Monday, December 22, 2008

Northern Corridor Character Assessment Program : Journal Part IV

We ended the first batch of the character assessments with a Big Bang!!! The kids had fun and as they went back to their homes and as the day ended and we, we prepared for the next batch of 60 new young participants who would be going through the same routine as those leaving.

At the end of the 6 Day Evaluation Sessions, we had to finally make a decision about who will be going to the next level of the evaluation process and who’s journey would end immediately after that.

Not an easy decision to be made after hearing some of the stories from these children and the NCIA staff.


· Some of them have not eaten chicken for years…

· Some of them are so poor that they can’t even afford to have a proper meals, the only dish with rice was “salted fish and kicap manis” (dried fish in sweetened soya sauce) almost everyday…

· Some of the parents even begged the NCIA to allow their kids to continue the program…

· Some have been sleeping on the floor and has never experienced the comfort of a mattress…

· Some have been told over and over again by the people around them that they are not good enough…


And here we are complaining about how life sucks when others are struggling to make ends meet.

Three things that I have personally learned:
· That beyond all the breakdowns, misery and failure that this kids have, they are always excited and enthusiastic about their life future and possibilities … When was the last time we did that instead of complaining and blaming about every single damn thing?

· They never complain, every time they fall, they cry, they fight for a while then they learn and they move forward…

· When you contribute… You’ll get more then you can expect…

Monday, December 15, 2008

Northern Corridor Character Assessment Program : Journal Part III

Continuation of Day 2 – Night Session : The Drum Circle
The children were surprised when they arrived at the classroom. The chairs were arranged in a big circle together with all the musical instruments and the children were excited to choose which musical instruments they wanted. Firstly, Amien asked them to name the instrument themselves. All of the names were so funny. Some of the names were of cartoon characters, and some named the instruments whatever they wanted it to be called. Then they were introduced the real name of the instruments and told what they’d be doing with the instruments such as jembe, maracas, tik-tok, tambourine, kompang, etc. At first, they were just playing around with the instruments. After that, they started to follow the beat to make it synchronized. This session also taught the kids about teamwork, listening skills, leadership skill as well as building their confidence. There was a section where a child was selected to lead the drum circle.

Day 3 – Character Analysis : Study Skills
The kids were punctual and ready in the classroom by 8.30am. They started with a morning energizer according to their respective groups. Every student was given a number, which when called will need them to lead the exercise with different style. Every time they switched the exercise instructor, there’ll be new music background as well.

On day 3, all activities were conducted in the classroom only. Since this was the last day, we focused on enhancing their learning skills. Overall, there were three approaches we introduced. These include:

1. VKA (Visual, Kinesthetic & Audio)
Every child has different style of studying. We gave the young participants a set of questions for them to answer about themselves. After tabulating the score, we helped them identify which categories that they fall into. After that, we separated the children according to these respective categories: Visual, Kinesthetic & Audio. These groups drew a picture of their dream holiday on an island. During the brief session, they were shown the difference between the three groups. These styles can help them to study more effectively.

2. Mind Mapping
The kids drew a mind map about themselves. They used colors and picture to describe themselves. This is an attractive way of studying. The brain will absorb the information fast and consequently the kids will learn things faster.

3. Goal Setting

Every child needs to be exposed to goal setting. It’s very crucial so that they can have a goal of what they want to achieve. There are barriers or challenges that they’ll face in achieving what they want, most importantly they need to work hard and they’ll be successful. In order to achieve their goal, they need to take action, starting with what they’ll do in daily basis to ensure the goal is achieved.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Northern Corridor Character Assessment Program Journal Part II

….Continuation

Day 1


Lights Out
11:00pm

This is the end of the first day. The wardens tuck the children into bed. Some of these kids don’t have a proper bed at home to sleep on. Sharing one mattress with six other siblings. Over here each of them had a bed to themselves. It was heart wrenching to see them just appreciating the comfort of their own beds by feeling and caressing the MRSM mattress. While I was making my rounds, one boy was just so happy about this new found comfort, would just refuse to sleep and when I ask him why, he told me “I just want to lay here and enjoy this bed by myself. At home I sleep on a mat with my other siblings”. My heart dropped and affirmed my reason for agreeing to this project is to open up possibilities for them and to make them see that they can make something out of themselves. We however were entrusted to observe and evaluate these children and decide on who goes and who doesn’t. After seeing all the above, it just made our jobs harder, and that was the challenge choose to accept. All of us including the NCIA officials and the wardens were up until 2:00 am and working each other to get clear and thorough information on these children base on the evaluation and observations so we could really select the right kids.

DAY 2



Rise & Shine
5:45am

The children are up screaming and running. They were everywhere. We thought chaos descended upon us. When we got our bearings together, we learnt that it was only the children energized and hyped up for what’s in store for them throughout the day. I have compassion for the MRSM students, which were preparing for their SPM Finals. To our surprise, they actually enjoyed having the kids around. Salute to them and all the best. The children went for morning prayers immediately for some aerobics, had their bath then breakfast. This will be part of their daily routine if they are selected into the NCIA hostel. As for me, I look forward to the refreshing morning shower. When you turn on the tap, icy cold water rushed through the shower head. It will definitely instantly wake up you up.



The Challenge
7:30am

Firdaus, the Superman in our team made sure everything is setup orderly. The doors open at 7:50am with background music playing and the participants arrived. Immediately, Sya, Firdaus and I went on to setup the outdoor obstacle course for one of the activities. The whole day the participants played games and activities with their hearts out that would allow us to evaluate them. They are good mannered and well behaved kids. Their parents raised them up well in spite of the obstacles they face at home. Taiping, being the wettest town in our country, in rained most of the time. But it’ll be really hot at mid-day. The weather was getting to some of us. But we managed to pull through. This experience was definitely worth remembering. I am optimistic about this kids becoming great leaders in their lives some day. And they would remember this day that someone made a difference to them to be better and they would pay it forward to someone else.

… To be continued…

Monday, December 1, 2008

Northern Corridor Character Assessment Program Journal Part I

The Beginning

On a hot November evening 2008, I was interrupted from my daily routine with a call from Baqi regarding an event that will change the way I see my work for a very long time...
“We got the job…NCIA has agreed to our terms”…this was a statement that led to a very impactful 7 Day journey in our lives…

The Journey
Friday, 14th November 2008 – 7:00am

The TT Team arrived on the dot as planned. After one week of rehearsals and gruelling meeting to get everyone prepared, the day finally arrived for the ultimate test… The destination – “Maktab Rendah Sains Mara”, Taiping Perak. The Team – Baqi, Sya, Firdaus, Ira & Me all travelling together in our ultimate mobile machine – “Jingga” - The Company Van .

MRSM is located just underneath Bukit Larut – The wettest location in Malaysia… Famous for its rain… Fortunately when we arrived, it was all hot and sunny.

2:00pm

After enjoying “Nasi Kawah” for lunch and after a quick meeting with Azrain – The Coordinator from Northern Corridor, we went to observe the classroom for the training sessions, “Oh my God !” was the first thing that came to my mind, The classroom reminded me of my National Service Days where we conducted training in camp areas – all dusty but still conducive enough. Immediately we went all out to clean up the room. Kudos to MRSM for being such a good host – they provided us with “Tikar Mengkuang” and all the things that we requested. It’s amazing what we can do when the team comes together. We managed to turn the impossible to possible. It was about 5:30pm when we completed the task, by that time we were all ready to cheer and welcome all our participants. By the time we went back to our dorm, the famous Bukit Larut rain started and we enjoyed our first bit of cold shower before the event began at 8:30pm.

The Show
8:00pm


We gathered early in the room to check for any final preparations, by 8:30pm the “PARTICIPANTS” finally arrived:
60 children from the age of 10 years walked into the training room. Little that they or any of us know that the training was the beginning of a life changing experience for at least ½ of them. By the end of the training, ½ of them would be selected to become the pioneer batch of the Northern Corridor Special School project. What is so special about the project is that we were given the privilege to really make a difference to the children in terms of shaping their possibilities for the future.

…To be continued…