Summer Learning Journey Day 5, Week 1

DAY 5: Against the Odds

Activity 1: National Treasure [4 points]

Sophie Pascoe is a New Zealand para-swimmer. This means she is a competitive swimmer with a physical disability. Very sadly, Sophie was run over by a lawnmower when she was only 2 years old. She had to have the bottom of her left leg amputated. However, despite this terrible accident, she was determined to become a competitive swimmer.

Sophie has won numerous New Zealand and world para-swimming titles, including nine Olympic gold medals. She has also won the Halberg Award for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year three times. Sophie is a great example of a New Zealander who did not let her disability stop her from achieving her dreams. She is truly a ‘National Treasure’. A national treasure is someone or something that is very important to a country.

For this activity, we would like to learn more about the things that are important to you. Please share three things that you treasure and say why they are treasures to you. Post your work on your blog.

The three things that are important to me are...

1. My Laptop! My Laptop is important to me because I don't own a phone and I do everything on my laptop.
2. My Bag! My bag is very important to me because take my bag everywhere, and my bag carries my precious Laptop
3. My Necklace! My necklace is very important to me because my mother got it for me when she was overseas. I gave my necklace a name. I called it "Suerte", which basically means "Luck" in Spanish.

Activity 2: Swimming to Safety [4 points]

Yusra Mardini is a teenage girl who was born in Syria, a war-torn country in the Middle East. She left Syria in 2015 to get away from the constant fighting and became a refugee. Yusra now lives in Germany. In 2016 she was named as part of the Refugee Olympic Team and she swam for this team in the last summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is now training for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

For this activity, read the following information about Yusra’s life. When you finish, retell the story of this amazing young woman from Syria. Post your work on your blog.

Yusra and her elder sister fled the Syrian war and set off on a perilous journey to find safety in Europe. In summer 2015, they traveled through Lebanon to Turkey before departing for Greece in an overcrowded dinghy.

Fifteen minutes into the sea crossing, the boat’s engine failed. As a professional swimmer, Yusra was determined not to let any of her fellow passengers drown. Yusra, her sister, and two others jumped into the waves and swam for three and a half hours in open water to stop their dinghy capsizing, saving the lives of 20 people.

A year later, Yusra’s courage, determination, and strong swimming skills were recognized by the International Olympic Committee and became a member of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team. Yusra competed at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, helping to represent 65 million displaced people worldwide.

Since then, Yusra has addressed the United Nations General Assembly and met world leaders such as US President Barack Obama and Pope Francis. She has been presented with a number of prestigious awards and has been recognized for her work by Time and People magazines.

So this story is a woman who ran away from the Syrian war to find safety in Europe. And that woman is called "Yusra Mardini" and all of this happened in summer 2015. Yusra didn't go on the perilous journey alone, she went with her older sister, "Sarah Mardini". They traveled through Lebanon to Turkey before departing for Greece in an overcrowded dingy. After a few minutes, the din gy broke down. Yusra and her sister leaped into the open ocean, stoping the boat from capsizing for three hours, saving 20 lives. After a year later, Yusra's act was recognized by the International Olympic Committee and became a member of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team. She competed at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. Since then, She met a lot of world leaders such as President Obama and Pope Francis and now she has been recognized for her work by Time and People magazines.

Activity 3: Own Choice [6 points]

You have now made it to the end of Week 1 and have the chance to choose your very own
sportsperson or explorer who you think has changed the world. There are no right or wrong
choices for this activity, so find someone who interests you and tell us about them on your blog. It
could be someone from your family, church, community or someone famous who you admire.

Here is an example in case you get stuck:

Jessica Watson - Skipper, Australia

Jessica Watson navigated some of the world’s most remote oceans and survived seven knockdowns and 210 days alone at sea to become the youngest person to sail solo, nonstop around the world, aged 16. On completion of the voyage, Jessica was met by the then Prime Minister who declared her an Australian hero. In a simple speech that won admiration across Australian and around the world, she responded to the Prime Minister by announcing that she disagreed with him, that she didn’t consider herself a hero—just an ‘ordinary person, who had a dream, worked hard at it and proved that anything really is possible’. Overcoming early struggles with dyslexia, Jessica became a storyteller, firstly on her popular blog and then in her bestselling, internationally published book True Spirit. Jessica was named Young Australian of The year 2011 and has gone on to lead various projects, including a team that became the youngest ever to compete in Australia’s notorious Sydney to Hobart yacht race. The project saw the youth crew finish second in their division, and Jessica was awarded the Jane Tate Trophy for the first female skipper.

For this activity, please choose one person (changemaker) and tell us a bit about them, most specifically: The name of the person, a description of the work they do/have done and an explanation of how they/their work has had an impact on the lives of others. Post your work on your blog.

Jimmy Donaldson - AKA, Mr Beast.

Jimmy Donaldson or MrBeast is a famous American YouTuber who has always been a huge impact on other's life. MrBeast is very successful and is a Philanthropist. A Philanthropist is a person who gives bountiful donations to charities and also investigates benefits for others. MrBeast is now teaming up with a company called "Arbor Day". Arbor day is a company that plants trees. For every dollar donated, they will plant a tree. MrBeast also does other glorious things, such as Giving homeless people Thousands of dollars, providing necessities to homeless shelters and even donated $100.000 to team trees!. Jimmy Donaldson is a very inspirational man and will continue to make other people smile.