Saturday. First day of volunteering. I'm dressed in my best dress and aboard the infamous Uber, traveling through heavy Kuala Lumpur traffic amid the humid, smoggy air, my friends and I anxiously head to Taman Suntex on a mission to educate refugee children. We had to save our initial plan to help educate the people of MCKL on HIV/AIDS issues as we failed to get approval from the Malaysian AIDS centre. As we drove, a few minutes before arriving at the center, I was overwhelmed by personal thoughts… What do the children expect? Are a group of young college students qualified/capable of teaching children? How will we start the lesson? What am I doing? For a few interminable seconds I wish we would choose another project since neither of us have teaching experience. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay My thoughts came to an abrupt halt when the uber suddenly turned into a laundry and shady looking street and stopped in front of a real old building. The strange feeling of unease skyrockets as I exit the uber. We were greeted by a boy and before long we were taken to a room where some children were waiting for us. I was given the task of teaching children between the ages of 9 and 11. I started the lesson with the old/typical self-introduction process. In my class there were 8 children, 4 girls and 4 boys. Their names are Amber, Grace, Jen, Sara, Simon, Jordan, Bryan and Thomas. I taught them math. Let's learn multiplication and division. During extra time we also play games like Hangman, Uno and Pictionary. There was this girl who was particularly bright and intelligent. Her name is Amber. He learned to solve multiplication questions in the shortest time possible (not to mention he's super nice too). She is my favorite among all those children. My favorite moment is when I was tackled by a sweet little boy who comes out of nowhere to hug me. He has the sweetest smile I've ever seen. The children I have dealt with are super cooperative. These children touched my heart so easily. All of them have incredible stories and dreams. One of the kids in my class told me that he wanted to become a teacher so that he could educate future generations with a faith similar to his so that they can gain knowledge and use that knowledge to pursue their dream. We found that migrant students Schools are extremely poor and were sent to this free program to learn because their parents could not afford education. Also, due to long working hours, they do not spend much time with their parents. They are super independent and much more mature than children their age. They also have to clean the classrooms after lessons. However, this does not stop them from coming to learn. Children have a strong desire to learn. Thanks to this experience, it has made me more grateful for what I have. Seeing the conditions some people live in makes me truly appreciate the things I took for granted. The learning center was not equipped with a ceiling fan or air conditioning. It was just four walls with a tiny fan, a floor and a roof. Yet, as simple as it was, the children were very grateful, something many people don't feel. We lucky ones have become such materialistic individuals that it sometimes makes me nauseous to think about it. It's time we, as human beings, look out the window and stop.
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