enjoyed the event.

WHO DID YOUR PROJECT ENGAGE AND WHAT IMPACTS DID YOU AND YOUR TEAM ACHIEVE?

The project was targeted to youth age 10-12 and we offered the group a fun filled weekend. After a long week at school the kids were able to come to our event and have lots of fun and try new things.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR BIGGEST SUCCESS ACHIEVED THROUGH YOUR PROJECT

There were some bumps along the way that I would change for next time. One of my biggest challenges was getting a hold of the coordinator from the organization – Girl Guides of Canada. She had agreed for me to do this project for the girls in November, but it was hard to get responses from her. I didn’t hear conformation from her until January. Many of the details were delayed and I learned a lot for next time. It was hard for me to find a balance of being nice but also getting answers. When I do this again, I will be clearer of what I am doing and what I need from the get go.

TELL US ABOUT THE LESSONS LEARNED THROUGH YOUR PROJECT

There were two lessons I learned through my project lesson. Lesson one was that working with a team makes a project significantly easier. The team I worked with helped with tasks such as packing boxes, planning the event and helping the event run smoothly. Without a team the event would have be much more complicated to put together so I am thankful for them. Lesson two is that putting together an event like this is much easier than you think. I gave myself enough time to plan the event, I met with the right people to make the event possible and I worked in teams. All these actions are simple yet powerful and they allowed for my event to happen.

Shelan Emre