Construction worker for a day!!

Another first time volunteering but this time round it was with The Star's Do Good Volunteer team in collabaration with Habitat for Humanity Malaysia. To be quite honest, i was a little apprehensive at first because I've never done anything like this before, but heyyy, there's always a first time right?! So, after some taught, I decided to join the project and I dragged my good friend Joey along with me heheh. 

Actually, our task was pretty simple. Building and reconstructing homes for the orang asli people. And to be more specific, it was just building one home and reconstructing another. So all together two new homes for two families.

After reaching the venue, which took us about forty five minutes from KL Sentral, we were given a warm welcome by the orang asli community and representatives from Habitat for Humanity Malaysia. We were then briefed of our tasks for the day and also on all the safety precautions while working. Then, it was time to get dirty!! From mixing the cement to laying the bricks and using a wheel barrow for the first time (because it was easier to move the bricks around using a wheel barrow then your hands), I'm proud to say that I've done them all. The sun was scorching, and I forgot to wear sunblock (as usual) and we were all sweating but that did not stop us from continuing our mission - to have completed at least 50% of the houses by the end of the day.

After taking an hour break for lunch, we were back on our feet again. We continued on until around 4.00 pm when it started to rain. Like really really heavy and so heavy that we couldn't continue working because it was just too heavy..sighhh. So what did we do while waiting for the rain to stop? Fill our tummy with come delicious kuih-muih made by the orang asli. Obviously it was delicious beacuse we were all hungry again la..okay no! It really did taste good :)

We didnt  have much time to continue working after it stopped raining as we had to leave. Nevertheless, each and every one of us defifnetely felt a  sense of accomplishement when we managed to hit our taget - 50%  of the houses was completed before the end of the day.Yayyyyyyyy us!

So, after taking a couple of group photos and saying our goodbyes to the orang aslis, we made our way back to Kl Sentral before going our separate ways.

Joey and I were so glad that we took part in this activity. Its nice to spend the weekend doing domething for somebody else instead of the usual, shopping, hanging out with friends, eat sleep and repeat!

Here's a short video I made from the compilation of the pictures we took. Enjoy!

Damansara Chapter State Level Interviews

My first time volunteering with a large group of AFS-ers, as we like to call ourselves ;) was during the state level interviews held by the Damansara Chapter was definitely a memorable one. The interview was held to choose the next batch of our 'mini ambassador' for Malaysia.

Just in case many of you are wondering, let me tell you generally about AFS. Its a non-govermental, non-profit organization that offers student exchange programs for youths and they also offer 'Educators Program" for people in the education line. So, every year AFS Antarabudaya Malaysia sends more than 150 students abroad for year, semester and short term programs (including programs that focus on language study and community service), and welcomes more than 50 exchange students from other countries to Malaysia.

If you're keen to know more about the programs and their T&C'S, visit their FB athttps://www.facebook.com/afsmas or you can also go to http://www.afsmas.org/
Now, back to my experience. It was great seeing my old friends after such a long time as we've been really busy with the usual stuff..school, work, school, work...It was also a pleasure getting to know new returnees (a term used to refer to students who have gone abroad and then obviously, returned to tanah tumpahnya darahku).

A day before the interview, all returnees had to gather at the Chapter's president house to do some last minute preparations before the big day. We finalized on the next days activity, which included games, briefings and also discussions. The interviewers were also super busy preparing themselves on how to 'grill' the students *jokes*..AFS seniors are really really nice, I've learnt alot from them since coming back from Japan.   

Then comes Saturday!! We started off really early, around 7a.m, preparing the venue and welcoming fellow students and parents. Volunteers and students were divided into five groups. Then, the day started! While students were called into the interview rooms, volunteers conducted ice-breakers and games. In between games, we had a couple of session where students were given the opportunity to express themselves and why they choose to go on a student exchange program. We also threw in a couple of 'energizers' like Funky Chicken to recharge our batteries. 

Then, at 5 pm, after all the interviews were conducted, the day finally ended. After all the students had gone back, us hardworking volunteers once again rearranged everything, from the chairs to the tables to the way it was and made sure there was no rubbish left behind :) We also had to reflect back on the day and make suggestions to further improve our interview session for the following year. 

So all in all, needless to say, it was surely a tiring but definitely an enjoyable and unforgettable day. Can't wait to volunteer again next year.

Students listening intently to a briefing conducted by one of the volunteers.

Get on the floor babyy! Yeap, that was one of our games!

The awesome volunteers. Such nice people, excited to meet them again :)