On Sunday, we did the second half of our service requirement with the Jamiyah Children's Home. On Saturday, we had split the group in two and half of us had gone to the home for the aged while the other half went to a home for the terminally ill. On Sunday, we got to all go together.
First, here are some pictures from the bus ride to the home!
The Singapore Flyer, one of the largest ferris wheels in the world. Hopefully we'll get to ride before we leave...
I wasn't sure what to expect, because I've never really been that good with children. I figured, though, that since everyone else was really pumped, their enthusiasm could make up for my lack thereof.
But, boy, was I in for a surprise! There were kids of all ages, from 4 to 17, who were, I believe, exclusively Malay. The young kids were so cute and sweet, and this one 10 year old boy took a liking to me and followed me around all day. His name was Haikel Imran (I had to get him to spell it, because I couldn't tell what he was saying), and he made me play checkers with him and sit with him at meals. He was too adorable, and I was really surprised at how easily I interacted with him and the other kids. Everyone afterwards kept saying, "Clark, it was so cute watching you with them! You were so good! They loved you!"
We played group games for the first part of the morning, and then after lunch we split up into groups to prepare for a "talent show." This consisted of the kids from the home teaching UNC students to do "traditional" Malay things, mostly dances and something called the "percussion of joy." The coolest part of the whole day, though, was what Asia (the girl at the end of the table in the picture above, and at the piano with me in the picture below) and I got to do.
There was a brother and sister (Jawuldi and Nadia) who played piano, and the director found out that Asia and I also played, so we collaborated for the talent show. It was awesome - Nadia was really good, and entirely self-taught. The only way we could think to fit all of us into the act was for me and Nadia to play piano while Asia sang. The only song Nadia knew with words was "Apologize" by One Republic. So she taught it to us, and we did it.
It was a ton of fun, and Asia's a great singer, so I think it went really well. I think everyone really enjoyed it, and it was awesome to be able to actually share our talents with the kids. What a great experience!
After volunteering was over, several people went to Dr. Leve's apartment to swim, but I was sick and exhausted, so I went home and passed out. It was a very emotionally draining week, even if it wasn't that physically tiring. We felt like we never REALLY recovered from Malaysia before we were thrown back into class and having tons of events planned for us. This week also took us close to the midway point of the trip, and that engendered a lot of kind of weird feelings for everyone. But, hey, we all came out on the other side alive, and, looking back, it was still a pretty great week!
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