REFLECTIVE ESSAY

HEART-WARMING AND VALUABLE VISIT TO THE ORPHANAGE

Description

Be grateful for what you have because there are people out there who wish they had what you have. Sometime in June 2013, I volunteered with a few of my friends to visit Rumah Titian Kaseh at Tasik Titiwangsa. We thought that the visit to the orphanage would be a new experience for us. Moreover, we wanted to do something useful for those 2 weeks of school holidays. There were around 10 of us who volunteered. With the assistance of our class teacher, we managed to contact the orphanage and confirmed of visit to see the children.

A week before our visit, we had set up a booth nearby the school canteen for students and teachers to drop their donations. We managed to collect stationeries, books, clothes, food and even toys for the children. So many items were collected that we needed to ask for extra help from our classmates to pack all the things nicely and presentable.

As the gate of the home opened, we were greeted with smiling faces of children. They all eagerly looked to see who had visited their home. Even more exciting, those strangers had bought presents! Once we were given the permission to interact and play with the children, we started to introduce ourselves and had to open up their “presents”. After a few rounds of playing tag and hide and seek, we noticed that the children started to approach us more confidently. The joy radiated from each and everyone one of the children had touched me very deep. I never knew that at such young age, they managed to build their own home with lots of brothers and sisters. When we left the orphanage, it felt as if I was leaving my own siblings behind.

Interprete

As we left the orphanage, a thousand thoughts played in my head. Little did I know that it was not me who had learned a lot that day. Yes, I did share with the children a few skills such balancing a ball with only one finger and juggling but it is nothing compared to what the children had shared with me. Some of the older children had shared what they could remember during their childhood up to how they ended up in the orphanage. I was surprised at how open they could be with strangers that they had only just met. I felt like I could instantly connect with children. I could never forget the feeling of having Sarah, one of the babies there gripping my finger like her life depended on it. I also found the activity had taught me a whole new meaning of patience, especially when dealing with children. We parted with the children and had promised to come back soon.

Evaluation

The visit to the orphanage had taught me uncountable things, including experiences about life such as being grateful and being genuinely happy with what we have. Up to today, I am constantly reminded of the children who did not have the opportunity to meet their parents. Being with the children had even taught me to embrace life and care for each other and to always be generous despite how little we have. This experience had also given me a deeper love and understanding for the children, particularly those who are abandoned, neglected, and orphaned. My new perception of life: everyone has a chance to make a better tomorrow, so don’t let life pull you down.

 Plan

Spending one day at the orphanage was not enough for me. It is an understatement to say time passed quickly. When we realized we had to go, it was well after the time we had intended to leave. So, I planned with my group of friends to come back and visit the children at Rumah Titian Kaseh. However, after what we had experienced at the orphanage, we decided to not stop there and try to visit other orphanage homes around Kuala Lumpur. Yes, during the next school holidays, we did stop by at another orphanage home and it was us who seemed much more eager to meet the children, not the other way around!