Date: 13th September, 2015
Session # 39
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session we talked on various topics. Manzar Uncle, (Manzar Imam Sahab, a renown playwright of Pakistan) joined us and took half of the session. Many questions were discussed. We talked about languages, a girl asked a question about how languages were made. This led to a discussion about languages, in which we learnt lots of things, for example, there are over 7000 languages in the world, but a lot of them are not used anymore, and many languages are used in only certain parts of the world. There are also several code languages. We can make our own code languages by mixing words and symbols together to form words and phrases.
We also talked about the oldest institutions of Pakistan. This task had been given in a previous session, to do some research on the oldest institutions of Pakistan. Some people had done some research on it, and they shared it. We have to find out more on that topic and share it in the next session.
So that was mostly all that we did in this session.
Thank you.
Showing posts with label Session Reports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Session Reports. Show all posts
Friday, 18 September 2015
Wednesday, 19 August 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 38
Date: 16th August, 2015
Session # 38
Attended by: 7 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we looked at and talked about the maps of Pakistan. There was an Atlas of Pakistan, from which we looked at different maps of Pakistan, like ones showing the places where wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton is grown. There were maps which showed where cattle and livestock are kept, ones showing major roads and highways of the country, ones showing the roads leading out of Pakistan, ones showing where forests, deserts and rivers are.
There were many maps showing different things and it was fun to point out different places and stuff from them.
After thoroughly looking at many of the maps, we talked about what we had learnt, like which cities lead roads out of Pakistan, towards the neighbouring countries. We are given a home task to find out about the oldest institutions of Pakistan which are still functional today. We can ask our elders, and do some research on it.
Overall, it was an interesting session, in which everyone learnt something about Pakistan.
Note: Thinkers' Club's sessions will not be held for the next three Sundays.
Session # 38
Attended by: 7 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we looked at and talked about the maps of Pakistan. There was an Atlas of Pakistan, from which we looked at different maps of Pakistan, like ones showing the places where wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton is grown. There were maps which showed where cattle and livestock are kept, ones showing major roads and highways of the country, ones showing the roads leading out of Pakistan, ones showing where forests, deserts and rivers are.
There were many maps showing different things and it was fun to point out different places and stuff from them.
After thoroughly looking at many of the maps, we talked about what we had learnt, like which cities lead roads out of Pakistan, towards the neighbouring countries. We are given a home task to find out about the oldest institutions of Pakistan which are still functional today. We can ask our elders, and do some research on it.
Overall, it was an interesting session, in which everyone learnt something about Pakistan.
Note: Thinkers' Club's sessions will not be held for the next three Sundays.
Wednesday, 8 July 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 37
Date: 5th June, 2015
Session # 37
Report written by: Fatima Salman
This session took place three weeks after the last one, since the sessions had been cancelled for some reason or the other. We were first asked to share any questions we had. One girl asked a question, which was about a Hadith (quote of the Holy Prophet P.B.U.H) she had read somewhere. It was that the Prophet had said, which means, that 'Throw dirt on the person's face who praises you in front of you.' She was confused, because praising a person seems like a good thing, so why is it so discouraged in Islam? We feel good when a person praises us.
This thing was discussed in the whole session.
What's wrong with praise
The hadith does not ask us to literally throw dirt on the person's face who praises us. It just means that we should not appreciate the praise, or do something good in order to be praised. When we do something good, people praise us because of it. Most of the times, the person who praises us is a person who is likes us and is sincere to us. That's why he/she is praising us. However, it can also be otherwise. The person could perhaps want to make us do something for him or her, so they're praising us, or maybe flattering us to make us ready to do something for them.
When a person gets praised often, he/she starts doing good things because they want to be praised for it. In fact, the reason for doing the work is to get praised. This is a very wrong reason. The good things we do should be solely to please Allah. But when we start doing good things to be praised, we start doing them for other people's pleasure, not God's pleasure. We become People Conscious instead of God Conscious.
People Consciousness and God Consciousness are complete opposites. Being people conscious means that you're doing what you're doing according to what people expect and want you to do. You are constantly thinking about what others are thinking of you. An example of this was shared, which was, you have to go somewhere for three consecutive Sundays. You wear a dress on the first Sunday, which is appreciated by everybody. After you come home, you wash the dress and put it back in your cupboard. Then, on the next Sunday, will you wear the same dress again? Of course not! I mean, that's the way, most of the people think. Even if you wear the same dress on the next Sunday, it's not like people will think that you own only one dress and you wear it all the time. But if you've become very people conscious, that's exactly what you will do. Then we were asked if we will wear that dress on the third Sunday. Everyone still said 'no'. But why? It's a good and clean dress, why don't we wear it again? That's because we are seeking other people's pleasure and our acts are based upon them.
This session was supposed to end at 11:30 am, and after that there would be a session for adults (parents and teachers). This plan was changed, and at 11 am, the adults were allowed to come in the session. They joined in the ongoing discussion. Since the kids were old enough, they were allowed to sit in the session for adults as well.
Praise vs Encouragement
Then someone asked that aren't we supposed to encourage and acknowledge children on their work, at school, for example. The answer was that we are supposed to encourage them, instead of praising them. There is a difference between Praise and Encouragement, which every parent and teacher should know. Praise is general, while encouragement is more specific.
This discussion ended well, with the question asked in the beginning being answered perfectly. Then, at 11:30 am, when many more people had joined, the next session began. It was about Advertisments.
Advertisements
In the beginning, two questions were shared, which were:
Session # 37
Report written by: Fatima Salman
This session took place three weeks after the last one, since the sessions had been cancelled for some reason or the other. We were first asked to share any questions we had. One girl asked a question, which was about a Hadith (quote of the Holy Prophet P.B.U.H) she had read somewhere. It was that the Prophet had said, which means, that 'Throw dirt on the person's face who praises you in front of you.' She was confused, because praising a person seems like a good thing, so why is it so discouraged in Islam? We feel good when a person praises us.
This thing was discussed in the whole session.
What's wrong with praise
The hadith does not ask us to literally throw dirt on the person's face who praises us. It just means that we should not appreciate the praise, or do something good in order to be praised. When we do something good, people praise us because of it. Most of the times, the person who praises us is a person who is likes us and is sincere to us. That's why he/she is praising us. However, it can also be otherwise. The person could perhaps want to make us do something for him or her, so they're praising us, or maybe flattering us to make us ready to do something for them.
When a person gets praised often, he/she starts doing good things because they want to be praised for it. In fact, the reason for doing the work is to get praised. This is a very wrong reason. The good things we do should be solely to please Allah. But when we start doing good things to be praised, we start doing them for other people's pleasure, not God's pleasure. We become People Conscious instead of God Conscious.
People Consciousness and God Consciousness are complete opposites. Being people conscious means that you're doing what you're doing according to what people expect and want you to do. You are constantly thinking about what others are thinking of you. An example of this was shared, which was, you have to go somewhere for three consecutive Sundays. You wear a dress on the first Sunday, which is appreciated by everybody. After you come home, you wash the dress and put it back in your cupboard. Then, on the next Sunday, will you wear the same dress again? Of course not! I mean, that's the way, most of the people think. Even if you wear the same dress on the next Sunday, it's not like people will think that you own only one dress and you wear it all the time. But if you've become very people conscious, that's exactly what you will do. Then we were asked if we will wear that dress on the third Sunday. Everyone still said 'no'. But why? It's a good and clean dress, why don't we wear it again? That's because we are seeking other people's pleasure and our acts are based upon them.
This session was supposed to end at 11:30 am, and after that there would be a session for adults (parents and teachers). This plan was changed, and at 11 am, the adults were allowed to come in the session. They joined in the ongoing discussion. Since the kids were old enough, they were allowed to sit in the session for adults as well.
Praise vs Encouragement
Then someone asked that aren't we supposed to encourage and acknowledge children on their work, at school, for example. The answer was that we are supposed to encourage them, instead of praising them. There is a difference between Praise and Encouragement, which every parent and teacher should know. Praise is general, while encouragement is more specific.
This discussion ended well, with the question asked in the beginning being answered perfectly. Then, at 11:30 am, when many more people had joined, the next session began. It was about Advertisments.
Advertisements
In the beginning, two questions were shared, which were:
- What do advertisements do to make you want what you do not need?
- How do advertisements change the perception of reality?
We have to think on these questions and anyone can write their views about them, which will be posted on the blog.
Advertisements these days are very catchy and attractive. Since they are designed only for selling their products, they place their product in a situation where it is badly needed. Some of the advertisements also stir up our emotions, and the really touchy ones can make a person cry.
We saw two advertisements in the session. Before seeing the adds, we were asked to recite this dua: "Allahumma arinal Haqqa haqqaun, war zuqnatiba'a. Wa arinal batila batillaun, war zuqnajtinaba" which means: "O Allah! Enable us to see the Truth as Truth and give us the ability to follow it. And show us the falsehood as false and give us the ability to restrain from it." We recited this dua to seek protection from the wrong in it, and so that we wouldn't be carried away by the glamour (if any) in it. The first add was of Shan (a Pakistani company which makes spices used for our traditional food). This add comes on TV, and is extremely touchy, enough to fill any person's eyes with tears.
Shan
In it, there are two brothers who are living abroad. One of them is sitting in the balcony of his apartment looking very sad and teary. His older brother comes and asks what's wrong. He says, that it would be Chand raat (the night before Eid) at home. Everyone would be decorating the house... Ammi (mother) would be cooking delicious food.' And suddenly he bursts out, 'What kind of Eid is this?!' The other brother had no reply to this and then suddenly he gets an idea and hurries out of the house. Then he gets on a bus and goes to the supermarket. While he is going, a song was playing which was Mola sub ki sunta hai, par kisi kisi ko chunta hai, (meaning, God listens to everybody, but chooses only certain people). When he comes to the superstore, he picks up boxes of Shan spices, and onions and other vegetables. Then he gets on a bus back home, where he offers his seat to an elderly passenger. After he gets home, he starts cooking. He talks to his mother on the phone, asking for the recipe while he does what she's saying. Then the scene changes, and I think it's the next morning (which is Eid), when the younger brother enters the room, sobbing. Suddenly, he hears his mother's voice, calling him. He looks around and spots her face on the screen of a laptop, connected on Skype. All around the laptop, were those foods which his brother had made, displayed beautifully. His mother calls him, greets him Eid Mubaruk, and he continues sobbing. Then his older brother comes and from a dish of biryani, picks up a spoonful and gives it to his brother, saying, 'Eat it. Ammi has made it'. And that's the end of the add.
I don't think I could've explained it the way it was presented in the add, with the music and all. However, that's basically what it was like. It was paused several times to emphasize certain points and notice the small but important details. The first thing discussed after the add was, why are the brothers abroad? To earn, obviously. Why didn't they stay in their homeland and get a job there? Why aren't they at home on Eid? Why does the add show the brothers living abroad? What is the reason for showing the brothers are abroad?
Then, the guy who's crying is crying because he isn't at home to enjoy his mom's delicious food on Eid. He is missing his mom because of the food she cooks, so is he even missing her, or her cooking skills? And, would he even miss his mother if she didn't cook good food? Or is good food the primary cause for their good relationship? Now, from the people watching the add, there must be mothers who aren't really good cooks. What would they be thinking? I think they'd be doubtful of their ability to be a good parent since they can't cook really good food. Think about it. Does being a good mother means being a good cook as well? I don't think so.
Pepsi
The next advertisement we saw was Pepsi's add, which was released specially for Ramazan. In it, a song plays which is something like Noor-e-Khuda, Noor-e-Azal. Noor means light, and Noor-e-khuda means God's light, or something which God really likes. Now they're saying Noor-e-khuda, and what exactly is Noor-e-khuda? Pepsi! How ridiculous! They're associating God's favourite thing with Pepsi.
There was one thing I noticed in the add, that they were showing empty Pepsi bottles more than bottles filled with the black liquid. Boys playing cricket have made a wicket using stacked up empty Pepsi bottles. A little boy hands his mother an empty Pepsi bottle to which she returns him a huge smile and pats his head affectionately (even though in real life, you will never find a person looking more happy to get an empty bottle of Pepsi). Girls are carrying empty Pepsi bottles tied together through a rope and are carrying the rope on their shoulders. Why was that? The answer is that Noor means light, and light cannot be black, while Pepsi is black. (Oops! Now what will they do?) Those clever people have, therefore, shown mostly empty bottles, some of which carry a small light inside them, and casually slipped in the actual Pepsi in only a couple of places. Clever, isn't it?
We were explained how they have captured the whole of Pakistan in just one small advertisement: Young boys playing cricket: captured the youth of our country. (Even though the cricket part was very small, only about three or four seconds long. Just long enough for the ball to hit the wicket (which was made from empty Pepsi bottles) and the bottles to come tumbling down). They've captured the old women of our country by showing an old woman carrying a lamp. They've captured young girls by showing girls happily drinking Pepsi. And so on. You'd learn a lot if you watch that advertisement to understand their tactics.
This session was really interesting and enjoyable, and we learnt a lot of things about advertisements. In fact, if we analyze each advertisement we watch like what we did in this session, we wouldn't be captured by them at all. Overall, this session was very interesting. It was fun to know facts about the advertisements we hadn't paid much attention to before. I would suggest anyone who was not able to join this session, to come in the next one to attend an amazing session.
Thank you.
Advertisements these days are very catchy and attractive. Since they are designed only for selling their products, they place their product in a situation where it is badly needed. Some of the advertisements also stir up our emotions, and the really touchy ones can make a person cry.
We saw two advertisements in the session. Before seeing the adds, we were asked to recite this dua: "Allahumma arinal Haqqa haqqaun, war zuqnatiba'a. Wa arinal batila batillaun, war zuqnajtinaba" which means: "O Allah! Enable us to see the Truth as Truth and give us the ability to follow it. And show us the falsehood as false and give us the ability to restrain from it." We recited this dua to seek protection from the wrong in it, and so that we wouldn't be carried away by the glamour (if any) in it. The first add was of Shan (a Pakistani company which makes spices used for our traditional food). This add comes on TV, and is extremely touchy, enough to fill any person's eyes with tears.
Shan
In it, there are two brothers who are living abroad. One of them is sitting in the balcony of his apartment looking very sad and teary. His older brother comes and asks what's wrong. He says, that it would be Chand raat (the night before Eid) at home. Everyone would be decorating the house... Ammi (mother) would be cooking delicious food.' And suddenly he bursts out, 'What kind of Eid is this?!' The other brother had no reply to this and then suddenly he gets an idea and hurries out of the house. Then he gets on a bus and goes to the supermarket. While he is going, a song was playing which was Mola sub ki sunta hai, par kisi kisi ko chunta hai, (meaning, God listens to everybody, but chooses only certain people). When he comes to the superstore, he picks up boxes of Shan spices, and onions and other vegetables. Then he gets on a bus back home, where he offers his seat to an elderly passenger. After he gets home, he starts cooking. He talks to his mother on the phone, asking for the recipe while he does what she's saying. Then the scene changes, and I think it's the next morning (which is Eid), when the younger brother enters the room, sobbing. Suddenly, he hears his mother's voice, calling him. He looks around and spots her face on the screen of a laptop, connected on Skype. All around the laptop, were those foods which his brother had made, displayed beautifully. His mother calls him, greets him Eid Mubaruk, and he continues sobbing. Then his older brother comes and from a dish of biryani, picks up a spoonful and gives it to his brother, saying, 'Eat it. Ammi has made it'. And that's the end of the add.
I don't think I could've explained it the way it was presented in the add, with the music and all. However, that's basically what it was like. It was paused several times to emphasize certain points and notice the small but important details. The first thing discussed after the add was, why are the brothers abroad? To earn, obviously. Why didn't they stay in their homeland and get a job there? Why aren't they at home on Eid? Why does the add show the brothers living abroad? What is the reason for showing the brothers are abroad?
Then, the guy who's crying is crying because he isn't at home to enjoy his mom's delicious food on Eid. He is missing his mom because of the food she cooks, so is he even missing her, or her cooking skills? And, would he even miss his mother if she didn't cook good food? Or is good food the primary cause for their good relationship? Now, from the people watching the add, there must be mothers who aren't really good cooks. What would they be thinking? I think they'd be doubtful of their ability to be a good parent since they can't cook really good food. Think about it. Does being a good mother means being a good cook as well? I don't think so.
Pepsi
The next advertisement we saw was Pepsi's add, which was released specially for Ramazan. In it, a song plays which is something like Noor-e-Khuda, Noor-e-Azal. Noor means light, and Noor-e-khuda means God's light, or something which God really likes. Now they're saying Noor-e-khuda, and what exactly is Noor-e-khuda? Pepsi! How ridiculous! They're associating God's favourite thing with Pepsi.
There was one thing I noticed in the add, that they were showing empty Pepsi bottles more than bottles filled with the black liquid. Boys playing cricket have made a wicket using stacked up empty Pepsi bottles. A little boy hands his mother an empty Pepsi bottle to which she returns him a huge smile and pats his head affectionately (even though in real life, you will never find a person looking more happy to get an empty bottle of Pepsi). Girls are carrying empty Pepsi bottles tied together through a rope and are carrying the rope on their shoulders. Why was that? The answer is that Noor means light, and light cannot be black, while Pepsi is black. (Oops! Now what will they do?) Those clever people have, therefore, shown mostly empty bottles, some of which carry a small light inside them, and casually slipped in the actual Pepsi in only a couple of places. Clever, isn't it?
We were explained how they have captured the whole of Pakistan in just one small advertisement: Young boys playing cricket: captured the youth of our country. (Even though the cricket part was very small, only about three or four seconds long. Just long enough for the ball to hit the wicket (which was made from empty Pepsi bottles) and the bottles to come tumbling down). They've captured the old women of our country by showing an old woman carrying a lamp. They've captured young girls by showing girls happily drinking Pepsi. And so on. You'd learn a lot if you watch that advertisement to understand their tactics.
This session was really interesting and enjoyable, and we learnt a lot of things about advertisements. In fact, if we analyze each advertisement we watch like what we did in this session, we wouldn't be captured by them at all. Overall, this session was very interesting. It was fun to know facts about the advertisements we hadn't paid much attention to before. I would suggest anyone who was not able to join this session, to come in the next one to attend an amazing session.
Thank you.
Thursday, 18 June 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 36
Date: 14th June, 2015
Session # 36
Attended by: 8 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we first talked about sleep, which we had planned to do so in the last session. Sleep is an experience of death. When we sleep, we go through the same process as we do when we die. We are completely unconscious and do not have control of ourselves when we are asleep. The same thing happens when we die.
People who aren't Muslims, or those who do not understand life after death question about how is it possible to become alive after dying. Well, it's basically the same way we wake up after a night's sleep. God gives us the experience of death in our lives, so that we know how it happens when we die.
Before we are born, only our soul exists, and that is with God. Then we are born, and are given a body to go with a soul with in this world. Then we die, and our body is taken away from us, and our soul remains. Then, we are resurrected, and again our body and soul are reunited. According to what we did in this world, we will enter either Heaven or Hell, where we'll remain forever.
We discussed these things in detail. Then, we decided to start a Chess Tournament. Three boys, Ibraheem, Ayan, and Taimoor, are given the responsibility of organizing it. It is decided that every player will play two matches with every one else. The ones who wins the most matches, will be qualified for the Semi finals, and finals. Participating in the tournament isn't compulsory, you can participate if you want to. Everyone who attended this session was willing to participate in it.
The session officially ended at 11:30, but everyone stayed back and played Chess. There were a couple of people who weren't sure about it's rules, and the others told them about it. We played practice matches with each other just to warm up and see how good the others are. The matches we played then weren't included in the tournament. We will start playing those tournament matches in the next session.
If you would like to participate in the tournament, you can come in the next session. If you don't know how to play chess, don't worry, we'll teach you. It'll be lots of fun!
Thank you.
Session # 36
Attended by: 8 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we first talked about sleep, which we had planned to do so in the last session. Sleep is an experience of death. When we sleep, we go through the same process as we do when we die. We are completely unconscious and do not have control of ourselves when we are asleep. The same thing happens when we die.
People who aren't Muslims, or those who do not understand life after death question about how is it possible to become alive after dying. Well, it's basically the same way we wake up after a night's sleep. God gives us the experience of death in our lives, so that we know how it happens when we die.
Before we are born, only our soul exists, and that is with God. Then we are born, and are given a body to go with a soul with in this world. Then we die, and our body is taken away from us, and our soul remains. Then, we are resurrected, and again our body and soul are reunited. According to what we did in this world, we will enter either Heaven or Hell, where we'll remain forever.
We discussed these things in detail. Then, we decided to start a Chess Tournament. Three boys, Ibraheem, Ayan, and Taimoor, are given the responsibility of organizing it. It is decided that every player will play two matches with every one else. The ones who wins the most matches, will be qualified for the Semi finals, and finals. Participating in the tournament isn't compulsory, you can participate if you want to. Everyone who attended this session was willing to participate in it.
The session officially ended at 11:30, but everyone stayed back and played Chess. There were a couple of people who weren't sure about it's rules, and the others told them about it. We played practice matches with each other just to warm up and see how good the others are. The matches we played then weren't included in the tournament. We will start playing those tournament matches in the next session.
If you would like to participate in the tournament, you can come in the next session. If you don't know how to play chess, don't worry, we'll teach you. It'll be lots of fun!
Thank you.
Monday, 25 May 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 35
Date: 24th May, 2015
Session # 35
Attended by: 10 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
This session started with a round of introduction as many of the members had come after a long time. Instead of the usual style of introduction, this time we had to introduce ourselves by telling about a mistake we made in our lives and we learnt something important from that mistake. Everyone had to think for a couple of minutes and then tell them. We all make many mistakes in our lives, and that is how we grow. We continuously make mistakes and then we realize our mistakes and improve them. For example, was our first attempt to say something perfect? Of course not! Each of us made mistakes in the beginning, and then learnt from the mistakes to eventually become perfect.
If we learn from our mistakes, then they are good for us, and if we don't, then they are a loss for us. We all make mistakes, and we should learn from them, otherwise, we will continue to make the same mistake again.
Then we were asked what we would like to talk about and if we have any questions. Some of the members wanted to talk about Dreams. We talked about dreams, and how they are often related to certain things in our life.
The dreams we see are often some visuals which were stuck to our mind, and then we see the same visual in our dream. Sometimes, we see something in our dream which we have actually experienced in life.
Dreams can also be our thoughts, or can be reflecting our thoughts. They can be of something we have been thinking a lot about, and we see or experience the same thing in our dream.
Dreams can also be of our imagination. What we see might not have happened, and might never even happen, but is something we are only imagining about. Dreams can also be fantasy.
Or, dreams may contain a message from God. Sometimes, Allah wants to tell us something prior to its happening, for some reason. We can see it in our dream. Usually, the people who see true dreams are very pious and good people.
We usually forget our dreams within a few minutes of waking up. The dreams we remember are usually our great fears, which we experience in our dreams, or great wishes which we experience in the dream. We also remember the dream we have talked about a lot, or narrated to many people.
We ended up talking about sleep. Sleep is an experience of death. We will talk on this topic in the next session. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to, they can do some research or make a presentation about Sleep and Dreams.
Thank you.
Session # 35
Attended by: 10 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
This session started with a round of introduction as many of the members had come after a long time. Instead of the usual style of introduction, this time we had to introduce ourselves by telling about a mistake we made in our lives and we learnt something important from that mistake. Everyone had to think for a couple of minutes and then tell them. We all make many mistakes in our lives, and that is how we grow. We continuously make mistakes and then we realize our mistakes and improve them. For example, was our first attempt to say something perfect? Of course not! Each of us made mistakes in the beginning, and then learnt from the mistakes to eventually become perfect.
If we learn from our mistakes, then they are good for us, and if we don't, then they are a loss for us. We all make mistakes, and we should learn from them, otherwise, we will continue to make the same mistake again.
Then we were asked what we would like to talk about and if we have any questions. Some of the members wanted to talk about Dreams. We talked about dreams, and how they are often related to certain things in our life.
The dreams we see are often some visuals which were stuck to our mind, and then we see the same visual in our dream. Sometimes, we see something in our dream which we have actually experienced in life.
Dreams can also be our thoughts, or can be reflecting our thoughts. They can be of something we have been thinking a lot about, and we see or experience the same thing in our dream.
Dreams can also be of our imagination. What we see might not have happened, and might never even happen, but is something we are only imagining about. Dreams can also be fantasy.
Or, dreams may contain a message from God. Sometimes, Allah wants to tell us something prior to its happening, for some reason. We can see it in our dream. Usually, the people who see true dreams are very pious and good people.
We usually forget our dreams within a few minutes of waking up. The dreams we remember are usually our great fears, which we experience in our dreams, or great wishes which we experience in the dream. We also remember the dream we have talked about a lot, or narrated to many people.
We ended up talking about sleep. Sleep is an experience of death. We will talk on this topic in the next session. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to, they can do some research or make a presentation about Sleep and Dreams.
Thank you.
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 34
Date: 17th May, 2015
Session # 34
Attended by: 8 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session we were joined by two new girls. First, we did a recap of the previous sessions, and then we told the new participants about what Thinkers' Club is.
Then we recalled and listed the topics we have worked on, which include How our mind works, How animals think, Migratory Birds, Finding our way through Stars, Poetry,Poets, and many more. Then we were asked what topics we could do in future. Someone said that we could discuss and work on the topic 'Time', so we will probably talk about 'Time' in the next session.
We talked about 'Salam' in this session. The words 'Assalam o alaikum' are a greeting and dua we give to others, which means 'Peace be upon you'. The complete salam which is 'Assalam o alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu', which means that we are asking from Allah for that person three things; Salam, Rehmat, and Barkat. Salam means peace, Rehmat means mercy, and Barkat means blessings. So we are praying for the person's peace, his mercy and blessings from Allah.
Normally, salam is taken as a greeting, and we don't even think about it that we are actually praying for that person we are saying salam to. We also get rewarded when we say salam, so we have our own benefit in it as well. And when the person replies with 'Walaikum assalam', he is praying for peace for us as well, so we have our own benefit in it.
However, most of the time we say salam just because it is expected from us. Or even worse, sometimes the reason for saying salam is that if we don't say salam, it would look rude, or people would think we are ill mannered or arrogant just because we aren't saying salam to them. So the actual reason, that salam is actually a blessing and prayer for the person, is totally forgotten.
This was our main discussion in this session.
One of the members, Muaviyah, has written some Facts about Salam which are on his blog. You can visit it to learn more facts about salam.
Thank you.
Session # 34
Attended by: 8 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session we were joined by two new girls. First, we did a recap of the previous sessions, and then we told the new participants about what Thinkers' Club is.
Then we recalled and listed the topics we have worked on, which include How our mind works, How animals think, Migratory Birds, Finding our way through Stars, Poetry,Poets, and many more. Then we were asked what topics we could do in future. Someone said that we could discuss and work on the topic 'Time', so we will probably talk about 'Time' in the next session.
We talked about 'Salam' in this session. The words 'Assalam o alaikum' are a greeting and dua we give to others, which means 'Peace be upon you'. The complete salam which is 'Assalam o alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu', which means that we are asking from Allah for that person three things; Salam, Rehmat, and Barkat. Salam means peace, Rehmat means mercy, and Barkat means blessings. So we are praying for the person's peace, his mercy and blessings from Allah.
Normally, salam is taken as a greeting, and we don't even think about it that we are actually praying for that person we are saying salam to. We also get rewarded when we say salam, so we have our own benefit in it as well. And when the person replies with 'Walaikum assalam', he is praying for peace for us as well, so we have our own benefit in it.
However, most of the time we say salam just because it is expected from us. Or even worse, sometimes the reason for saying salam is that if we don't say salam, it would look rude, or people would think we are ill mannered or arrogant just because we aren't saying salam to them. So the actual reason, that salam is actually a blessing and prayer for the person, is totally forgotten.
This was our main discussion in this session.
One of the members, Muaviyah, has written some Facts about Salam which are on his blog. You can visit it to learn more facts about salam.
Thank you.
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 33
Date: 3rd May, 2015
Session # 33
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we continued the discussion of needs and wants. We did a recap of the previous session and then further discussed our wants and needs. We talked about how we deal with our needs and wants.
We discussed many things about them. All the important points and ideas we discussed in the session will be compiled in an article, which will be shared on the blog soon.
Thank you.
Session # 33
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we continued the discussion of needs and wants. We did a recap of the previous session and then further discussed our wants and needs. We talked about how we deal with our needs and wants.
We discussed many things about them. All the important points and ideas we discussed in the session will be compiled in an article, which will be shared on the blog soon.
Thank you.
Monday, 27 April 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 32
Date: 26th April, 2015
Session # 32
Attended by: 9 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we discussed what our needs and wants are. Our
needs are the things that are essential for us. Our needs include food, water,
oxygen, clothes, etc. Our wants are things that are not essential for us.
Examples of wants are cars, gadgets, accessories, etc. We talked about our
wants. First, we had to think of what our wants were a year ago. Everyone had
to think and note them down, and then share them with others. Most of those
wants had been fulfilled, while some had not. Then we had to think and note
down our current wants. Then we shared our wants with everyone. Our wants were
written down on the board. We were told that our wants are in our hearts. We
use our minds to check our wants.
After recalling all our current wants, we classified them in
three categories: Good wants, Unclear wants, and Not so good (or bad) wants.
Good wants are the wants that have a meaningful purpose in them. Unclear wants
are wants that we are not clear about, or the wants that don’t make much sense.
Not-good or bad wants are the wants that have no real meaning or purpose. We
classified our wants according to their purposes. For example, if a child wants
to go abroad to visit his\her relatives, this is a good want. However, there is
always a cost of the want. Like going abroad may cost a lot of money. It will
also require a passport, and visa of that country. It will also take time. The
cost of the want is divided into three aspects: Time, money, and energy. In
this way, we classified all the wants. A common want some
people shared was to have their own room. We talked about the cost of the want.
Like if there’s a house with three rooms, and six people living there, one person
wanting his\her own room is unfair for the rest.
This way, we sorted the wants into good, unclear, and not
good wants. We also figured out the cost of the want. The cost was not just
about money, but also about time and energy,
which were equally (or even more)
important.
There are three things everyone must consider about their
wants:
- Know your wants
- Check – are they good or not
- Calculate the costs of your wants
We should pursue our good wants, if we are able to afford
them. We shouldn’t go after our bad wants, even if they are cheap and do not take
much time and energy. We are governed by our wants. We must follow our good
wants, only if are able to do so. If we have a good want, and are able to pay
the cost for it, we should definitely pursue it.
After this discussion, talked briefly about our needs. We have
Primary needs and Secondary needs. Our Primary needs include Basic needs and
Functional needs.
As there wasn’t any time left, we will continue the
discussion in the next session. In the meantime, we can do the home task: we
have to make a presentation or write an article about our wants. In it, we can
tell about the types of wants, their costs, and more. It can include the examples
shared, and things we learned about our wants in this session. These
things
will be shared in the next session.
Everyone enjoyed this session, and we all learnt a lot in
it. We will continue the topic in the next session, Insha Allah.
Thank you.
Tuesday, 7 April 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 31
Date: 5th April, 2014
Session # 31
Report Written by: Zainab Salman
Session # 31
Report Written by: Zainab Salman
Today was the 31st Session of the Thinker’s Club.
Our topic today was: “What is a good life?”
First, everyone wrote their answers to the question. We came
up with the following points, and listed them on the board:
- A good life should have an aim and a meaning.
- A good life is when your parents are pleased and satisfied with you.
- A good life is, when you are self aware and God conscious.
- A good life is, when you work for a good education.
- A good life should lead to a better life in the hereafter.
- A good life should be focused on to achieve its goals.
We discussed each of the points,
briefly, to understand their meaning. Then, we wrote on the topic: “Why
is my life a good life and what do I need to make my life good?
We came up with lots of points and
shared them with each other. Then we picked the point “Make your parents happy
with you” and we all listed ways to make our parents happy.
Here are some of the points:
- Do as they say and follow them.
- Help them in their work and chores.
- Make a card or write a letter for them when they are sad or angry with you.
- Give them water when they ask for it.
- Help them tidy the house.
We ended the session by discussing
the points we had listed. This session was meaningful, as we
uncovered our perceptions of a good life.
Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 30
Date: 15th March, 2015
Session # 30
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we discussed various topics.
First, we talked about this dua, and its meaning. In this dua, by 'truth', it means the right (true) things, and by 'false', it means the wrong things. When we recite this dua, we are asking for four things from Allah: (1) Enable us to see the truth (right things) as truth, (2) Give us the ability to follow the right things, (3) Show us the falsehood (wrong things; sins) as false, (4) Give us the ability from refrain from the wrong things.
We were also shared a quote. This quote was shared and we agreed about how true it seemed. It shows that today we are giving more value to Internet access, than oxygen! We talked about it for a while, and then the discussion turned to other things, like the environment, and other topics.
In this week, we have to think of questions that come to our mind on any topic, think about them, and share them in the next session.
Thank you.
Wednesday, 11 March 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 29
Date: 8th March, 2015
Session # 29
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we discussed various topics and did an activity. We discussed sports, and the ongoing Cricket World Cup. We talked about how cricket originated, and its history. We talked about different types of sports.
The activity we did was called a Helium Stick activity. In it, the people were divided in two, and they had to stand across each other. The helium stick, an ordinary lightweight rod, was brought and everyone had to put out their index fingers on which the stick had to be balanced with one finger of each person and slowly lowered down to the ground. The activity was very interesting and it's rules were:
Session # 29
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we discussed various topics and did an activity. We discussed sports, and the ongoing Cricket World Cup. We talked about how cricket originated, and its history. We talked about different types of sports.
The activity we did was called a Helium Stick activity. In it, the people were divided in two, and they had to stand across each other. The helium stick, an ordinary lightweight rod, was brought and everyone had to put out their index fingers on which the stick had to be balanced with one finger of each person and slowly lowered down to the ground. The activity was very interesting and it's rules were:
- Everyone's finger should be touching the helium stick during the whole activity.
- You are not allowed to grab the stick or use any other fingers than one index finger.
- Everyone has to lower the stick to the ground completely.
- If any of the rules get broken, the activity has to be started again.
It was fun and challenging. I don't think anyone but those who have done this activity can understand what the challenges in it are. Like everyone has to be touching the helium stick at all times, so we have to lower it together, at the same speed, so everyone is touching the stick. Here is a detailed description of the Helium stick activity.
For home task, we can do some artwork or writing on Emotions. This home task was given last time, but as some people haven't completed it yet, they can do it in this week.
Thank you.
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Report: Thinkers’ Club Session 28
Date: 1st March, 2015
Session #28
Attended by: 10 participants
Report written by: Zainab Salman
In this session of Thinker’s Club, we discussed Anger and
Emotions. After everybody had introduced themselves, the session began. First
we discussed Anger, whether it’s good or bad, what (or who) makes you angry,
and what do you do to avoid it. Some kids said that their younger siblings
sometimes make them angry, others said that if they could not do what they
wanted to, it made them angry. Some kids said that they drink water to relieve
their anger, while others said that they yelled at the person who made them
angry.
We also discussed Emotions, what they are, and what’s good
and what’s bad about them. Some of the kids also presented short role plays
about anger and fighting. The session ended informally by playing guessing
games. The home task is to prepare a
presentation, writing or artwork about Emotions. This session was interesting.
Monday, 16 February 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 26
Date: 15th February, 2015
Session # 27
Attended by: 10 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we were joined by some new little kids. We could not present the presentations and articles of last week's home task because most of the people who were present in the last session did not come this time, so we'll do it in the coming session.
We played a few games this time. In one game we were given a long rope and we had to make a given shape out of it. Then we played the Obstacle game that we've played a few times before. The new kids enjoyed, I think.
Session # 27
Attended by: 10 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we were joined by some new little kids. We could not present the presentations and articles of last week's home task because most of the people who were present in the last session did not come this time, so we'll do it in the coming session.
We played a few games this time. In one game we were given a long rope and we had to make a given shape out of it. Then we played the Obstacle game that we've played a few times before. The new kids enjoyed, I think.
Monday, 9 February 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 26
Date: 8th February, 2015
Session # 26
Attended by: 11 participants
Report written by: Zainab Salman
This session was interesting. We started thinking of
unanswered questions that had entered our mind and wondering about their
answers.
Then we talked about boredom and what it really is. We were
asked about how often we felt boredom and what we do when we feel bored. Everyone
noted down the following questions:
- What is boredom?
- What do you usually do to avoid boredom?
- What other things can we do to avoid boredom?
We noted the main points and discussed whether boredom is
good or bad for us. We have got a home task regarding this topic; we have to
reflect upon the questions and answer them according to our opinion, and make either
a PowerPoint presentation or write an article containing our answers. Everyone
has to email their answers, or if they prefer, to bring them in the next
session.
Next we did an activity. We all made lists of our ‘Top Ten
Wishes’ and ‘Top Ten Worries’. It took a long time recognizing which wishes
were in the ‘Top Ten’, while hardly anyone had much worries. We were not supposed
to see anyone else’s wishes or worries, if they didn’t want us to, although some
people shared a few of their wishes and worries.
After making the lists, we all played a guessing game in
which we were divided into two groups, and each group had to plan and prepare three
acts and then perform the acts. The members of the other group had to guess what
we were acting. Also, we were not allowed to say anything, we could only make
sounds. Turn by turn, both groups did their acts. The acts were interesting,
some acting as a minibus while others yelling like Opera Singers! The acts were
really good, some funny, some serious. Overall, it was an interesting session,
both fun and meaningful.
Monday, 2 February 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 25
Date: 1st February, 2015
Session # 25
Attended by: 10 participants
Report Written by: Fatima Salman
This session started with a round
of introduction. Everyone had to introduce themselves and tell three of their
interests.
Then we played two rounds of a guessing game. We were divided into two teams of five people
in each team. First, one team had to think of a person or place and the other
team had to guess it by asking fifteen questions, and each question had to be
answered in a yes or no. We played it for a while, thinking of different people
and places and trying to guess each one quickly.
After the game, we were told a
story by Rumi. Rumi was a Persian poet and he had written many poems and short
stories in Persian. His stories have been translated into many languages, and
are called ‘Hikayat-e-Rumi. The story
was a Hikayat. It was about animals.
Below is the story, quoted in my words:
In the story, there is a
jungle in which many animals lived peacefully.Then a lion came and attacked many animals and ate them. The animals got
worried and decided to do a deal with the lion. They went to him and said; “You
are our king, we will serve you. You should stay in your home and each morning,
we will send you an animal for your meal. But you must not come and attack us
suddenly”. The lion agreed, and said; “You must stay true to your word, and if
you break the deal, I’ll eat every animal in this jungle”.
The animals had done this to avoid a sudden death, and so, each
morning all the animals would gather in one place and draw lots and the animal
whose name came in the draw, would say goodbye forever to everyone and go to
the lion to be eaten.
This happened for some time until one day, a rabbit’s name came out
in the draw. The animals teased him, saying; “You’ll be just one bite for the
lion! What will he say when he sees you?” But the rabbit said bravely; “I may
be small, but I will do something that none of you have ever done and will do.
By the will of God, I will come alive from the lion, and save you all from
him”. But the animals didn’t believe him and still made fun of him because of
his size. And in all of this, the rabbit got pretty late in turning up for the
lion.
The lion was very angry and roared; “Why are so late?” The rabbit
pretended to be frightened and said; “I’m so sorry, your majesty, but I was
coming with another rabbit as well, you see, I’m so small that two of us were
coming for you, when we met another lion. He took away the other rabbit to eat
it, but I somehow saved myself and came straight here”. The lion got madder and said; “There’s
another lion in the jungle, and he has my dinner? Take me to him at once!” The
rabbit agreed to take him and came to a nearby well. He and the lion looked
inside the well and saw their own reflection. The rabbit said; “Look there is
the other lion and the rabbit inside”. At once, the lion jumped inside the well
and drowned. And the rabbit returned home with pride.
After the story, we discussed the
messages given in the story. This story
is a bit like the way things are in real life. The lion can depict a cruel
leader and the rabbit was a change agent. There are many messages in this story
and we discussed them all. These are the things we discussed:
- Never to lose control of our emotions, like the lion did and jumped in a well.
- Size does not matter. The rabbit was very small, yet he did something that even the larger animals did not do.
- Do no become dependent on others, like the lion did. He became so dependent on the animals to come to him, that when the rabbit became late in coming, he didn’t go to hunt by himself.
- Do not give up and submit yourself towards the evil, like all the animals did when the lion came. Instead of making a plan to make him go away, they sacrificed themselves for him.
These are some of the messages in
the story. If we think harder, maybe we can find deeper meanings in it. Some
stories really have deep meanings. Overall, this session was great.
Monday, 26 January 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session # 24
Date: 25th January, 2015
Session # 24
Attended by: 11 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we discussed poetry. Everyone had brought some poetry to share with the others. First, everyone shared the verses or couplets of poetry they had brought. They were mostly of Iqbal. Then, we were asked if we knew who is our parents' favourite poet. This question was asked in the previous session to ask our parents. Most people's parents' favourite poets were Iqbal, Ghalib, or Faiz. Some parents of the members didn't have any favourite poets!
Then we talked about what should every poem have. The answers were syllable pattern, rhythmic pattern, a topic, etc.
There are two things that every poem should have. They are:
Session # 24
Attended by: 11 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we discussed poetry. Everyone had brought some poetry to share with the others. First, everyone shared the verses or couplets of poetry they had brought. They were mostly of Iqbal. Then, we were asked if we knew who is our parents' favourite poet. This question was asked in the previous session to ask our parents. Most people's parents' favourite poets were Iqbal, Ghalib, or Faiz. Some parents of the members didn't have any favourite poets!
Then we talked about what should every poem have. The answers were syllable pattern, rhythmic pattern, a topic, etc.
There are two things that every poem should have. They are:
- Rhythm\Pattern of sounds
- Meaningfulness
Then we talked about poets. We were asked if anyone can become a poet if they want to. Some people said yes, anyone can become a poet if they want to, while others thought the opposite. Some kids said that a poet should have a great imagination and should think very deeply about something to write about it. But these things do not always happen to the people who write or compose songs, that are sung instead of recited seriously.
After this discussion, we did an activity. It was a bit like the one we did in Session 22. Everyone had to open a page in his\her notebook. Then we had to draw a line measuring one inch from our estimation. Next we had to draw a rectangle measuring one inch by three inches vertically across the page. Then we had to divide the rectangle into three squares of one inch each. Then we had to write in a small handwriting 1, 2 and 3 on each square respectively, and draw in square 1; a small circle, in square 2; a small triangle, and in square 3; our favourite fruit. Then we had to get our ruler and check how close our estimation was when drawing and dividing the rectangle.
This was an interesting activity, and a fun session too. There was no home task given in this session.
Thank you.
After this discussion, we did an activity. It was a bit like the one we did in Session 22. Everyone had to open a page in his\her notebook. Then we had to draw a line measuring one inch from our estimation. Next we had to draw a rectangle measuring one inch by three inches vertically across the page. Then we had to divide the rectangle into three squares of one inch each. Then we had to write in a small handwriting 1, 2 and 3 on each square respectively, and draw in square 1; a small circle, in square 2; a small triangle, and in square 3; our favourite fruit. Then we had to get our ruler and check how close our estimation was when drawing and dividing the rectangle.
This was an interesting activity, and a fun session too. There was no home task given in this session.
Thank you.
Monday, 19 January 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 23
Date: 18th January,
2015
Session # 23
Attended by: 14 participants
Report Written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we discussed many things. First we talked about Emotions. We were asked to name some emotions. The responses were love, hate, anger, excitement, etc. We were told that there are four basic emotions which are; Hope, Pleasure, Grief and Fear. Other emotions include Love and Anger.
Then we talked about Poverty. There are several ‘Forms of Poverty’. We discussed the ones below:
1. Intellectual Poverty
(Having no ideas and opinions)
2. Linguistic Poverty
(Having ideas but no words to express)
3. Social Poverty
(No friends and people to express themselves)
4. Ethical Poverty
(no manners, etiquettes, ethics)
5. Financial Poverty
(Shortage of money)
When we hear the word poverty, only ‘Financial Poverty’ comes to our mind. There are actually five main types of poverty. This list shows financial poverty at the very bottom, which shows us that money is the least important. The more important things are our knowledge, language, social circle and manners.
Like Intellectual Poverty, Linguistic Poverty, etc. There is also something called being Intellectually Rich, Linguistically Rich, Socially Rich, Ethically Rich, and lastly, Financially Rich. These things are the opposite of intellectual, linguistic, social, ethical and financial
poverty.
A person may be financially rich but intellectually poor, or financially poor but socially rich.
After this detailed discussion, we were asked to think about what is the most valuable and precious thing each person has. The responses were:
Session # 23
Attended by: 14 participants
Report Written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we discussed many things. First we talked about Emotions. We were asked to name some emotions. The responses were love, hate, anger, excitement, etc. We were told that there are four basic emotions which are; Hope, Pleasure, Grief and Fear. Other emotions include Love and Anger.
Then we talked about Poverty. There are several ‘Forms of Poverty’. We discussed the ones below:
1. Intellectual Poverty
(Having no ideas and opinions)
2. Linguistic Poverty
(Having ideas but no words to express)
3. Social Poverty
(No friends and people to express themselves)
4. Ethical Poverty
(no manners, etiquettes, ethics)
5. Financial Poverty
(Shortage of money)
When we hear the word poverty, only ‘Financial Poverty’ comes to our mind. There are actually five main types of poverty. This list shows financial poverty at the very bottom, which shows us that money is the least important. The more important things are our knowledge, language, social circle and manners.
Like Intellectual Poverty, Linguistic Poverty, etc. There is also something called being Intellectually Rich, Linguistically Rich, Socially Rich, Ethically Rich, and lastly, Financially Rich. These things are the opposite of intellectual, linguistic, social, ethical and financial
poverty.
A person may be financially rich but intellectually poor, or financially poor but socially rich.
After this detailed discussion, we were asked to think about what is the most valuable and precious thing each person has. The responses were:
- Talents
- Emotions\Feelings
- Thoughts\Opinion
- Heart
- Mind
After playing the game a couple of times, we discussed some poetry. Some people recited some verses of poetry from their memories. We talked about which poet has written the verses that were shared. We were told to bring three verses of poetry to share in the next session.
Overall, it was an interesting session, with many things discussed and talked about.
Tuesday, 13 January 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 22
Date: 11th January, 2015
Session # 22
Attended by: 7 particpants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we played many different games. First we
played the obstacle game, the same one that we played in the previous session. Then we discussed what we had learnt from this
game. After that we were given a long piece of rope. Everyone had to hold the
rope. There was a triangle drawn on the board, and we had to form the triangle with
each person holding the rope. The challenge was that we weren’t allowed to
speak to each other. We had to communicate using sign language, or actions. It
wasn’t that hard though. Then we had to make another shape. The purpose of this
game was to see how people communicate without speaking.
Then, we all were given a piece of paper. We were given
instructions about what to do on that paper. Here are the instructions the way
they were given:
1.
Put the paper in a landscape position.
2.
Draw a line on the center of the page from the
top to bottom.
3.
(There were now two parts of the paper.) Draw a
square in both parts.
4.
Draw a triangle on top of one of the squares.
Now came the interesting part. We all were following the
instructions very carefully until now. When we had drawn the triangle, we were
asked: On which square did you draw the triangle? The one on the left, or the one
on the right? It wasn’t mentioned that on which square we had to draw a
triangle.
This was just a game, but it showed us that whenever we are
given instructions, we have to make sure that we know exactly what is wanted
from us. Then the instructions continued.
5.
Give the square on which you have drawn a
triangle, the look of a house.
6.
In the other square, draw three circles.
7.
Give the three circles the look of a happy face.
The completed work was really interesting. Each person’s
work was unique and showed that everyone perceived instructions in different
ways. I will post the work on the blog soon.
Monday, 29 December 2014
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 21
Date: 28th December, 2014
Session # 21
Attended by: 8 participants
Report written by: Zainab Salman
Session # 21
Attended by: 8 participants
Report written by: Zainab Salman
Today was the 21st
session of Thinkers’ Club. This session was about a game that we were going to
play. First, we used building blocks to build lots of small things, which were
obstacles that we would use for the game. We arranged them on the carpet. Then,
we were divided into four groups, 2 children in each group. The game was
explained. A group of boys went first. One of them was blindfolded and had to
make his way through the obstacles without touching the He was called the
‘follower’. His partner, the ‘leader’ or ‘guide’, was to direct him and tell
him, which way to go. Every child was blindfolded once, and every child was made
a leader once, too. Although just one boy managed to make his way through the
obstacles without hitting them, trying and being careful was fun. The game was
enjoyable, but challenging too. Some
children were worried while others were enthusiastic. But all were enjoying.
After we were finished with the game, we settled down on the mat. We discussed
how we felt when we were blindfolded, what the challenges were, and what we
learnt. We learnt to explain, specifically and precisely, what we wanted to
say. The challenges were to remember clearly the right and left, how to explain
the way to your blindfolded partner, and to go exactly where your partner wants
you to go without touching the blocks.
This game is actually like your
life. You have lots of obstacles in your life. When you can’t see where you are
going, you have guides to lead you to your destination.
We also noted down what a guide and
follower should take care of:
A guide should…
- Keep calm
- Think before giving instructions
- Make sure that his/her partner is clear about right and left.
A follower should…
- Follow and trust his partner
- Be clear about right and left
- Not give up
- Be confident
- Listen attentively to his guide
From this activity we learnt about
leadership, teamwork, guiding clearly, having confidence in yourself,
cooperation, coordination, and understanding what it feels like to be blind.
The home task was to check the dictionary, read the meanings of the words
‘specific’ and ‘precise’, write them down, along with any examples. Although
this session was supposed to be about the questions asked in the last session,
but as many kids were not present, the questions will be discussed and answered
next time. However, the questions will be posted on the blog soon, so kids can
ponder upon them. This session was fun and interactive.
Monday, 22 December 2014
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 20
Date: 21st December, 2014
Session # 20
Attended by: 13 participants
Report written by: Zainab Salman
We also talked about the American Writer, businessman, and motivational speaker, W.Mitchell, who had miraculously survived two accidents in which he had burned some of his body. He has said that “Before my accidents, there were ten thousands things I could do. I could spend the rest of my life dwelling on the things that I had lost, but instead I chose to focus on the nine thousand I still had left.”
Session # 20
Attended by: 13 participants
Report written by: Zainab Salman
Today was the
20th Session of Thinker’s Club. When most of the children had arrived,
we gathered up in the library, dragging chairs to form a circle. When all of us
were seated, we recalled what we had done in the last two sessions as some
children had joined us after a long time.
Then, we were
told to make ‘I can’ and ‘I have’ lists, separately, in two minutes each including
the best things you have and can do, right now. (This task had been done before in another
session, but most kids hadn’t completed it before so we were doing it again.) When
we were done, we observed that our lists consisted of both types of ‘I cans’,
the one we can do right now, and the
ones we can do but haven’t done yet. We also shared the best things we have,
and some things from the list, I can.
We realized, that we have numerous
blessings, and little time and we can’t thank God for all the things we have.
Then we were asked if we had ever met a blind or a deaf person and spent time with them? Some of us had,
and they shared their experience and how they felt after meeting that person.
We all thanked God for making us perfect and blessing us with all the senses. Then we were asked the question “Was God unfair to those who he made
blind or deaf?” Some discussed the question with each other, while others
thought quietly about it. Here are the
answers we came up with:
1.
Maybe
god made some people blind and some deaf because he wanted to save those people
from the sins we commit by looking or listening to wrong or inappropriate
things.
2.
Perhaps
those people were very close to God, so he decided to test them if they would still thank him if he took something away from them.
3.
Those
people have other senses that are sharper than usual to help them in their
life.
4.
Maybe
God wanted to punish them about the wrong deeds they did, so he took away their eyesight/hearing.
5.
God
made everyone equal, but in a different way. Those people have some hidden
talent or rare ability that will make up for their disability.
We also talked about the American Writer, businessman, and motivational speaker, W.Mitchell, who had miraculously survived two accidents in which he had burned some of his body. He has said that “Before my accidents, there were ten thousands things I could do. I could spend the rest of my life dwelling on the things that I had lost, but instead I chose to focus on the nine thousand I still had left.”
Then
everybody asked lots of questions related to our discussion in today’s session,
and the questions were noted. They will be answered by the next session.
We
ended the session by watching a Video Clip of a short talk by Nick Vujicic, a
man who was born without limbs, also a motivational speaker and author of three
books.
Overall
this session was meaningful, and it made me think.
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