RCCI - Rehabilitation Center for the Communication Impaired

I unfortunately missed the bus for my service, "Hope For Kids", and so I did not have anything to do for the afternoon. Instead of wasting the time I had and going home, I decided to take part in another service group called RCCI (Rehabilitation Center for the Communication Impaired) and they were kind enough to let me do so.

This great service group concentrates on working collaboratively with the disabled children and people with special needs by playing sports with them in the school gym. The reason for this particular activity is to keep them healthy and fit as they do not get the opportunity to play sports as often as they would like to.

I thought this was a really nice activity to be a part of and the difference they made to the kids was evident on their happy faces. This is a boy I that I played some basketball with:

This is Umesh - A Basketball Prodigy

The lovely Mikka, leader of RCCI with a very friendly member of the group

We practiced passing the ball to each other and eventually we tried shooting the ball. He seemed to be enjoying himself which is the most important factor.

Basketball is tiring stuff. Of course, ethical implications had to be considered. When playing with the children, you need to remember to be gentle.





Here's a photo of Mikka with a member of the group.

He seems to be quite fond of her; most likely because of her enthusiasm and undying commitment to the group!

If I was not a part of Hope For Kids, I definitely would have chosen to be a part of this service.

I was only here for one lesson but I enjoyed myself very much.

Thanks RCCI!

Here is a link to Mikka's blog!

Pinhole Photography Selfies!

In the previous lesson of Pinhole Photography, we scanned the photos that we developed so we could blow them up and print them out on an A3 piece of paper.

We also tried inverting them through Photoshop to see how it would turn out. 

Self portrait of a pinhole photographer advocate (#1)

This time around I wanted to try taking self portraits to see how accurately I could capture my face. My skills in this method of taking photographs are developing as I gain more experience in this medium.

The photo on the left was my first attempt at the self portrait and I found that the lettering on my shirt was very profound.

Inverted self portrait (#1)

On the right is my first inverted photograph. It turned out pretty well and shows my face very clearly.

The lettering on my shirt is very easy to see and so is the background.

Yet another self portrait (#2)

This photo was my second attempt at a self portrait but this time around I wanted to get more of my body in the photo. I stood a little further back this time and managed to capture some sections of my arms and a little bit more of the lettering on my shirt.

Inverted self portrait #2

The photograph on the right is what the above photo looks like when it is inverted.

Now you can clearly see the subject of the photo (me).

Making Loom Bands With The Kids

We visited the hospital again but this time we wanted to try something with the sole purpose of having fun with the children. Previously, we tried to introduce an educational aspect to our visits but it isn't exactly something kids want to do in the short time they have with us.

This was an opportunity for us to plan and initiate an activity that was in a way requested by the children. Our aim was to plan something that was enjoyable and something that could be continued by them even after we left.

Loom bands was our solution to this and it was a huge success. The children really enjoyed making bracelets and necklaces with us and they didn't want to stop! 

A photograph of me and a master loom band maker

Here is a photograph of the results of an hour of rigorous loom band making.

I was unable to create anything due to my lack of dexterity but I was at least able to help with the construction of a very well crafted necklace and bracelet. A sort of collaborative effort!

After we left, the children continued with their new-found skills and were even helping each other build new pieces of jewelry.  

Next time we will have something else fun in store for them...