Make it stand out
Pergue CAS trip
Prague Treasure Hunt:
With the design of the CAS trip, we were separated into groups to explore the local cultural buildings and structures to fully experience the wonderfulness of the city. There was plenty of time for us to get familiar with the overall structure of the locations.
Selling Magazine：
During our trip, as students, we tried to sell the local magazines to others to promote the culture of Prague. We then will use the money that we got from selling the magazine to then donate to other organizations that provide local support.
Homeless Cooking Challenge:
In one of our activities on the trip, we cooked vegetarian Chilis for the homeless people in Prague. We tried to take action in the second SDG, zero hunger, and we participated in the cooking process and giving out the food.
CAS Project Design Challenge:
The challenge mainly focused on the creativity of our thoughts on the CAS project. It also reflects our observation of some local issues. For our CAS project, we thought of the idea of social impact for the refugees in Orlando. We planned our project to be having speeches from the local refugees to our school. The purpose is to spread awareness about what issues the refugees are facing right now by sharing their own experiences.
Farming Challenge:
During the trip, one of the activities was to engage in the farming challenge, in which we were assigned tasks to help the local farm. The task that I received was to filter out the unnecessary and the harms for the crops. The farm actually provides support for the homeless people as a shelter and living resources. From the activity, I have seen some natural food sources like natural honey and natural fertilizer.
Farming：
While in Prague, we visited an organic farm near the city center. The farm was built on the site of a former rich man's farm. The farm was purchased by a local philanthropist to build a place for the homeless and refugees from other countries, but due to the complexity of the situation and the lack of support from the government, the project didn't live up to its expectations and continued to deteriorate, with a period of high levels of law and order and drug dealing in the area. She had to stop the project and by chance sold the farm to the current owner. The owner has modified the property into a small farm on the basis of the original historical landscape. Together with the neighboring farmers, they have created a sustainable ecological agricultural system.
During the visit, the director explained the general organization of the farm, which consists of.
Animals: rabbits and sheep for sale, bees for honey production. (The farm is run by two families).
Plants: grapes, seasonal vegetables. (Run by several local families and their directors. We also cooperated with the local agricultural university, where university students came to the farm to help plant and study local vegetable varieties. At the same time, we realized that the local planting industry was affected by the greenhouse effect, and many local vegetables could not be grown locally. So they started to grow imported vegetables that belonged to other regions. In a way, this is also a reflection of the fact that the vegetables are not grown locally.)
(As for the fertilizer for the vegetables, they use locally collected horse manure and food waste from the families of the small community that built the farm, which is fermented in the fertilizer tanks built in the farmhouse. The garbage cans in the streets and alleys also show how the local government has organized the separation of garbage. (This is also a great help for recycling and continues to have a positive impact).
According to the director of the theater, they are expanding and building a sustainable community with the farm as a unit, including a forest kindergarten that is currently under construction on the hillside of the farm, in order to build an opportunity for the children in the community to get close to nature, and to help them understand the relationship between human and nature and the mode of operation of a sustainable community at an early age.
During this experience, our team was responsible for trimming and transporting the thorn canes that will be used as fuel for the community's heating to a storage site on the mountainside. These canes will provide a source of fuel for the community for about 2-3 months.
Reflection.
In today's urban systems, people take from the environment without reflecting on their relationship with it. It is important to reflect on this and to consider whether these issues can be identified and addressed through management approaches. The connection between people and the environment is a symbiotic ecological relationship, and finding a balance and correcting our trajectory is a priority.
homeless.
On the streets of Prague, we interviewed a local homeless woman who told us that most of the homeless are homeless because they spend all their money on drugs. This was the most serious problem we saw in the area. We learned from him that these drugs were not heavily regulated by local laws, especially in the past when the country's regime was relatively unstable, when the control was the most lax. Although the government has stepped up its control efforts, the situation has not improved as much as expected. At the same time, we learned from her that the government has done something to help the homeless, including setting up shelters and drug rehabilitation centers. However, this did not help much, and the relationship between the two sides became worse because of the lack of understanding of the philosophers. Soon more and more homeless people chose not to accept the support of the True Costume. After that, the local community began to receive help from several non-profit organizations, which helped to build shelters to meet the needs of the homeless and find ways to help them get off drugs. They are also trying to work with the government to improve the homelessness of the area and the impact of drugs on the city's infrastructure.
At the same time, we have also been providing gruel to the local homeless, but the response of the local people to our help has not been very positive. More often than not, the people who came to the soup kitchen asked for cigarettes. We realized that the control of tobacco and drugs in the area is still in need of further development. In the meantime.
CAS IDEA
After the interviews, our team members thought that the most serious sustainability issue was the drug problem in the area. So we tried to come up with a list of programs to solve this problem.
1. Include mandatory subjects and exams for Dupin education in the education system of junior high schools and elementary schools to solve the problem by influencing the next generation.
2. Find ways to improve the legal provisions on drugs in the law.
3. Solve the problem of homelessness in cooperation with experienced non-profit organizations.