Parting of Ways

Yes, I know this post is probably late. I should have posted this, like, 7 hours ago.
I was busy yesterday and my Internet connection crashed for almost a whole day. What a time to write a blog post, eh?
Sorry for the opening. I was tired. And still am at the time of writing this.

Anyways, let's get down to business.
Saturday, 19th March 2016. Our last day of CSI. The night before we planned to depart for Rumah Juara at 9:30 in the morning, but because some people obviously don't know how to tell the time, we departed late at 10. What a way to start the day.

Bad starts aside, we arrived at Rumah Juara at around 10:30. When we got there, we happened to pass through a familiar vehicle. A van. White van. With kids. Familiar kids. It was the kids from Rumah Juara. No, they weren't abducted, but some of the caretakers took the kids for a ride to play badminton or something. So when we got to the house, practically only the caretakers were around.

We were supposed to teach the kids a little bit about cooking. We thought maybe we could prepare some of our cooking ingredients, and cook with the kids after they come back. But nope, that didn't happen. One of the caretakers told us they will be back at about 11, and by that time another group of people will also come to do service. So she told us to go ahead and use the kitchen to cook. So we did. We cooked fried rice and tom yam.

Those are some big wok stoves down there.

We didn't take a picture of the tom yam, so here have just one picture of the fried rice.

The clock almost stroke 11. The kids should be back in a few minutes. And they did. Along with a bunch of people. And by a bunch, I mean like A BUNCH. Like a battalion of people wearing some uniform polo shirt. They all went inside the house, cramping the space so much that you can barely move without touching somebody else. On their shirts were written the logo,

This group. Whatever or whoever they are. I'm not Malaysian, I don't know them.

I don't know what's the occasion, but about 20+ people just showed up and took over our plans for the day. So basically our plans were foiled.

Our favorite child is here!

Anyways, moving on; the chief caretaker spoke to us. She said that she appreciates our work, but our cooking will not be sufficient because of the sudden increase of people in the house. What? Which people? The OTS Group people. Who played with the kids while we waited for them to finish because the caretaker told us that they will start lunch after the OTS Group people are done with their activities, which was supposed to be around 1 PM.

So we waited. And waited we did.

And took a group picture at a nearby playlot we also did.

It was 1 PM. And they are STILL not done with their activities. We had grown anxious by that time, because we were hungry worried that our food will get cold by the time they are done. Eventually the chief caretaker told us that someone from the OTS Group will order KFC because our food are nood enough to feed 40+ people.

"Well, now that sucks.", I said to myself. We waited for hours on end only to be told that we went there that day for nothing.

As if to give us a farewell thanks, the chief caretaker called out all the kids for a little while. And so, that was how this picture was taken.

Our final picture at Rumah Juara

Yes, I know. I, too, notice the relatively negative note in this post.

It's not that I don't like Rumah Juara and the kids. I really enjoyed my time there. I just didn't like our plans being compromised at the very last minute and that changed everything we had prepared beforehand. But anyways, I left Rumah Juara with a somewhat calm feeling.

                

 

I, for one, know that at least Someone will look out after them. They are in good hands.

The kids from yesterday

Greetings, this is Haris Adli from DC9 group 1, together with my other 8 friends of Taylor's University, we had to study a module called Community Service Initiative this semester (5). The name of the module kind of explains what's the module is about. Basically we have to voluntarily work intended to help people in a particular area, or even animals, like going to the orphanage or the animal shelter. my group and I decided to choose orphanage as they like kids. They've tried to contact many orphan's houses, some of them rejected, some of them are fully booked, until they found 1 orphan's house called Pusat Jagaan Rumah Juara located in Jalan 1/5 Petaling Jaya.

This is my first ever visit to the orphans, and by this visit, I discovered a new piece of information about that type of institution in my country (Malaysia).  Quite a trip, actually. Enough to make me wanting to write about it besides that I had to. I'm typing this on 3/15/16, so for the time being, we have visited them 3 times and there's 1 more to go. On the first visit, where we first met them, there are bunch of kids probably from 3 to 12 years old and most of them are Indians. As what I've observed, their guardian is very strict but for me personally it's something that they had to do in order to put some attitude and behavior in those kids as the kids are very playful and all, but then again, it's a kid thing, that's what kids do, they play and do not care.

The first week of our project we've done colouring. We printed out sets of 2 different colouring paper and brought colouring pencils where they had to share the colouring pencil, well, this would teach them the value of sharing, I guess. As we interacted with them over time, we get to see their differences in term of personality, some of them are very quiet, some are not, one like to bully and the other just dont really care but what they have in common is that they're friendly.

On the second visit, we did'nt really do much, we brought coloured paper and teach them how to make origami. The kids that sat with me did'nt really get what I teach, but what do I expect? they're like 5, and there's also someone who didnt even bother to try folding the paper. simplest folding is to make airplanes. Once the folding is done, you dont know how's the mess there is in the room. Funny thing about that day is one of the kid asked me to fold a boat for him and I tends to forgot how to fold it, so I asked a friend of mine to fold it for the kid but she also didnt know it either. We didnt spent much time with the kids on that day as they need to have their lunch by that time.

We still remembered that on the first visit, we brought meals for the kids, a complete meals of carbs, protein, minerals and so on that has been cooked by my friends, but the guardians told us that the kids will have their lunch on 12pm everyday. That is the time that we usually come and visit the orphans, so the guardians told us maybe we could bring something lighter next time like having a high tea. So on our third visit, we decided to share some of the culinary knowledge and experience that we had. My friends make a doughnut dough and we brought it together with a portable stove to the orphans and teach them how to knead, roll and shape the dough before frying it and in the end, they get to eat their own product. They seems like they had a lot of fun that day. I think that is their first time dealing with doughnuts and frying, so it's a new experience for them.

That's all for the first 3 visit. Looking forward for more :)

-Haris Adli

Blessing In Disguise

Blessing in Disguise.

Change is a peculiar thing as it can create the most beautifulest thing such as the change is seasons from winter to summer, and create the most darkest thing in existence, A Death. Regarding your point of view it can alter your perception positively or negatively as everyone is an individual with a different view on life and their surroundings, love it or hate it, it will seize to exist no matter the outcome of your decision onto doing something.

Now to shed a light about my opening I have to open up myself a little in this blog as much as i hate to but i have too. Depending on what time you are reading this, Good Morning, Good Afternoon and Good Evening, my name is Syed Alif Al-Attas and this is my blog entry on my journey on the subject Community Service Initiative. Reflecting back on my past till the present day I have seen, learnt and experienced a lot of things. Some are beautiful, most were painful. I remember once being an optimistic child with a smile stretch across my face that I could resemble The Joker (Batman), i'm kidding... I don't have green hair. Life never seem to bother me at that age but then again it didn't for normal kids as we never had encounter tragedy that would scar us for life. But as time proceed, that smile I use to have became more of a facade as I put it on my face rather then truly feeling "optimistic", like a war-torn veteran would say " Kid, you haven't seen the things I have seen", with time comes realization of what that statement meant. It is scary and sad to see how change can invoke a person from being happy to being depressed and with that very statement I just type, I can relate to depression as it was a really negative phase in my life and tough to shake of as it seems to come and strike my thoughts and emotions at any given time at the most least expected time and it genuinely sucks because who the hell loves being depressed? 

Away from that dark subject lets move on for a moment, Now in my 5th semester I with a group of friends have to tackle the subject Community Service Initiative and from the looks of it in our 6th week into it, we are technically prepared for it. Now, our group agreed upon going to an orphanage for our C.S.I assessment and walking through broken glass, Andre managed to get us a placement in Rumah Juara and once again Andre, good job on doing it. Now as the ophanage name states... Rumah Juara, lets translate it even though most of us know what It means but hey i want more words in my blog, Rumah Juara means House of Champions. As we all got to spend time with these kids and really got to know most of them, from what I see in them. They deserve that title. Beautiful and Strong kids we got to spend time with and every single one of them are unique in their own way. When I was a teen, I would often help my cousins and aunties help take care of their kids because they were really tired from taking care of them and hey, I love kids. So it became nature when I had to spend time with these "Juara". It was controlled chaos with them but I loved every moment with that and I felt fortunate enough to spend time with them as it was truly a great experience being with them and surprisingly thought me something I forgot, Happiness.

With apologies, back to the dark segment of this blog entry. I have seen pain and suffering from various means such as a death in a family to tragic story of homeless people in the streets of KL or Subang Jaya and it doesn't matter where the source of the story comes from but the pain it leaves behind and how it cripples anyone who can understand that type of feelings brings such burden to the soul. Growing up, hearing and seeing these stories being brought just made me more darker and less of a person and more towards of an asshole everyday. I won't deny the fact that I know I am an asshole but for some people, it a sad way to disguise their emotions and they are right it is and some times it can't be help as it becomes a part of you. Words such as hope and miracle becomes the fuel of your rage and it disgust you to the brink of self-destruction and having the means to escape anything relevant with it. In my view point life is a baron wasteland of darkness that will slowly end with armageddon of humanity. I'm looking at you Donald Drumpf. Life has become a negative backlash for me to the point some times I wish I wasn't born because it hurts living and it's hard to get by and to find a purpose for you to look forward to tomorrow. Example, I ain't looking forward for the Accounting mid-term, I ain't looking forward to sleeping, I ain't looking forward to a future that I fear that I could possibly fail. But then again, those are examples. Or are they? Sorry for sidetracking, what is meant here is that i'm a sad sad child with a poor of an excuse of an existence and branded as a joke towards those who are close to me and that's how I can reflect my life nearly every night before I sleep, well try too. And damn this getting dark, but I hate being me.

The title of this blog entry is called Blessing in Disguise. These child reminded me of what I use to feel. Happiness, Joy, Hope, and lastly, Love. When going to a orphanage, most people the back story of the children. Abandonment, domestic abuse, teenage pregnancy and more. All these children share a tragic backstory and it hurts thinking about it. I remember as our group were driving towards the orphanage and all I can think of is the tragic stories and some friends even ponder whats their story. Way to start my first trip to an orphanage huh? But when we got inside, I saw these little munchkins with smiles on their faces bright as day. Cheerful voices and with overwhelming excitement to see us university students coming in to spend time with them. It was a beautiful sight to see and the best thing about all these kids were the genuinity in this kids was their sense of gratitude of us spending time with them regardless if were helping them color the papers or teaching them origami. It was true happiness and I forgot what that felt like. Comparing my background to theirs, I ain't got nothing in these kids, besides asthma thought, damn you genetics. Despite of that they can still smile like what I could when I was a little Joker and it was truly awe inspiring and faithful for me. These a wonderful bunch of kids, Juara's and applaud their courage for being who they are. They have potential to be great people in the future I am glad to for them and can't wait for them to achieve greatness regardless of their background. 

I won't forget these kids because they brought a sense of value back into my life, they might not know it but they were my blessing's in disguise and brought some light into the darkness i've been living it and it is good to feel something after a long time. I'm grateful to have this experience and to spend time with these little "Juara's". I can say I sleep a little better with them in my memory. I would like to thank them for "awakening" me and teach me something I once knew. They were more of a teacher to me rather than I was to them, I thought them how to make a fox origami. They thought me to smile and feel. A rare instance in my life but truly a great memory to never forget. 

Thank you for reading this blog entry and once again with a abundance of apologies for the negative part of the blog, just opening up as Ms. Sharon told us too. So yeah. Good morning, Good afternoon and Good Night to you.

- Syed Alif

Madness, Tiredness, Happiness.

Good afternoon to whoever reads this. I was writing this on Sunday and thinking what should i write, there are so many things i would like to write about my ucm or csi experience.

I remembered being in a total frustration since our rejection with RACTAR. I was pissed to hell when they said they totally fully booked until the next 4 weeks and didn't tell about a thing, well maybe this is life, it is always unfair but what could i do. So after our rejection we went home real quick to find another place. There were me, Dara, Iyo, Kevin, Jennie and Clara. We tried to find and call many foster homes but they answered the same "Please, call again Monday morning." . So we just sent our proposal and hoping they agreed.

Monday is coming but i couldn't call them in the morning, since i had class from morning until evening but then Kevin told me he called one of the shelters and we had another rejection and the same thing happened, i stressed out.

The next day, which is Tuesday i called one of the foster homes. I seriously hate it when it comes to call foster homes, i don't know why but every single time i called them they sounded like i was doing something wrong or bad (which i didn't), they scolded me for ridiculous small things and the funniest part was, i talked in a very light, sweet, and kind tone, but no they just had to reply back with anger, full of hatred tone as if they don't need our help. I mean come on man, i am trying to help you over here and you scold me like i am some kind of worthless chump, but hey anything for marks. Anyway, i called this foster home on Tuesday. She couldn't place me in cause i wasn't so sure about our timing (they wanted us to do it on Friday and Saturday), i told her i needed to ask my friends first but then she scolded me (again) and finally i told her i would call her tomorrow.

Wednesday, 10 AM, i called the place again and still no answers. I called them twice, still no responds. I began to frustrated, where the hell were they?! We had an agreement! As i arrived to school, i still tried to contact them about 7 times and still no responds. I lost myself in the dark, my head was empty, i didn't know what to do, i disappointed my friends, i'm a shameful group leader.
Then, around 3 PM, one of the foster homes called me, said they already looked into our proposal and agreed to having us on Friday and Saturday. I was really happy as i could be, i told my friends we got the place at Rumah Juara and we will be serving only kids (since they are kids maniac). Rumah Juara is located at No. 1&1A, Jalan 1/5, Seksyen 1, Selangor. At that time, i didn't know where the place was, i had never seen it nor visited the place, but all i was thinking "We got the place baby! YEAH!" . We started to buying necessary things for Friday activities. We bought ingredients for lunch, printed a few paper for them to do colouring. Finally, Friday had come and i was really excited and nervous simultaneously. We cooked for their lunch and broke down things of what are we going to do.

We promised them to arrive there at 2.30 PM, because our activities started at 3 PM, they wanted to see us first. We arrived there at 2.45 PM, a little bit late cause jam stood in our way and that was the first time we had ever been to Rumah Juara. So, then i met the caretaker. She was nice but not too nice, and then she asked how long are we going to do our activities, how many times and so on, she looked into our lunch box and stared in a weird way, she asked "Is that lunch box? But the kids had already had their lunch. If you want, you can buy them some snacks like cookies or bread or something" . I shook up, not knowing they had their lunch and i whispered to Alif if he could get these kids something for snacks and then he went to buy snacks. We finally met the kids, they were all really small as if could tear them apart (kidding). Then i introduced myself and so were the rests of the groups, and i asked them who likes to colour and they were (not all of them, just a few) cheerfully saying "ME!" . We gave them the printed colouring paper and started to take colour pencils. This was the madness began, the kids started to running elsewhere, shouting and screaming each other. Some kids started to punch some of us, took one our friend's hat and threw it. We tried to remain calm and also tried to calm them but we were outnumbered, but then the uncle who was one of the caretakers came in and helped us to calm the kids. We finally could bond with them. They were actually really cute and agreeable when they were calm, i think most of kids are like this, we have to make them quite first so their natural beauty would appear. As the time goes by, we were really close to them. There were 17-19 kids and we had to do grouping, well, it wasn't really grouping actually, we just handled which one we could handle. Finally, they finished colouring it and we gathered their paper to see which three were the bests so that we could give them some gifts. Then, we told them who were the winners and we gave them the gifts. After all the colouring was done, we had a little snack time and we talked to them. After snack time, we really had nothing to do. I panicked and started to think what activities that we could do with them, i began to ask my friends and they also didn't know what to do. So, we just talked to them, chit-chatting and then i tried to do high-five with one of them, and they saw what i did, they liked it, as if they were zombies smelling humans odour from a distance and tried to capture it. They started to run and jump towards me, they wanted to see if they could do it higher than before, and they did it not one by one but all in one, one of them slapped my face "accidentally" and they wildly jumping all around. We were really tired and exhausted, so the uncle came in again and calmed them, we've never had this kind of tiredness before, it felt like going to a gym for 48-hours non-stop. So then after they calmed themselves we talked again with them and finally we said goodbye and we went home.

Overall, the day was really awesome. It was awesome meeting the kids, they were cool and awesome and cute. Well, although they were wild and hyperactive, at least when i met them i could see happiness through their eyes and all that happiness contagiously slipped to me.


-Daniel Andre

Road to Juara

They say anything worth finding won't be easy to find..whoever they are. And in relation to this post, it is true, though.

Hello, this is Daniel from group 3 of Taylor's University DC9 typing. Before you read further, please be warned that my writing style is awfully casual. I made this blog because..well, I had to. This is a part of an assessment for our Community Service Initiative class, or CSI for short. "Cool name", I know right. Anyways, this semester we were supposed to do some sort of community service under the theme of "Education for All". So basically we were supposed to teach some people in some place something. Sounds simple? Yeah right.

My group decided that we wanted to find an orphanage or a shelter for underprivileged kids. My group members like kids. We searched nooks and crannies of the Internet and eventually found a place we saw fit for our criteria. It was called RACTAR, short for Rumah Amal Cahaya Tengku Ampuan Rahimah. Our leader, Andre, contacted RACTAR and told them that we want to do community service in their place. The person on the phone said yes. We informed our lecturer that we found our place, showed her our proposal, and she approved. End of story..NOT.

The week after, just a couple of days before we were supposed to do our first meeting, Andre called RACTAR again to say that we were going to come the next day. Guess what. Plot twist. The person on the phone said that RACTAR was booked for activities by some other group of people and so our group couldn't go there for at least 4-5 weeks after that week..which is already too late for the deadline of our subject's due date. Things just got real bad real quick.

Andre, in his panic and frustration searched for other places in Petaling Jaya area via the Internet. Sounds easy? Nope. Not as easy as it sounds. By that time, most of the places were also booked for activities. After a couple of days of searching, researching, and contacting the places we eventually decided on Pusat Jagaan Rumah Juara in Jalan 1/5 Petaling Jaya, hence the title of this post and the blog.

So we went to this unlucky place today. I could write about what happened today, but then again it wouldn't be fair for the others, would it? They also need something to write about. And I also don't gave any pictures to give details about. Ok that was just an excuse for me to stop writing here. I guess in a couple of hours Andre will write the continuation of this story. Don't worry, you'll still see my works here in this blog as an editor. See y'all real soon.

Daniel K