Reflection by GAN

Gan Ee Yinn

CEB150183

This is the beginning of the social engagement project. That was the day when we are given a briefing session and after that having meeting with our group members. We are in a group 10 members and I'm in Group 1.

We started our discussion by introducing ourselves and deciding the position for every group members to make sure that each member is aware of their responsibilities so that tasks given can be done more efficiently. I am under the Program and Protocol department but was given the task to take photos.

We had a lot of meeting under the guidance of Dr Zalfa Laili Hamzah in the preparation of planning the activities for social engagement. 


20 March 2016 (Sunday) - Dapur Jalanan Kuala Lumpur

Throughout this project, I came to know about Dapur Jalanan which is a volunteer-based soup kitchen service that prepares and offers food and drinks for free to the homeless people around the city.  

As told, we have to help in preparing food for the food distribution activity in the evening later. The menu on that day was sandwiches and fruit salad. I was assigned to crack the eggshells for the sandwiches.

After all the preparation are done, we are given a short briefing on the Do's and Don't before going the the destination to give out our food.

The most meaningful part is that the food preparation by us is for the people who are in need such as the homeless and poor people. This is my very first time involving in such volunteering event and I was so pleased that I have the chance the experience how awesome this club is - to help those people who are in need.

As I said earlier, I was assigned to take photos of the activities so I have no chance to chat with them but I did recorded the conversation between my course mates and homeless people. They are willing to share about themselves and the reason of how they know about the event.

Volunteering in such an event helps others and myself as I have learnt from them - to be appreciate of what you have. Be grateful and thankful because there are people out there who have nothing but still smile.

22 March 2016 (Tuesday) - Fundraising

That day, in the afternoon, I distributed all the muffins to the group members. Each team members was assigned to sell 13 muffins as well as myself. The objective of this fundraising activity is to gain money to support any costs that involved in the implementation of the project.

All the group members gave good commitment in selling the muffins. We sold 300 muffins in one day. I am very thankful that our fundraising activity went smoothly and we as a team has managed to achieve our target.All the efforts and teamwork are paid off.

25 March 2016 (Friday) - Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih (SBJK)

I was quite surprised when I first reached the school, it was just like a normal school. This is the first time I came across knowing that entering a school that accept students without any important documents such as the birth certificate. 

The kids are so friendly and approachable and it actually warmed my heart when they welcomed us by greeting us even they didn't know who we are.

I am assigned to be in the class of the pre-school children. They were very active and very excited to see us especially when they knew we were going to play games with them. We had planned a lot of activities with them like eagle catches chicken, drawing, colouring, guess it and etc. I was in charge of Guess it with Fatin but due to only 8 students were present that day. Fatin managed the game with Aisyah.

There were some time when we were not able to control the situation because they were too happy to play the games that we conducted, fortunately the teachers were around to help us and guide us the way to keep them sit still. The last activity was price giving ceremony, we gave all the gifts that we bought to the children.

Throughout this day, I have learnt that team work is an important element when it comes to accomplish this whole day's activities. It was not the first time I approached to pre-school kids as I had been working in a kindergarten. But, I can see no differences between the kids. They are just so cute, smart and you wouldn't have know they have unpleasant backgrounds when you first saw them. Passion in learning is what I can see from them, which also makes me realize that the important of schooling and I have to improve myself to be a better me in the future.

15 April 2016 (Friday) - Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih (SBJK)

This is the second time we went to SBJK and it was during the mid-semester break. Theis time we are assigned to be with the primary students. The whole activity that day was basically explorace and I am in charge of the of the activity before the explorace which is aerobic dance with Carol and Hui Min. What I can observed from the stage is, they are very energetic and try to follow our actions as much as they can.

Next, the explorace session began after dividing them into groups with 1 facilitator. As assigned, I went to each game station to take the photos of the students. Every student was so active and I can see that they really enjoyed the game. They gave very good commitment to us by completing all the games.

The most important lesson that I learnt is they never give up in playing any of the games as long as they completed the games. They will find out a lot of ways to solve the problem and make a better move to win the game. Even if one of the solution doesn't work, they don't feel afraid, they try and try to get the best solution. They never feel discouraged when they lost the game because they enjoyed the whole process. In which, lots of people nowadays are afraid of taking the next move because they are afraid they will make mistakes. Now I know, making mistakes is a learning process in life so don't be afraid to make mistakes. 

One of the game was the students are required to fill a water bottle by using span. I can see that, they gave cheers and asked their friends to be fast. They all have the spirit of teamwork as they don't blame their friends who don't make it. As the Malay proverb goes "sharing without discrimination, the heavy and the light burden."

We ended our activity at 3.00 pm and everything went smoothly. It is nice to know that our hard work and effort throughout the entire project have paid off.