We took a Social
engagement course this semester, where we had to do 32 hours of
community work. The authorities at Rumah Hope agreed to let us lend
them a hand, we were very grateful for that chance. Rumah Hope is an
orphanage that shelters neglected, abused children from broken homes.
The social engagement
was a very rewarding one, especially for me. It felt like what I was
doing was something worthwhile. It felt very good to give back. The
first day I went to Rumah hope, I cleaned the dining tables so the
children can have their lunch when they came back from their sports
activity. As the children were not there, we tried to help out the
staff in any way we can .We were asked to help in the office. Rumah
Hope was going to have an annual meeting with all of their
benefactors and directors. Me and Kalai drafted the invitation
letters and the typed out and printed the addresses to be put on
Invitation letters.
After we returned from
lunch, the children came back. We helped them out with their studies
a little bit. I taught Mathematics to John. More like practicing, as
he was already very good at it. He kept asking me to give larger
numbers for him to add and subtract. Helping him teach made me
realize how much I have missed out on not having a little kid
brother. After we had done our fair share of mathematics for the day,
we mingled with the kids a little more and left for the day/
The next day we were
there early too, and the kids were at school. So we were tasked to
helped out the staff prepare food for them. We cleaned and prepared
squids, which was not the most savory of jobs. But it made me
appreciate the work the staff do to help the children. I can at least
say I can prepare squids on my own now. After helping in the kitchen,
there was not much to do but wait till the children came back. When
the children returned we made rubber bracelets with them, which was
very hard work for me but they seem to have mastered the art of it
and were adept at making the links. The children would veer off from
making bracelets and have mock fights among themselves. They provided
the punching sounds. We wanted to hang out with them more but our
time was up and we had to go back to UM.
This social engagement
was very rewarding. I have done volunteering work before but in all
of them I was not very involved and just raised money for the
charity. I hope to change that, this Ramadan I plan to be there
feeding the children instead of just raising money for it.
