I gathered we are going to Batam for our staff retreat as well as to visit a learning centre there. The first thing that struck my mind then is the last time I did volunteering work was closed to 20 years back. I was still studying in NTU, and every Saturday’s ritual back then was to visit and chat with the elderly living alone in one-room rented flats.
It was my first overseas volunteer trip, and honestly I’m clueless of what to expect. But as long as I go with an open mind and with the heart to spend time with the children, I think I can term it as a little personal achievement.
The day had finally arrived, we took a long and bumpy ride to the school. When I stepped into the hall, all the children were sitting orderly anticipating our arrival. We had a short introduction to the children by Mr Samuel Quek before we embarked on our games for the day. The games we have planned were Charade, Simon Says and Mr Wolf. These games are chosen to allow them the opportuinity to speak English and expand their vocabularies. We had great fun together and I could catch the delighted glimpses on their faces when they answered correctly, and collected small prizes during the Charade session. I was most impressed by the children’s alertness, understanding of the language and sharp reaction in the ‘Simon says” game. It was a challenge for us to determine the winner for the game as they are all highly intelligent people!
We ended our time with the children with phototaking, songs and distributing the rest of the prizes, stationaries, and goody bags to all of them before we waved goodbye.
We headed to a student’s family near to the school right after the school’s visit. It was a simple zinc-roofed house which personally I felt that the living conditions could be further improved. The student had done very well academically and I do hope the groceries and cash donations from our school’s parents could be of a little help to them financially.
I’m glad I have embarked on this trip and yes, I’ll definitely wish I could visit them again next year! Education and literacy should be make available to all children regardless of the circumstances they are borned in. Kudos to centres set up by Goducate that provide after school care and learning opportunities for these children in Batam.
Jennifer Yap
staff of Kindercampus