Doha School Heads East, Gets a Taste of Sichuan

With rapt attention, a group of Sichuanese schoolchildren follows the action as their new mural comes to life, courtesy of the American School of Doha and its corporate partner Honeywell China (photo: ASD).

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Theory of Knowledge, or TOK as it is known to IB students, is a class that strives to serve up alternative viewpoints. It is designed to challenge students’ (and instructors’) pre-conceived notions of the world, forcing both into alternative perspectives.

Ideally, students question their world views through experience; in the IB paradigm, they also attempt this through CAS—Creativity, Action and Service. IB Students at the American School of Doha (ASD) were privileged to have as a guest speaker to their TOK class, Ms. Paola Nobrega, a pioneer in grass roots development in Mozambique. Donna Paola, as she is known there, related her efforts to work with AIDS orphans, and also to help improve the quality of life for abandoned domestic animals through the NGO Vets for Africa.

Through sheer determination, many of her projects flourished with the support of local communities working in partnership with corporations like Tongaat Hulett, as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. ASD students have collaborated annually with Tongaat Hulett since 2011 to renovate and improve school infrastructure in schools in the rural areas of Xinavane, Mozambique. ASD students provide the labor and fund-raise to pay for a portion of their development project at a school, and Tongaat Hulett provides the logistical support for the project and has funded any shortfall in construction budgets.

Since this positive experience with Tongaat Hulett in Mozambique, ASD has been actively pursuing opportunities that allow students to work with corporations in their CSR initiatives, and to foster their growth as positive, active, global citizens.

Last spring ASD partnered with Honeywell China, noted for its influential CSR initiatives around the country. Collaborating with Honeywell China, and with the direct assistance of Honeywell China President Stephen Shang and Honeywell Communications Director Lydia Lu, Honeywell hosted a group of ASD students and staff, inviting them to work at two of its rebuilt schools in Sichuan Province (rebuilt by Honeywell after the devastating 2008 earthquake).

Over 90 students and staff from ASD worked to make the Honeywell Schools more “student centered” at the request of their respective headmasters. ASD students built new desks for the schools and for donation to the homes of students to create study areas. Murals designed by ASD student Caite Canfield were painted at the Honeywell United School and stand as a monument to ASD’s and Honeywell’s commitment to this partnership. ASD students also delivered presentations about their home countries to local students over the course of their stay.

In many cases, the ASD group was the first group of foreigners that many of the students (and the community) had been exposed to, evidenced by the large number of visitors to the schools on the days of the ASD visit.

Honeywell (China) President Stephen Shang, ASD HS Associate Principal Justin Walsh and IB CAS Coordinator Chi-Yan Shang expressed enthusiasm for this joint collaboration between ASD and Honeywell, and all looked forward to furthering this relationship with a subsequent service trip in April of 2015.

From TOK to the world via CAS, these partnerships with large international corporations are a part of ASD’s commitment to social responsibility in collaboration with its corporate partners under the auspices of Dr. Philip Stroup, ASD’s Director of Development and External Relations.

Chi-Yan Shang is IB CAS Coordinator at the American School of Doha, Qatar.

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