Yap Ee Teng's Reflections

I, Yap Ee Teng, undertook my social engagement course this semester. The purpose of this course is to develop student’s concern about society, and how to work together as a team in order to help people in need. After 32 hours of social engagement service in Rumah Hope which is an orphanage home that occupy orphanage of a number of 45, I have thousand feelings in my inner heart.

First and foremost, I found that there are many people in this world need us to lend a hand. It is sad to say that not everyone is lucky to have all the so basic things we called, like parents, family, love, money and so on. It is not their fault to be born in a broken family or abandoned by their parents. As a member in this society who is lucky enough, we should lend our hand to them and help them as much as we can do it.

Sometimes, what they want is only caring, love, and concern from the society. It can be seen when we see that they are happy enough in the moment we play with them, teach them to study and interact with them. I feel sad at the moment we leave the Rumah Hope after spending a whole day time with them. I guess they are feeling sad and a sense of disappointment as they don’t know when to see us and play with us again.

After this social engagement, I promise myself that I will spend my time to do some volunteering activities and help the people in need. There is no reason for me to do so but I sincerely feel happy when I can help a person and he/she give a most beautiful smile I ever seen in return.

Yuan Keat's Reflections

I personally think that this is a wonderful event for all undergraduates to be involved in. Through this social engagement course we were able to participate the life of children in Rumah Hope. We had alot of interaction with the children but we are limited to interact with the younger one because for them who are above 18 they are studying in respective universities and they have their own schedule to go on. However, we are grateful to be able to be part of their life by interacting with them in a few ways.

All the children are happy to see us there. During the activity for the first day, I were able to see the children who deep inside they actually reflects what they faced from their parents who abuse them and in their subconscious they will think that that is the correct way of interacting with people. Therefore it is necessary for us to understand their condition and we will treat them the way will help them change the habit. Suprisingly I can see that caretakers are extremely patient with them and they are willing to share with us the children condition for us to react a suitable way.

Through some conversation with the children around age 14-17, we know that they actually have their own ambition and they are willing to work for it but i personally think that the guidance provided do not show them the right way to achieve it therefore we are there to share some knowledge and experience with them also. For us who have a very good family should really appreciate what we have and learn not to complain.

Children have their activity time everyday and they will go for futsal and badminton 3 times a week. We are allow to join them during badminton and futsal. It is good for them to create the bond among each other and to have healthy body.

Besides interacting with the children, we also help out to mopping the floor or preparing cooking ingredients. The entire moment there was meaningful because through this we will allow ourselves to think twice about our life which is so much better compare to others who are unfortunate. It was really a good experience for my group members and I. I am grateful that the management of Rumah Hope accepted our request to conduct our social engagement there and made this a wonderful and memorable experience.

Jason's Reflections

This social engagement was a wonderful experience not only for me but for my teammates as well. We had lots of interaction with the children from Rumah Hope orphanage especially the young ones which are age below 10. They are joyful and adorable though some of them were cunning enough to take advantage of my forgetfulness, for instance I was tricked to believe that Dinash was Peter by the person himself. However, looking back at it, it was still a wonderful experience as it signifies the growth of my bonding with the children.

Most of them seem happy and care-free which shows that the orphanage is doing a good job in raising and developing them. Furthermore, I was surprised that the children were able to follow instructions from the caretakers, though of course, some of them were hesitant at first. Even though, some of them had a sad and complicated past, they seem to be going about their lives joyfully and normally like most other children would.

Our time with the children were actually quite limited as most of the children have school in the morning. So, our morning time was used to help out the orphanage in any way we could like, sweeping and mopping the floor, preparing cooking ingredients and doing office work. I have to admit that the tasks were dull and boring, but still we were able to learn something new as some of us have never help out in the kitchen before. I was even able to learn how to trim meat, which otherwise, I could only learn how by watching my mother doing so.

The orphanage has children ranging from 5 to 18 years of age. Though, we could hardly able to interact with the older children as they have their own tight schedule to follow, we were still able to accompany them for futsal and badminton. Most of our time were spend on taking care and playing with the kids, I have to say they were a handful and I never expected to be so. They would ask you to carry them on your back and they would also run around like crazy and we would have to follow them. Still, it was a great experience to see them smiling and laughing as some of them they had a sad past with their own family. I am grateful that the management of Rumah Hope accepted our request to conduct our social engagement at their orphanage as my experience there was a memorable one.       

Teng Wei Wei's Reflections

TENG WEI WEI http://jayllion.blogspot.com/
OTH DAY
All i had feel that is I should be grateful. I should appreciate that what i had today. I am very happy that I am the lucky one. My parents are all here and they are responsible for their role as a parents. I want to say thank to my parent and my beloved siblings that share their childhood with me. And, thanks UM for giving me this opportunity to gain some information and gratefulness feeling in rumah hope. This social engagement was really nice for me because i can feel that i am the lucky guy if compared to them. But, when i see they are smiling while playing with us, the luckiness feeling gone and all of them are the same with us. They are ordinary human, they smile when they are playing, they eat what we had eaten. I not even feel that they are abused by their parent. We are just like classmates which studying together in rumah hope. Below are the flier that i took from the children house.

1ST DAY
I am very sad and regret because i cant attend during that day. I cant even plan my activities and lead the children that day. I have lost one of the memorable experience on social engagement. So sorry so say that I have not play with the children.

2ND DAY
After all, I had a feeling that we should take care of every child inside rumah hope but me only meet Bayern that time. It is a sad case that i could not meet all the child inside that rumah hope. But, after viewing their sleeping room, i can feel that they are unhappy inside the room. The clothes are messy and their toys are separated and become less and less. They could not have a complete pieces of toys and could not wear a new shirt. It was a sad cases and i think that we should always share our time with them.When all the children had go to school, the only boy left inside the rumah hope is Bayern because he is only six years old. He was so naughty and cry when he was unhappy. I though he was alone and wanted to attract some attention of the peoples so that he was crying and shouting at all the time. So, me was playing with him and chasing him such that a bad guy chasing a good man. He tends to ran aways from me and hide himself at the corner of rumah hope.He was hoping me find him and play with him.When i was chasing him, he was happy. It is such a pretty childhood if he likes to play hide and seek.

3RD DAY
All i got today is some of the kids was not brilliant in their studies but they tends to do correction and he do it well after our teaching. He was happy after he was finishing his correction. Some of the children was smart and able to answer anything we gave him. Some of the kids was good in colouring and playing badminton. Maybe, they have talents in all of this field, and we should be a medium for them to train their skills. I think that they should have their talents in order to move in the society. It is my first time to clean a squids but i find it was so easy after i had familiar with it. By the ways, if the kids tend to learn about some skills, they could perform well in their skills and even better than us and the adults. When they was playing badminton, all of the kids manage to hit the ball we pass to them. It was a familiar screen, likes Lee Chong Wei plays badminton with Lin Dan. Maybe, one of them could replace Lee Chong Wei for the next decades.

4TH DAY
All i got today is we must stay happily at all the time. We must help each other when they needed. We must not trying to cheat other just like Bayern. He was so small and had cheats others. Why a kids cheat others? Maybe he had his point to be standstill so he cheat others. But, i think that kids should not cheat others because he is small. Maybe, cheating is teached by his parent?I had see that the child have talents and their talents should be cultivate. I had understand that Child Protection is used to protect child and make sure their future is bright and does not contain any black spot.Child Protection teach me that i should not posted any pictures or details about the kids.We should share our things to each other right? I think that kids should share their things instead for himself. We should spend our time with them to play such that football. They had invited me and call me to play with them. I feel happily beause i can play with them. I love chasing each other and i love football. I love to play with them. I had try to make a platic ring and help the kids too. I make a ring for them. They wear it and i feel happily.I feel unhappy because my friend leave me. But, it is a memorable day for me. Thanks.

Support Rumah Hope

Volunteer Helpers

The home is grateful to all volunteers for sacrificing their personal interests for the children, and welcome many more to help in their cause.

Non-Cash Donations

• New beds and mattresses to replace old, damaged ones.
• Clothing Cupboards/ Wardrobes for the dormitories.
• Towel Racks.
• Potted artificial plants.
• Groceries, preferably dry goods that have long shelf life.
  e.g. Milk powder, fruit juices, jam, kaya, coffee.
• Educational needs - please speak to Rumah Hope management before purchasing any expensive items of high value such as camera's or laptops for university students.
• Study Tables.
• Stationery.
• Black Garbage Disposal Bags (Large/Medium).
• First Aid Items.
• Good Quality Toiletries & Personal Care Items, Sanitary Pads for Girls.
• Bibles in English, Bahasa Melayu, Chinese or Tamil.

Monetary Donations

Rumah Hope operates solely on public donations and government grants. Funds for Rumah Hope are sourced mainly from corporate bodies, societies and various individuals. Past donors include Social Welfare Department, NGO’s, Corporations and the general public. Rumah Hope is grateful to them for their kindness and generosity in trying to give these children a brighter future.

Taking into account the already subsidized medical and transport costs, the upkeep of one child amounts to RM400.00 per month. We appeal to corporate bodies and the public for financial assistance to support these children. Rumah Hope is also attempting to raise funds through appeal letters, charity dinners, carnivals and sale of food & handicrafts made by the children of Rumah Hope

Maintenance of the Home is now at RM40,000 per month (60 children) for operating expenses such as utility bills, food, medical bills, stationery, minimal staff salaries and education expenses as majority of the children are in the schooling age group.

There is no permanent obgliation on the part of the donors, feel free to increase your contribution or take a retreat as and when is necessary.

Contact Rumah Hope

Address

No. 45, Jalan 20/2, Paramount Garden, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Phone

03-7954 5523

Email

info@rumahhope.org.my

Thiagarajan's Reflections

After everything was said and done, we have to honestly admit that it was tiring.

We've now gained a whole new respect for people who are involved in community and care work. With mothers day only just around the corner, we've renewed afresh our appreciation for our own families.

We formed bonds with eachother that will endure for many years to come.

Our volunteering was only for a few days but the memories we have formed will stay with us forever.

It's All About The Children

From around 3PM, the children start return from school. This is where the most challenging, but most rewarding part of our project all took place.

Many of the children come from broken homes and severely lacked the love, care and validation that they so deeply long for from an adult role-model. It was truly a privilege for us to fill that need for them.

While we were able to quickly earn their trust and respect, it was difficult to equally distribute "enough" of our attention to all of them. We quickly discovered how different their personalities temperaments, and needs were. The expressions through which each child received care and validation was as individual and unique as everything else about them.

For some, they just wanted to sit and talk to us. Knowing that someone was interested in listening to them and valued what they thought made their day.

For others, they didn't necessarily need interaction from us but were happy simply having our attention. They just wanted to know that someone was watching them. That is all it took for them to feel valued and cared about.

For many of them, particularly the younger ones, nothing excited them more than physical activity. Being able to run around, jump, get sweaty and share the enjoyment of it all was what put smiles on their faces.

Some even took kindly to physical displays of affection.

However, there was no doubt that all of them needed nurturing.

Day-to-Day Runnings

Block 2, which is where we volunteered, is home to about 50 people in total. About 40 children ranging from ages 3 to 23 years old, while the rest are management and staff personnel.

Such a large facility is no joke to run. Imagine all the work that would be required to maintain a home with a family of 5. All 50 members of this family need to be fed 3 times a day. The premises which are large enough to accommodate up to 70 people need to be kept clean, tidy, safe and organised.

During the day, when most of the children are at school, is when all the housekeeping duties and meal preparation is done. Once the children are back, the care workers need to focus on the children. Despite the immense list of jobs to do, only about 3 to 5 people are on hand. They largely rely on the help of volunteers to ensure that they can complete all necessary tasks.

In the earlier half of the day, most of our time was spent personally getting to know the ins and outs of large-scale catering and cleaning.

About Rumah Hope

Beginnings

Rumah Hope was started in 1994 as a social ministry of Good Hope Lutheran Church, ELCM in aid of 5 needy children and as a sanctuary for abused, neglected and under-privileged children between the ages of 5-17. The Home relies solely on public funding to maintain itself. After 4 years, the Home moved from an old rented bungalow in Old Klang Road to a new purpose built home, Rumah Hope 1 on the large grounds of Good Hope Lutheran Church in Paramount Garden , PJ.

The construction of the home was possible thanks to generous contributions in cash and kind namely from Evangelical Lutheran Church Malaysia , Khalid Aluminium Industries Sdn Bhd, NGO’s the general public and various corporate bodies. Rumah Hope 2, a second block was opened on 10th October 2006 on the same church grounds. Rumah Hope 1 and Rumah Hope 2 will be able to house a maximum of 70 children. The Home is registered with Registrar of Societies is also registered with the Selangor Welfare Council and it has been granted Tax Exemption status by the Ministry of Finance.

Objectives

Rumah Hope aims to provide a suitable social setting with physical and emotional care to children who have been deprived of these necessities in life. The Home aims to:

• - Provide a haven (health care, shelter, education and social interaction) to physically, emotionally and psychologically scarred children.
• - Provide security and comfort to these children who never have experienced tenderness and loving care.
• - Provide the opportunity to reconcile parent and child from troubled homes through conselling and therapy.
• - Provide the chance of wholesome education in government schools.

Through a sound upbringing and an environment that nurtures, loves and cares, Rumah Hope hopes to provide these children the opportunity to realize their dreams and step out into the world as independent, mature individuals who can be successful in life. The Management Committee, comprises of voluntary members from Good Hope Lutheran Church and other churches under the Evangelical Lutheran Church Malaysia (ELCM) together with individuals from private companies. All the management members are active in public life and are ardent supporters of various public welfare organizations.

Along with our efforts to secure funds, a request for an annual government grant is being made annually. With government aid backing us, the possibility of extending our reach to more children becomes very real. The Home is grateful to its present batch of volunteers for sacrificing their personal interests for these children. We welcome more volunteers to help us in our cause.