Paddle-boarding to Pick Up Garbage

During Wells Without Walls, the Love Ocean Life Club took its members on a volunteer trip to a river-based community to learn how to paddle-board while simultaneously collecting garbage we find to cleanse the waters for the local community. This was a very new experience for us since none of us knew how to paddle-board well, however it was still accomplishing nonetheless. 

Most of us, including myself, did not know the basics of paddle-boarding which made it difficult to balance at first. This was made more difficult because of my fear of deep water. But I persevered, and managed to begin paddling. Although I didn't feel confident picking up garbage for the first ten minutes, I used the paddle to steer loose pieces of plastic towards me, in order to easily grab them. As time continued forward, I didn't have to steer loose trash as close to me as before, and felt comfortable reaching out my arm to grab. Eventually, by the halfway mark I was able to fill a quarter of my mesh bag with loose garbage, with the help of some of my friends as we scoured areas together and used teamwork to bring the garbage towards us. By the end of the trip I was already trying to stand on my paddleboard. Having succeeded, I paddled back towards the shore whilst standing, and safely dismounted. 

Combined, the club members were able to pick up around 20 kilograms of garbage from the river, which was definitely accomplishing to hear. I also learned a new skill whilst being able to help clean the waters where local residents resided by persevering even in a situation I was unfamiliar with. 

CAS Learning Outcomes: 

• Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process 

• Show commitment to and persevererance in CAS experiences 

• Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively