Volunteering, Part 1

We took the train to the city of Klang which is about 45 minutes from Kuala Lumpur. Basically Klang is to KL what Markham is to Toronto. We were met by the two organizers and waited as all the volunteers arrived. There were 10 of us in total including the leader from the Japanese host organization (NICE: Never-ending International workCamps Exchange). The rest of the volunteers consisted of 3 Japanese, 2 Koreans, a Malaysian and us.

The first night was spent cleaning our accommodation, a vacant house for sale in a neighbourhood near the school. Living conditions were a little lacking. There were no appliances, no shower and no furniture. We slept on cement floors, showered using a bucket of rusty water, cooked using rice cookers and sat on the floor. It was pretty rough but we got used to it and after a couple of days it felt almost like home - well maybe not, but tolerable at least.

We were divided into cooking teams and bought our groceries on the way home from school each day. The Koreans and Japanese brought a lot of food with them from home which we were happy to sample! Despite the age differences - ranging from 18 to 59 - we all bonded pretty quickly and had a lot of fun getting to know each other. Our next door neighbour was really nice and seemed quite concerned about our living conditions. She checked in on us regularly and dropped by with plates of food.

The volunteering made it all worth while. We were helping out at the Klang Special School for mentally disabled kids (and adults) where one of the Malaysian leaders, Siva, is a teacher. We spent the first day getting to know the kids and the various classes. There are about 240 students between the morning and afternoon sessions. They have an Early Intervention Program for kids 0 - 7 years, Class levels 1-4 according to age and ability, a Slow Learners Program for children with high functional abilities who can't be accommodated in regular schools, and a Vocational Program for adults to learn life and job skills. We were a little nervous because neither of us have any experience with disabled kids, but that's a big part of why we wanted to participate.

Any pre-conceived notions we had about the school (and how we could help) were quickly dispelled. It looks pretty much like any elementary school you would find in Canada. There are a few differences, like the official Malaysian 'motivational song' that's played each morning after the National Anthem, and is followed by some pretty fun group exercises for the whole school. (Apparently they also do this in Japan, where music is broadcast on loudspeakers at 6:30am and the entire population is supposed to exercise in unison. We had a few lessons and it's kind of like a fast Tai-Chi).

Anyway, the school has well-trained staff, modern facilities and is well funded through private donations and the Apex Club of Australia. We realized that we wouldn't be building classrooms out of mud or developing lesson plans! We were there to spend time with the kids, who unfortunately have little opportunity to interact with anyone outside of their family and school. In Malaysia there's still quite a lot of fear and stigma surrounding disabilities. The children and their families can be ostracized which is obviously hard on their self-esteem. At the end of the day we could make the most impact just by just having fun with them like any other children.

We were also there to help the teachers who have a very difficult job. There are about 5 or 7 students in each classroom with one teacher and sometimes an assistant, usually a graduate of the school. We helped by occupying the kids while the teacher taught one-on-one, by making visual aids, cleaning up the garden, and just generally helping out wherever they needed us. One day I was quite amused to find Tim in the gym practising a lovely dance with a group of Level 1 students in preparation for the Chinese New Year performance. Must-see pictures!

We had a couple of challenges, mainly trying not to distract the students. We were quite the novelty so sometimes it was hard to get the kids to focus on their work. We didn't want to make the teacher's jobs any harder! We also had to be careful not to bond too much with the kids because we would be leaving them. That was probably the most difficult of all.

Tim will catch you up on week 2.