Visit To Pusat Jagaan Beribuan Kasih (Aid The Needy IB Campaign)

by Amanda Lee Yue Ping, Junior 1 Cempaka, Class of 2014

Many a Merdeka I've spent sleeping in, waking up perhaps in time to watch the last of the Merdeka celebration on TV, then spend the rest of the day relaxing or catching up on work. This year's Merdeka however brings about a change from the usual routine.

Independence Day saw Cempakans waking up early from the comfort of their warm beds to go back to school, much to the chagrin of the parents who have to drive them - “Public holiday also need to go to school ah??”

Well to answer that question, yes. But for a very good cause. For the past week, the IB students have been holding their 'Aid The Needy' campaign in support of raising funds for an orphanage. Their success in the campaign could definitely be seen by the amount of boxes we had to carry from the foyer to the bus. At 8.45 in the morning, the group of us students including a team of security guards, Puan Nurra, Puan Sapura and also Puan Farah, loaded the bus with a miscellany of items- foodstuff, cleaning supplies and even two televisions - all sponsored and donated from the hearts of students, parents, teachers; Cempakans.

Pusat Jagaan Beribuan Kasih located in Kajang, was looking in much better condition after a few renovations and previous visits - courtesy of the IB students and Ms Fahrulina. However, there was still clearly a lot of work to be done.

We were greeted warmly by the manager of the orphanage, Ms Kavitha and the children, before getting started. A few were assigned to sweep the rooms, mop and also to wipe the windows and fans. Others helped build the bookshelves while some interacted with the children.

Quite a lot of work was done for such a short amount of time. And we left the orphanage in a cleaner, happier and better light than it was before with promises from the IB students to visit again the following week to teach the children, like they've been doing for the past few months. In all, I must say that this years Merdeka was very well spent, probably the most meaningful one yet - and I'm sure the other Cempakans would say the same.

Kudos to the students who sacrificed their holiday to give back to the community and lend a helping hand, and to the IB Student Committee for making this project come through.

“ True independence and freedom can only exist in doing what's right.” - Brigham Young