Service
A core tenet of WellBase’s mission is to enrich the lives of others in the community. One way this is done is through our online presence. Another is through in-person outreach efforts: helping others and sharing wellness education.
We’d love to work with other schools or organizations interested in bringing wellness education to kids. Reach out if interested!
Afghan Refugee Needs Assessment
2023-2024
WellBase founder Eshaan Mani worked as the only high-schooler on a Baylor College of Medicine research project to assess refugee resettlement needs. The goal was to pinpoint areas where the care provided to refugees could be improved, and advise policymakers and physicians accordingly. Eshaan conducted over 25 interviews of newly-arrived Afghan refugees, tabulated the data, and aided in the creation of a research poster, which won Best Poster for Education and Training. He is currently working with the team to write the final report. The poster is shared here, and a screenshot is below.
SWAB Wellness Week
December 2023
Aiming to help students de-stress before midterms, the Student Wellness Advisory Board led a series of events in late December including a primal scream, yoga, and chalk art.
SWAB Halloween Wellness Fest
October 2023
In our first-ever Student Wellness Advisory Board event, we shared fall wellness tips as well as sweet treats with the Kinkaid community. It was so much fun to promote wellness within our school community!
CHAT Fall Festival
October 2023
In our seventh Kinkaid community service event and first for the 2023-24 school year, we continued WellBase’s tradition of having a booth at the CHAT Fall Festival, celebrating the arrival of autumn with the community. We had art, nutrition, and mindfulness activities for students to do, and we enjoyed the wide variety of cultural entertainment, from fashion shows to performances by students. As a bonus, we led the Cupid Shuffle group dance!
CHAT Back to School Videos
July 2023
I created the School-CHAT video series to prepare new arrivals to Houston (Afghan refugee students) for the school year. I created thirteen videos on topics ranging from how to manage your schedule to the importance of participation in class. These videos were dubbed in Pashto, Dari, Spanish, and Arabic by the CHAT team. They were used in CHAT summer programming and will be released on the CHAT Facebook page.
CHAT Nowruz Celebration
March 2023
In our sixth Kinkaid community service event and last one of the 2022-2023 school year, we had a booth at the CHAT Nowruz Celebration, commemorating the Afghan new year with the community. We had art and fitness activities for the refugee students to do, and enjoyed the great food and dancing!
CHAT-WellBase Field Day #2
February 2023
In our fifth Kinkaid community service event, we hosted another field day for refugee students, with Frisbee, soccer, tag, jump-ropes, and some group activities like Duck Duck Goose!
CHAT Winter Festival!
January 2023
In our fourth Kinkaid community service event — the first one of 2023 — we hosted a winter festival for refugee students, with Frisbee, art, hot chocolate, cookies, and some group activities like Duck Duck Goose and Pass the Parcel.
Health-CHAT Chronic Diseases Video Series
November 2022-January 2023
I worked on the Health-CHAT video series to meet a goal set by the Houston Health Department to increase awareness of chronic diseases among the refugee/underserved migrant population. We created fifteen videos on various diseases, including colon cancer, headaches, obesity, tooth decay and gum disease, high cholesterol, and COVID-19. CHAT’s YouTube channel has a library of health education videos in English and Dari. These videos cover a lot of topics, from heart health and COVID-19 to diabetes and cancer. They're a great way to learn more about staying healthy.
CHAT Field Day!
November 2022
In our third Kinkaid community service event, we hosted a field day for refugee students, with basketball, soccer, tag, jump-ropes, Frisbee, and some group activities like Duck Duck Goose!
CHAT Fall Fun in the Sun!
October 2022
In our second Kinkaid community service event, we went to the Ashford Oaks Apartments and shared some fall joy with the refugee students there — we made arts and crafts and played lots of games!
CHAT Fall Festival
Kinkaid Community Service
September 2022
In our first official Kinkaid community service event, we manned a booth at the CHAT Fall Festival which had stations for nutrition, mindfulness, and fitness. We had lots of fun working with the students…and it certainly didn’t hurt that we got to dance to the Cupid Shuffle on stage!
TCH Mindfulness Videos
July - August 2022
In July and August, I worked under the guidance of Aproteem Choudhury, director of Clinical Program Coordinator and Mind Body Interventionist at Texas Children's, to make videos promoting mindfulness in daily life. Animation and voiceover by my friends and WellTeam members Ryan Hay and Catherine Moursund — thank you both!! The videos are currently being reviewed by the hospital for use on all screens in waiting rooms and patient rooms.
Dance and Art!
August 2022
On another visit to CHAT, I talk to students at the summer academy how to be actively and artistically mindful through dance and coloring. We had lots of fun learning a “kick-step” routine and checked in with our bodies every two minutes to gauge its response. Then, the students learned about mandalas and their use in mindfulness practices. They each received a mandala coloring book and colored pencils as a take-home gift.
Fitness and Food!
April 2022
I received a $250 Hershey Heartwarming Project Action Grant. The project I proposed for this grant was a lesson about nutrition and fitness with refugee children affiliated with CHAT, a nonprofit organization in Houston. I would use the grant funds to assemble kits with jump ropes and healthy snacks. The project became a reality in April 2022, when I had the opportunity to teach refugee students from Afghanistan and the Congo at the CHAT Academy and Girls’ Club. I felt immediately embraced by the students. They all encircled me, some even wanting to sit right next to me on the couch. Before the session at the Academy, two of the girls invited me to help them build a structure with colored blocks, one girl showed me all the countries they knew on the globe, and two of the boys talked with me about Harry Potter. Seeing the students’ eagerness to learn and contentment with the hand life dealt them inspired me. I really enjoyed the experience! Thank you, Hershey, and thank you, CHAT, for enabling me to help these kids!
L to R, T to B: Speaking at the Girls’ Club, assembling kits, chatting with refugee kids from the Congo, handing out kits, and teaching at the CHAT Academy.
Brainy Bunch at TH Rogers
February-April 2022
I worked with a group of medical students, residents, and practicing professionals affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital to spread the love of wellness to deaf students at T.H. Rogers Middle School. As the only high school student on the team, I led three sessions about fitness, mindfulness, and study habits. The students' smiles warmed my heart, as did their eagerness to give me a “sign name” and befriend me, and I had a ball teaching them about wellness. Our research poster was accepted for presentation at the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians 66th Annual Convention.
The team poses outside the deaf education wing.
Posing after my first and the team’s second successful session: fun with fitness!
