Assalammualaikum and hey everyone. I am back with another post for all of you. Today, I would like to share with you guys about my experience and moments conducting this project. We are a team of 10 students all from the same department, same faculty, and same classes. You might assume that we are already close with each other right? Nope, to be honest, this project was what brought our friendship to the next level and made us a family. Our teamwork is by far the best I have ever experienced in my 3 years of studies. Now, let proceed about the activities. We had conducted five activities in total at two different toy library location which are Toy Library Apartment Idaman and Lin Lin Kindergarten. The toy library located at Apartment Idaman is the first toy library that was built with the help of Epic Community. They managed to build it in only five days, however, they are looking forward to expanding the toy library’s space soon to fit a lot more toys and play area for the kids there. The second location is at Lin Lin Kindergarten in SS3 which is currently been renovated to be used as the second toy library and workshop for the kids. Our activities mainly involve us helping with the upgrading of the toy library, interacting and conducting events with the community there and toy making/collection for them.
Toy Library at Apartment Idaman
Toy Library at Lin Lin Kindergarten
On the 30th of march, we went to the Toy Library at Apartment Idaman to start with our first activity which is to interact with the community. We did a short ice – breaking session with the community. Apparently, they have a club to help with the duty of managing the toy library there. The club consist of two coordinators; Mrs. Jameyah and Mrs. Khadijah and more than 10 children from the age of 7 to 16 years old who lives there. We got to talk to them and hear their ideas on making the toy library better. The purpose of this activity was to help or assist them in realizing their idea.
We divided ourselves into 3 groups which are the funds team, activity team for adult and kids. The children shared with us their ideas and thoughts on what they have discussed among themselves. After that, we tried to came up with a detailed solution or recommendations on how we can make the ideas better or true. For example, the activity team managed to came up with a detailed plan of having a carnival day which came to action on the 13th of April 2019. After hours of brainstorming, we gathered in front of a mini stage and shared the ideas and plans that we came up with to the whole group.
Next, we all took a short break for lunch and prayers then we gathered back at the toy library. Then, we started helping the children clean up the toy library. Some of us were cleaning indoors such as arranging the toys and cleaning them while some of us worked outdoor such as clearing up the weeds in the garden making it nice and clean.
After we are satisfied with how it turned out, we went to do a ‘home visit session’. This activity is to observe the neighborhood and to promote them into joining the toy library club. From this visits, we learned about their lifestyle and the environment they are living in. During the visit session, I found out that many children were very excited to join the toy library club and they cannot wait for the carnival day to take place.
On the 31st of March 2019, we went to the second location which is the Lin Lin Kindergarten at SS3. Here, we helped out with the cleaning and organizing of the place. We talked with the innovators which are Mr. Hor and Mr. Tan who helped developed the place. They explained to us the idea of building the place and what its purpose is going to be.
Then, we divided ourselves into two groups; girls and boys. Girls helped with the indoor works. We opened the boxes filled with toys and books that were donated to us and we cleaned them before we arranged them on the shelves and drawers.
Meanwhile, the boys helped Mr. Hor outside such as cleaning the drainage, moving the items for the workshop and removing the paint from the walls. After the boys are done with the outside job, they helped us girls inside by moving the tables, sweeping the floor and moping it afterwards. The floor was dusty because of the renovation that has been happening.
It was a very tiring day for all of us. I believed that everyone had a great sleep afterwards hahaha.
The third activity was conducted on 11th April of 2019. This was just a short activity with the community of Apartment Idaman. We did a meeting discussing the Carnival Day that we wanted to organize on the 13th of April 2019. We made about 100 copies of flyers to be distributed to the residents to promote the upcoming Carnival Day. We discussed about the preparations such as tentative, space that we are going to use and the equipment that will be used. After discussing all those things, we went out to check on the space that we will do the carnival day and we set up the tables and chairs for the big day.
We then dismissed around 6 pm. We used up the whole week to prepare for this event, a lot of effort was put into making this event a success. The whole week was used to practice for the ‘senamrobik session’, buying the items needed and countless of meetings. The practice usually took up about 2-3 hours per day.
Today is the big day! On the 13th of April 2019, we arrived early in the morning to prepare for the event. We set up the speakers and equipment that was needed to be used for the event and we did some test runs with the songs. Our day started slow as few problems popped up with the P.A system and the children started to went home. However, our spirit did not vanish. We started to play the songs as soon as the P.A. system started working.
We formed a circle and started to do our aerobic routine that we practice before this. A lot of people were watching us but did not have the courage to join in with us. So, we made the first move by approaching them and asking them to join us. We offered them a simple breakfast which are bread and mineral water. Soon, many children started to join us and dance along to the music following our steps. The look on their faces were priceless as they dance and laughed while doing the steps with us. After the aerobic session, we proceed with the cooking session.
We did two simple dishes that the children can learn and do it at home which are egg sandwich and fruit salad. The reason we chose this dishes was that we learned that the kids there always go to school without any breakfast as their parents being too busy with work. So, we think that this one of the best dishes to make that will not cost a lot and easy to make. The children really enjoyed cooking with us and they shared a lot of stories about their life. We finished cooking around 12 pm and we continued with cleaning the Toy library together.
Next, we did some arts and crafts session with the kids. This activity is to challenge their creativity and help give them an idea to sell in the market. In this activity, we did butterfly keychain from rattan and some origamis. We finished around 2 pm and had a little break for prayers and lunch. After that, we said our goodbyes and went to The School at Jaya One.
We set up a booth there to collect toys. Our NGO which is Association of Toy Library Malaysia joined the Earth Weekend event. We helped them with the toy collection booth. Besides collecting toys that were donated, we also interacted with other NGOS and get to know their visions and what they stand for such as the 'TAK NAK PLASTIK'.
A lot of people came to donate books, toys, and stationaries. We finished with the toy collection booth and headed home around 6 pm. At the end of the day, we all experienced a great day and learned so much from the experience with the kids and the NGOs. We discovered an eye opening experience in this project especially today. we learned to be grateful of what we have today and to acknowledge that there are a lot of people out there that was not given the same opportunities and chances as we were.
On the last day of this project, 14th of April 2019, we did a short session with Datin P.H.Wong, Mr.Hor and Mr. Tan at Lin Lin Kindergarten. We went there to learn and build toys out of wires for the kids. We started our day by meeting with them and Mr. Hor briefed us about the toy making ideas.
Then, we were given the freedom to make the wire into whatever shape toy that we want to. Some of us made a rose, a mini bicycle and more. Those toys that we made were given to the toy library for the children to enjoy.
After an hour passed, we had a sharing session with them. We talked about our performances and their feedback for us. We shared and discussed about future ideas for the toy library. Around 12 pm, Dr. Majid came to the Lin Lin Kindergarten to observe our project and talked to one of the innovators, Mr. Hor. Mr. Hor explained to him about our project and what their future planning on the toy library. We said our goodbyes to them around 1 to 2 pm and thanked them for giving us this opportunity.
That is all from me today. Till next time…. Adiosss amigos…
Written by:
AZRIN ZULAIKHA BINTI MOHD AZAM (KIA160105)
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