In conjunction with Global Youth Service Day, which ran from the 23rd to the 25th of April, YES Alumni Malaysia conducted its English Enrichment Program on the 24th of April at Compassion Home, a children’s shelter located in the USJ section of Subang Jaya. We were joined by two volunteers from the U-Grad Alumni network, and set out to execute our plan for leadership success on that day.
As we YES Alumni Volunteers approached Compassion Home, we were prepared to face the unexpected. Yes, we were leaders, pumped and ready to serve our community and enrich the lives of these young children through language and knowledge, but we were unsure as to how they would react to our modules, comments and gestures. Picture this: approximately forty children, most of which seemed to be on a sugar rush that day, confined to an outside porch area versus about ten of us volunteers. Yes, our hearts were beating and our minds were racing.
Alas, we need not have had such concerns, for the children were as enthusiastic about the program as we were! As the volunteers prepared our materials for the day and sat down to mingle with the kids, it was clear that they felt at ease to talk to us. Some may have been shy at first, but some pre-program conversation with them about their schooling lives and hobbies allowed them to feel more comfortable with us. The program for the day kicked off with an introductory session between the children and the volunteers. The volunteers used a more visual method of communication through the use of writings and drawings on a mahjong paper, which they read from to introduce themselves. The children were asked to mention their names, ages and career aspirations. It turned out that there were many aspiring doctors, artists and singers amongst us! It’s good to know that these young ones have a good level of ambition planted in them!
Next up was the quilt activity, whereby the children were asked to convert their verbal introductions into writings and drawings, kind of the opposite of what we volunteers did. They were asked to write their names, ages, hobbies, career aspirations and anything else that they wanted us to know about them. They were given many colorful papers, color pens, markers and even magazine cuttings to add some creativity to their little projects. They were then asked to present their pieces of work to their friends as well as the volunteers. The kids truly displayed their creative skills as some of them used pictures instead of words to tell us more about themselves. Their work was then pasted on the nearby wall, arranging their pieces of work in a quilt-like pattern that represented unity.
Then came the fun part. The children were divided into groups of three, and each group was given a number of marshmallows and straws. They were to use these materials to build a structure that had a strong base; in other words, would be able to stand without falling! At the same time, they were also given word sheets that contained certain English terms such as “Strong” and “teamwork” and had to explain their meanings, also in English. The volunteers watched in both amusement and awe as the kids worked together to build some very unique-looking structures. One group even attempted to replicate the Petronas Twin Towers! However, it was the group that built a pyramid-like structure that surpassed the rest, thanks to the structure’s strong foundation. As the children also worked together to come up with synonyms for the given English terms, it was evident that we got them picking their brains and thinking out of the box, which is what we hoped to achieve through this activity. The activity also proved the importance of teamwork and communication, since the assignment was a group effort.
After a short break and clean-up session, the upper secondary students and the rest of the children were divided into two separate sessions that were conducted simultaneously. The older students participated in a session called “One World One Dream”, conducted by the U-Grad volunteers, whereby they were treated to a general knowledge game. They were asked to come up with an A-Z list of countries from around the world. Needless to say, some of them spent a good while figuring out countries beginning with the letters ‘O’ and ‘Q’. Later, they were divided into groups of two and played against each other in a guessing game where they had to identify flags of countries from around the world. Although some guesses were pretty tricky, the students were certain able to deepen their general knowledge in this area. During the session, the students were also given the opportunity to speak about their dreams and aspirations, especially in terms of their career goals.
Meanwhile, the YES volunteers conducted a session called “Malaysian Culture through English” with the younger students. First of all, we divided them into two lines and gave them a phrase in Malay, which the person at the end of the line would translate to English and then continue on by whispering the phrase to the person in front of him or her. This whispering continued until the other end of the line, and when the children conveyed the final phrase to us, it was nothing close to the original! The volunteers and children had a good time laughing off their mistakes, and took to briefing them on the importance of communication, especially in a big group such as theirs. Next, our YES Alumni Secretary, Miss Terianne Campos, briefed the children on the kolam-drawing tradition practiced by the Indian community, after which they had the opportunity of creating their very own rice kolam using the template of an elephant! Later, our very own President, Mr. Faisal Hassan, showed off his story-telling skills by telling the children the story of how the Chinese zodiac came to be. They were then given pictures of these zodiac animals to color in. Needless to say, most of the boys wanted to color pictures of dragons and tigers.
Meanwhile, some of the volunteers were hard at work at the kitchen preparing for the barbeque that aimed to promote a healthy eating lifestyle to the children. Inspired by Chef Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution” campaign, our alumni nutrition expert ensured that these children would eat healthy food only that evening. Such food included a good deal of fresh corn, capsicum, potatoes, tomatoes and grilled sausages. The volunteers also brought some food to be shared. The older children were very helpful with the barbeque, as they helped us with the set-up of the grill and burning of charcoal. We were then joined by the younger children, who enjoyed their satay-style grilled sausages and corn.
After a hard day’s work, it was time for the volunteers to say goodbye. Looking back at when we first met the children and the openness and warmth they exhibited by the time we were about to leave, we could see that we indeed made an impact on them. Not only were we able to encourage the use of English, we brought out the confidence in them, allowing them to realize their individual potentials. Hopefully, this will assist them in achieving their dreams of becoming doctors and singers! After a touching goodbye session, the volunteers left Compassion Home with a sense of fulfillment. Not only were we able to realize the goals of Global Youth Service Day, we were able to influence and leave a mark on these children, and the smiles on their faces were indeed priceless.
YES Alumni Malaysia would like to thank the management of Compassion Home, our fellow U-Grad volunteers, and not forgetting all the YES volunteers who put their mind and hearts into that day. We look forward to expanding our English Enrichment Program with similar success in the near future.
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