At the KAS we pride ourselves in the wide range of activities of the different after-school clubs on offer, and the Global Issues Network is one such activity that you shouldn’t turn your nose up at! We asked Brian Su, the current President, to give us some insight to what it’s like at the GIN (link here)!
“GIN also known as the Global Issues Network is a network worldwide that are made up of students and individuals that share the same passion for making a different in their local communities and beyond. Our goal is to solve the 20 issues that the founders of the network had identified in 20 years. We may be a small club, not known to most of the student population but we had quite a few successful events.” The hard work and dedication of our students is always exemplified by their amazing ability to pool their hard work together to create a successful event or project.
“Our biggest event would be our annual Oxfam Hunger Banquet which we have now hosted for two years. In the Banquet, participants draw tickets that determine their social class and receive different amounts of food according to their draw. In doing so, we hope to illustrate the disparity in the availability and access to food and that most people living on the planet do not share the bounty of the world.”
It’s clear that GIN has bigger and better ideas on their mind, and they’re not afraid to test it out! This year, the GIN club have come up with a brand-new event: “The Wonder Women Workshops (WWW) are a series of workshops meant for the junior class (for now). The workshops are designed to promote gender equality through short lessons and interactions that give the students a sense of the real life application of the lesson.”
So what is the biggest benefit of being part of GIN? “The best part of being part of GIN is taking pride in the work that you do. We have organized fundraisers and events at various points and worked hard to achieve our goals. Whether it is a fundraiser for UNICEF disaster relief, a weeklong event for the Outrop initiative for the Orangutans, or the Hunger Banquet for awareness on the disparity of access to food.”It’s not all rainbows and butterflies though, “It can be exhausting sometimes with school work on top of everything we had to do. It can get very stressful.” Besides that, “the events might not always go smoothly to plan with last minute changes or the many things that can go wrong.” But having said that, “seeing the results, and really seeing the contribution whether monetarily or in awareness, it really makes everything worthwhile.”
The GIN is going strong, and is going to continue to make a big impact on the KAS. Are you ready to make an impact too? Let us know!
