Sunday, April 24, 2016

Reflection of Social Engagement by Cai Ting

Name: Kam Cai Ting 
Matrix number : CEB 150050 


     
Beginning Phrase
          I had been placed in the first group under the supervision of Dr. Zalfa Laili Hamzah. On the first day I am quite nervous when I saw those unfamiliar names in my group list. However, I felt quite happy as I can make more friends in my faculty and know them deeper in that sense. We introduced ourselves when we first met each other. I found out that there was only this one girl staying at the same college with me. Most of them are from college 9.

           After a short briefing about the course and jobs that need to be done from Dr.Zalfa, we started our discussion from dividing job and position based on proficiency so that job can be done easily. I chose to be the secretary in this group, because I have experience in writing letters and minutes meeting. 

            I recorded every details that we had discussed in the meetings. Besides that, I shared my ideas and opinions and solved the problems together with my group members when problem occurred. Unfortunately, most of the activities that we had came up earlier did not meet the requirement of the course. After we have met up a few times to discuss the activities with the consultation and advises from Dr Zalfa, we decided to go Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih and Dapur Jalanan which I think that they are the most suitable community works because we can interact with people from different backgrounds and yet they are challenging. Especially conducting the games for children and entertained them. We were required to plan many activities that are suitable for them and we even rehearsed it before going to the school to avoid any unwanted stuff happened and get ready all the time. Moreover, I am happy that I can get along with my group members very well in this meeting. I hoped we could get closer after we had done all the community activities.



During Phrase
Fund Raising  ( 15/3- 17/3 )

          We planned to hand out presents to all of the children in the school. In order for us to do that, we decided we could do a fund-raising in our college for us to collect some money to buy the presents. The fund raising activity was selling muffins. There were variety of muffins available and the most popular is the chocolate muffins. Each muffin cost Rm 2.00 and if you bought 3 it will be RM 5.

          It is not easy to sell the muffins. However we managed to sell quite a lot because I kept on persuading my friends and the other passer by and inform them that when they buy the muffins, the money we collected will help to make the unfortunate children happy. After hearing that, they will buy 1 muffin and sometimes some even bought 3 of it but there were some who didn’t want to buy it but gave us some money for donation instead. At the end of the day, we managed to raise Rm 25 and we were very happy about it.


          With the money collected, we will need to plan properly on the suitable gift for the children. It should be something that will benefits them in their study and at the same time can make them happy. It is such a wonderful event and really beneficial for me in terms of waking me up and see how lucky I am to be able to live happily while some unfortunate kids are struggling to be happy. Now that I am able to help them, I felt proud of myself and touched that my friends are giving me support throughout the event. I’m really satisfied with the outcome of this meaningful charity event.  



Dapur Jalanan (20/3) 

           Dapur jalanan is a non-government organization (NGO), a voluntary group that serves people with free food and drinks every Sunday at Jalan Panggong. The unique thing about them is that they do not only serve food to the homeless people but they also offers food to anyone who came toward them which is the needy.

        We need to prepare the food at Kelab Bangsar before going to Jalan Panggong. My group members and I went to Kelab Bangsar around 2pm and started to introduce ourselves to the members of Dapur Jalanan. First of all, Abang Husin, the chief in Dapur Jalanan briefly introduce about themselves and the organisation. He then told us what’s on the menu for the day. The menu was fruits salad, egg mayo bread and chicken rice.


           He then placed all the fruits and ingredients on the table. We divided the job among ourselves. My friend and I washed the plates, kitchen appliances and fruits. After washing them, I arranged the fruits nicely while the others peeled and cut the fruits. We alternately took turns to do each other task and chit chatting while doing the chores. I realised many of my friends didn’t know how to remove seeds from the apples, pears and guava. I taught them how to remove and cut the fruits by showing them the way. 



            Next, my favourite part is spreading the egg mayo evenly on the bread. I spread a nice amount of the egg mayo on the bread. Since there will be another NGO providing chicken rice for the people, we managed to finish the preparation of the food earlier and listened to their introduction in detail.




         They told us about their history, mission, objectives and their experiences in doing Dapur Jalanan and other volunteer job. They also reminded us not to do any sensitive things like taking their photos without their permission and avoid asking them where they live directly because it might hurt their feeling.


           After that, we went to Jalan Panggong by lrt and walk a distance to reach the destination. It was raining during the time, so we can only distribute the food at a narrow corridor. By 6pm, the place was crowded with the needy. We then divided ourselves into 3 groups. The 1st group was preparing the juices, 2nd group was arranging and distributing the food and the 3rd group was washing plates. I am in the 1st group and we started to prepare and distribute the drinks.

           After distributing the food, I managed to talk to 3 people. 1st person was an aunty and the other 2 was uncles. The aunty is very skinny. When I talked with the aunty, I realised she can understand English. I thought most of them are illiterate, so I am quite surprised she can understand when I spoke to my friends. I will not simply judge anyone before interact with them next time.


       

              I am quite enjoying talking with the 2nd uncle because he is quite open minded. We interview him and he told us everything nicely. He does not have a permanent home. He always sits in the lrt to enjoyed the air condition and sleep at lrt station every night. I knew he is a frequent client in Dapur Jalanan, He is satisfied with every food they provided especially “Tomyam”. He also shared many things with me. He even asked me to approach his friend, the 3rd uncle who has a permanent house near Jalan Panggong. At the same time, I learned how to talk with people in a special way without hurting their feeling.



After that we gave some feedback to Dapur Jalanan volunteers and dismissed.


                     After that we gave some feedback to Dapur Jalanan volunteers and dismissed.
There will always have pros and cons in certain activities. Things I remembered the most was these uncles told me the same thing. They said “Malaysian is very lucky, because there are many helpful people helping all the needy by providing clothes and foods. Malaysian will not die because of hunger.” It is good to share food with the people, help and care about them. The government has too much too care about, so we as a citizen should help out the less fortunate people. However in my opinion, it might lead them to be dependent on others. Besides that, I felt that we had done a great job. This activity gives me an immense satisfaction to serve people. The feeling of being able to help other people is very special. I enjoy interact with new people. I will always improve myself to make my family’s life better and provide shelter for my parents.



Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih (25/3)

          Waking up on a splendid Friday morning 25th of March, and prepared myself to Sekolah Bimbingan jalinan Kasih which is located in Chow Kit for the second volunteering job. Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih is a free school that provides education and food for the unprivileged students like the homeless, abandoned and dropped out students. Personally, I’d rather called it as a caring school where they accept and treat all the students equally regardless their background and provide hope for their future.

          My group and the other groups which are under the Dr Zalfa supervision are going together. We gather at UM central at 7.00a.m., we took the bus, lrt and monorail to get top the destination. By the time we arrived, it was already around 8.30a.m. We then went into the room and listened to the principal briefing about the school.

          After the briefing was over, we went out from the room and I saw a bunch of students coming out. Before going to this school, our supervisor always reminded us to be alert and ready at all times because they are special, the way they behave are slightly different and they are hyperactive. So, what is on my mind is that they might be naughty and uncontrollable. However, that’s not the reality.  They were cute and full of manners. Each one of them gave salam (greet us) and shake hands with us once they came out of the room. . I am amazed with the teachers because there are good in educate the children and transform them into an individual with high morality.

          On that day, there were a few issue arise, but we managed to solve it in smoothly. Firstly, we started late, so we have to cancel aerobic section. Secondly, there are 8 pre-school students who came, but there were 22 of us. We divided our group members to help out other groups that in charge of the primary school students.


          Around 10a.m., we introduced ourselves to the teachers and the adorable students. I still remembered they were shy, sitting nicely and quietly on the carpet. In order to get ourselves closer to the students, we started the first game with eagle and hen.


          They showed their friendliness once they started to run. I also realized that we can easily approached them when we squatted down to talk to them instead of standing up when I was conducting moral value section. The kids saw us as if we are one of them when we squatted. There was a kid that wrapped me and my friend’s neck with his arm behind us and they talked comfortably to us too.


          They are just too cute to handle, I showed all my love equally to every one of them when conducting the activities. I even searched in the internet on how to teach them and comprehend them.
We must praise them suitably so they will not have a feeling of ego and at the same time feel the job they have accomplished are being appreciated. We must also treat everyone equally so they won’t felt being left out. I hug them, gave them rewards and presents at suitable time. I praised them and pat their heads nicely whenever they did a great, talked to them personally and even pinched their beautiful faces softly. Besides that, when I saw some kids hitting each other badly, I will stopped them immediately and taught them to apologize and be nice to each other. Other than that, I am happy to work with my friends. Our friendship had improved throughout this activity. We helped and encouraged each other when conducting games to the children. Since I can’t speak fluent Bahasa Melayu, my malay friends are there to help me and correct my sentences. I really appreciate their kindness and promise that I will work on my Malay language



          This is the first time I felt how it was to be a teacher. We need to have patience, knowledge, communication skills and the most of all, love. They are considered fortunate because they managed to enroll in this school. However, I always felt like crying because they were so innocent and pity them, they shouldn’t been treated in this kind of way. I make sure I always give them my best to make them happy and at the same time taught them to behave well.

          This is such a priceless experience in my life. I felt a sense of fulfillment. I enjoyed my time spent with these children and interaction with the teachers. I am very happy that I can get away from my busy college routine and indulge in teaching children and surprisingly, it helps me to relax.The best teacher is the experience in your life. They are my teacher at the same time, teaching me to appreciate what I have now, and should not hesitate to grab the opportunity that come towards me in the future that will make my life better and happier. I can’t wait to meet them again.




Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih (15/4)

         Today, my friend and I reached the school at 8.30a.m. As usual we went to the principal meeting room for a short briefing. There were journalist came over to record our activities on it and they might aired it on rtm2 this coming few days. So I make sure I did well since I am carrying UM’s name.
            After the short briefing from the principal, I prepared the stuff for my game station and waited for the children to come over. My game station is called “Joint the rope”. They are required to find things that are removable from their body yet can be join together. After joining the rope, it must be very firm and long too.

          The children ran to my station. They looked super excited. Every time I ask them “sihat tak?”, then they will surely replied full of anxiety “sihat!” at the top of their voice. After I explained the rule of the games, they started to joint all the things together in 5 minutes. Sometimes I gave them hints, so that they are able to make a longer line. Every group managed to pass this game except for 1 group because their rope was not stable. I can see that they really enjoyed this game.



          I still remember there was a group, a guy wore a shoelace- shoe and he didn’t want to take off his shoes even though his group really needs it to make the line longer. Seeing this, I started to encourage him. I told him how important it was for him to lend his shoelace to his group. I said “your members really want to win this game, you don’t feel like winning this game?” Finally after words of encouragement, he then took off his shoelace and his group won. I am so happy when he took off his shoelace and lent it to his team to help them win the game. From here I really felt that I have improved, I am able to convince them.

          There is one thing we could learn from them and it is listened to others. They always stop and listen to people’s opinion even if they have lots of ideas in their mind. Besides, I am proud of Ying Ying as she willing to take turn speaking in front of the children even though she was shy and afraid at the first time. We must have courage and take the challenge to improved ourselves all the time.


       We ended the day by giving out prizes to the winners and also consolation prizes. Another meaningful day was well spent.  



Sekoah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih (6/5)





Last Friday, we prepared a farewell party to those children. As usual, we had aerobic as our first section to warm up our bodies. I realized there were few new students that I never met before, so I tried to approach them and ask them to line up properly so that they won’t accidentally hurt each other during aerobic section. 


After that, we prepared a lot of colour papers for them to write down anything such as their wishes, ambition, appreciation words and so on. Some of the children have a lot of ideas on what to write and draw on the paper but some of them tend to follow the style of their friends’ drawing. They are just a typical young kids. I did remember some scenes when I was in primary school. I used to struggle what I have to write about my feeling and ambition and there were always have some friends hand in the similar drawing and writing.



             After 30 minutes, we collected the papers from the kids and pasted it on the strings.


                     We are trying to develop their creativity thru drawing and writing.



            After that we began our farewell party, my best friend, Marzlyqa was MC of the day. She was great. She managed to interact with those children so well that beyond my imagination. The children were singing and making cheers happily with the lead of Marzlyqa. I wished someday I will have the courage to be MC. Because I think we need to have strong communication skills in workplace.


          I think the happiest and touchiest part is when some children did recognize you after so many weeks. One of this little boy named Akhim recognized me. He hold my hands excitedly and asked me to guess which his drawing is. He is so cute. After chatting so many things with him, I realized he was actually drew on 3 pieces of paper and he has a brother study in this school too. 

          We gave presents, made drinks and cut cakes for the children before we ended the farewell. I saw the children were enjoying the cake so much and I felt happy.

This is the last day we can officially plan activities for them. It’s with a heavy heart that I must say Goodbye to them. I started to miss them.

Talent are everywhere, however seldom can they be recognized. Through those activities we had planned, I saw most of them are actually quite talented. They are good in drawing, solving problem and creative.  Besides that, some of them had become more active and brave. They also slowly enhanced their soft skills such as communication skills, leadership and teamwork. I wished they will be successful one day and make their teachers proud. I wished to say thank you to the teachers and the students in Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih because they indirectly taught me a lot of things like tolerance, patience, stay positive as those values are the keys of success. I am glad I have the opportunity to conduct and learn so many things in this programme.


Ending phrase
              This volunteering works really transformed me into a better person. I enjoyed helping people especially teaching kids. Those volunteering experience taught me to be grateful with everything I have now as there are so many people out there are less fortunate than me. I gained a lot of experiences like how to coexist with my groupmates, NGO as well as the children and how to plan yet carry out the activities. Bring joy to others is actually bringing joy to myself. Other than that, I had volunteered to give an opening speech for my religion event recently because I wanted to be as good as my friend. I surely can do what she can do. This activity motivated me to take the first step to improve and outshine myself. Lastly, I wished to thank University of Malaya who gave me the chance to experience such a priceless and unforgettable volunteering activities in social engagement course. I will join volunteering job in semester break to gain more experience that never taught in school.



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