Journey of a Lifetime Part I

Assalamualaikum. I've been pushing myself to write about this entry for soo long since the day it happened. It has been one of the most memorable experience that left a big impact in my life. Hope that you all will have a time to read this :D

6th Dec 2010
Last day of SEM 1 EXAM! and its Maths. What a perfect subject. Somehow, it didn't felt like the last day of exam probably because of the humanitarian project that I'll be doing this week. Anyhow, I've made it through two weeks of exam. Next, the project! This will be the second big project for the Smiling Soul Club, a new club that was established this year by the juniors of M10E and M10F. The first project was a success and hopefully this one will be too!
At 6.00 pm, the bus of KMB made its way to UIA. This project is made with the collaboration of the UIA students. Upon arriving at UIA, we met with JASA members, a club that handles the project to do with Orang Asli. Our target is the Orang Asli at Pulau Indah, Klang. Our SOS members were divided into many bureaus and everyone seems to be looking forward to the whole project.

7th Dec 2010
Two days spent in UIA. It gave me a view on what's life would be like in a university. The worst part was we had to pay for our own meal where in KMB, the meals are always ready and we as a student only have to dig in. Imagine having to fork out nearly rm15 for one day on food! I am sooo glad to be one of the KMBians. Overall, I had a great time at UIA because the bulidings were all magnificent to look at! it all took my breath away seeing all the wonderful architecture...
Oh not to forget everyday we had to go to bed late at night to prepare for the journey to Pulau Indah and the activities that were going to be held there for the Orang Asli.


8th Dec 2010

The day we actually went to Pulau Indah, Klang. We got up early and got all of our things on the bus. We have planned to arrive at the place at 12 pm but was a bit late upon the arrival because of some technical problem with the bus. Since the bus cannot go into the village because the road was small, we had to unload evrything that we have brought with us and carried it by hands to the hall. Everyone helped with the carrying and it was a good sight seeing all hands helped. Once evrything is cleared, the catering bureau went straight to work and prepared our lunch while everyone else went for mahabbah visit. Mahabbah visit is where the KMB and UIA students each carried bags of clothes to be donated to every house in the village. The people there were all very friendly and welcomed everyone of us with open hands. The children were also excited to see many of us and almost immediately offered their help to show us the way around the village since it was our first time.
After zohor prayer, we had our lunch. We were told that the menu would not be the usual food we eat at home even at KMB, such as there would be no chicken and we have to bear with vegetables as well as salted fish for 4 days there. When you're hungry and there's not much choice on your plate, you don't really care what's on it, trust me. It was also very enjoyable sharing your food with others.
The module bureau had an ice breaking session with the children on Kampung Orang Asli Pulau Indah. The students introduced them to many songs. The children also made name tags for themselves and I could actually see their faces beaming with joy when they had made something on their own. They were proud of themselves. However, there were also a few who gave up all of a sudden even before trying to write something on their own. From this, I saw that they may have a low-self esteem and this could probably affect their learning particularly when they feel like this at such a young age.
At night, we had the opening ceremony with the villagers in the presence of Tok Batin. We've introduced the project and told about our aims of coming to the village. Each of the UIA and KMB students also has a 'family' of Orang Asli while staying there. This is really to create a closer bond with the villagers. I had two families but only got to know one. My brother and sister whom I share the family with are Azlan from KMB and Kak Atiqah from UIA.