During my summer 2 LiA project, I had the privilege to work with two amazing organizations, Localise youth volunteering and CanTeen, in setting up a collaboration event in which we coordinated a fun-filled day for young adults living with cancer in Ireland. Additionally, as part of the event, the young adults also assembled backpacks for refugee children in Ireland that were separated from their families. Each backpack not only contained essentials and other goods, but also heartfelt hand-written letters and messages from the children at the event.
My role in this project can be divided into 2 main responsibilities – firstly, I was responsible for planning, organizing, and leading the main event of collaboration (which was a treasure hunt!). This not only involved scouting out the locations beforehand and planning the trajectory of the hunt, but also involved creating mini-games and challenges that would keep the young adults engaged throughout the hunt! Secondly, I was also responsible for the follow-up for the event, which involved writing an article to be posted directly on the Localise youth volunteering website.
How did the Event go?
The day started off with icebreaker events, which gave the young adults with shared goals in both organizations an opportunity to make life-long friends and get to know each other. During this time, I was introduced to the wonderful individuals in the CanTeen group, which included an aspiring medical student and another young adult with hopes of becoming a musician. After the icebreakers, we all gathered together to create the backpacks for the refugee children that were forcibly relocated to Ireland. We split into two groups – with one group responsible for organizing and assembling the backpacks filled with goods and necessities, and the other group responsible for crafting hand-written decorated letters filled with warm and compassionate messages for the under-privileged refugee children. On their own initiative, these young adults who have faced much adversity on their own still worked tirelessly and passionately to help others going through adversity themselves – a truly warming and heartfelt moment which showcased how youth-led initiatives can really make a substantial impact on the broader community in promoting empathy, compassion, and humanity during these troubling times.
Soon after, the two groups gathered together to do a fun treasure hunt on the DCU St. Patrick’s campus. The treasure hunt included fun games such as “identify the song”, a TikTok video competition, and a party hat competition in which the winning groups of these mini-games received prizes at the end of the competition. After the treasure hunt, the event came to an end, and the young adults were free to spend time together playing board games and Nintendo switch in the event room.
Takeaways
Reflecting back, there were too many lessons learnt from this LiA experience to condense into one blogpost. However, to highlight one, this LiA experience really taught me about the importance of inclusivity in ethical leadership. During the event, it had come to light that one of our participants had a physical disability that would prevent them from being able to participate in the activities that I had laid out for the treasure hunt. As such, a last-second change to the physical minigames had to be made on the day itself, as I was not actively thinking about inclusivity when planning the treasure hunt. However, being able to see that participant take part and enjoy the treasure hunt showed me the importance of inclusivity and active consideration when setting up events.
Future Impact
More than just a one-day event, this event reflected the importance of community and the need to help under-served communities within Ireland. In line with both Localise Youth Volunteering and CanTeen’s initiative, this event served as a reminder that all people – regardless of age or disease – have the ability to create meaningful acts of compassion to those in need through simple acts of kindness. I hope that through my follow up with this event, I was able to highlight this to the general public, and that this event inspires further volunteering and compassion within our community.