GAW2016: Day 1

 Southern Outreach Activities at Naparima Girls 

Form 3 Naparima Girls, ASJA Girls, Parvati Girls students all taking part in the Geography of the Pencil activity. Photo taken by Ms. Sayidda Ali

On Monday 14th November, 2016, an outreach team consisting of Dr. Junior Darsan, Ms. Jewelle Mapp, Ms. Sayyida Ali and Mr. Ryan Seemungal visited Naparima Girls College, San Fernando to host an event to engage Form 3 Geography Students. Participants included ASJA Girls College, Parvati Girls, San Fernando Central Secondary and the students from the hosting school, Naparima Girls College.  

Dr. Junior Darsan gave a brief introduction as to the nature of Geography as a discipline, its wide ranging impact and job availability stressing that there are hundreds of potential jobs in the region and wider world. He gave emphasis on understanding that pursuing Geography means thinking about like a global citizen as everything is connected. Dr. Darsan is a Coastal Geomorphologist, lecturer and experienced researcher at the Department of Geography.

Ms. Jewelle Mapp engaged the students through a video presentation of the "Geospatial Revolution: Episode 2" as well as an exercise called "The Geography of the Pencil." The students learned about the complexity involved in making a product, the interconnections of various countries and the need for raw materials together with labour in the production of pencils. The crowd was divided into groups, assigned a country's identity. They each made a short but creative presentation as to how they were going to negotiate with other countries to get the raw materials necessary to make a pencil. 

Ms. Sayyida Ali, a past student of the Naparima Girls College, also gave a short presentation on her experiences as a Geography student and postgraduate researcher. She spoke about her travels, community engagement and the potential impact of her research.

The event was well received by the students. The Department of Geography is happy to engage with the students of the school and will be doing more activities like this in the future! The Department is grateful to Naparima Girls College and all the schools that participated in helping to make the event a success!