Service Learning Day...
Today's Service Learning Day. Our class had chosen MINDSville@Napiri as our project destination. Just for your information, it is a centre for the intellectually disabled people.
Today's activity was one that I think I'll never forget. Besides being my first time handling such people, I was also rejected thrice!! Initially, there were of course, some apprehension on what I'll be expecting. Taking them for a walk around a garden. With a one-to-one arrangement. I didn't clearly know what was I fearing at that time. What was I so afraid about?! That they'll just bite me? That they'll just touch me without warning? That they'll throw tantrums and run about, have accidents and no one but me to blame? Or was it just their mere faces that I condemned? I guess that was all on everybody's mind. They were too unpredictable. However, I chose my partner, instead of volunteering to stay back and entertain those not taking the walk. He actually refuses my hand! He kept shying away from me whenever I took his hand in mine. I had to guide him at that time when he was holding up the line. He was, too, looking apprehensively at me. I forgive him. I would like to think that he was afraid of my pimply complexion :p
Changed partner during the walk. In the end, I was lead by an adult man. Lead. Because from at the back of the line with my first partner to the front of the line, with him. One the guides told me that he likes to take charge of himself and would not allowed himself to be confined to follow others footsteps. What a wonderful description it would be if it was in the context of how to succeed in life.
After the walk, we sang, play games, walked around in many, many circles. Luckily there were no unhappy things that happened. But I really must commend adeline. She showed many of us what is real and true volunteerism. Without prejudice. Without former judgement. With all the heart to help and make a difference. Though she claimed that she was just regretting her first encounter with the intellectually-disabled in Thailand in which she had shunned them from her heart. Hers was still the most genuine example that I found from today's visit. Well done ade!
Today's visit made me reflected a lot. But I don't think I'll have anything substantial to write for tomorrow's in-class reflection period. Seriously, I think it is really important for the intellectually-disabled to be able to survive in this society, for them to blend in. For this to happen, we must first remove from ourselves any prejudice or fear that we might have of them. They're not as scary as they sounded in the words of others. They're merely living in their world. Their own way of life. Their own form of communication. We see them as 'crazy' through our judging eyes, but they too can judge from their own point of view that we're the ones who are ignorant or even irritating. My first walking partner, rejected me thrice in my all efforts to be friendly with him. I think he finds me as irritating as a fly. I kept appearing by his side, trying to play with him, trying to talk to him, trying to give a strawberry sweet and trying to get his handprints on the flag that we did during arts and craft session. The first two times he pushed me away. The third time he actually used his shoe, to step on my shoe and tried to pushed my feet away from him. Can't I just give him a break man? He's like so irritated with me that he kept pounding his chest, lightly of course :p I was told by a helper that it was his way of showing unhappiness. Sigh. There goes my first time trying to get too friendly with a guy. Too bad it didn't went well. Shan't be chasing after guys anytime soon. The rejection hurts :p
Thanks to Service Learning that I'm able to appreciate life more. Though my exam results are very bad, but on a another thought, I'm lucky enough to be borned into this world with everything being so normal and fine. Impromptu Biology lesson: You're the result of one particularly fast, healthy, normal, witty spermatozoan out of 60 to 500 million others, with lots and lots of energy, breaking through the follicle cells and membrane surrounding a normal egg, that lives for only 24 hours once released from the ovary, and fuse with the nucleus of the egg, and which upon normal, mutation-free cell division forms - YOU. Correct me please if I've got any facts wrong. It was all from whatever I recalled from the lectures. So give thanks that you even exists in this world, even more so because you are a normal, healthy human being. Give back to the society whenever you can. The first step you can take is try not to squirm or show your discontentment of them roaming about if one intellectually-disabled person is standing next to you, near you or even on the same bus or mrt compartment as you. That's all I've got to say.
p/s finished pride and prejudice for the second time in my life! the first was at 14/15. so much in love with these kind of love stories. i'm very much a fantisiser in love affairs i guess :p
Today's activity was one that I think I'll never forget. Besides being my first time handling such people, I was also rejected thrice!! Initially, there were of course, some apprehension on what I'll be expecting. Taking them for a walk around a garden. With a one-to-one arrangement. I didn't clearly know what was I fearing at that time. What was I so afraid about?! That they'll just bite me? That they'll just touch me without warning? That they'll throw tantrums and run about, have accidents and no one but me to blame? Or was it just their mere faces that I condemned? I guess that was all on everybody's mind. They were too unpredictable. However, I chose my partner, instead of volunteering to stay back and entertain those not taking the walk. He actually refuses my hand! He kept shying away from me whenever I took his hand in mine. I had to guide him at that time when he was holding up the line. He was, too, looking apprehensively at me. I forgive him. I would like to think that he was afraid of my pimply complexion :p
Changed partner during the walk. In the end, I was lead by an adult man. Lead. Because from at the back of the line with my first partner to the front of the line, with him. One the guides told me that he likes to take charge of himself and would not allowed himself to be confined to follow others footsteps. What a wonderful description it would be if it was in the context of how to succeed in life.
After the walk, we sang, play games, walked around in many, many circles. Luckily there were no unhappy things that happened. But I really must commend adeline. She showed many of us what is real and true volunteerism. Without prejudice. Without former judgement. With all the heart to help and make a difference. Though she claimed that she was just regretting her first encounter with the intellectually-disabled in Thailand in which she had shunned them from her heart. Hers was still the most genuine example that I found from today's visit. Well done ade!
Today's visit made me reflected a lot. But I don't think I'll have anything substantial to write for tomorrow's in-class reflection period. Seriously, I think it is really important for the intellectually-disabled to be able to survive in this society, for them to blend in. For this to happen, we must first remove from ourselves any prejudice or fear that we might have of them. They're not as scary as they sounded in the words of others. They're merely living in their world. Their own way of life. Their own form of communication. We see them as 'crazy' through our judging eyes, but they too can judge from their own point of view that we're the ones who are ignorant or even irritating. My first walking partner, rejected me thrice in my all efforts to be friendly with him. I think he finds me as irritating as a fly. I kept appearing by his side, trying to play with him, trying to talk to him, trying to give a strawberry sweet and trying to get his handprints on the flag that we did during arts and craft session. The first two times he pushed me away. The third time he actually used his shoe, to step on my shoe and tried to pushed my feet away from him. Can't I just give him a break man? He's like so irritated with me that he kept pounding his chest, lightly of course :p I was told by a helper that it was his way of showing unhappiness. Sigh. There goes my first time trying to get too friendly with a guy. Too bad it didn't went well. Shan't be chasing after guys anytime soon. The rejection hurts :p
Thanks to Service Learning that I'm able to appreciate life more. Though my exam results are very bad, but on a another thought, I'm lucky enough to be borned into this world with everything being so normal and fine. Impromptu Biology lesson: You're the result of one particularly fast, healthy, normal, witty spermatozoan out of 60 to 500 million others, with lots and lots of energy, breaking through the follicle cells and membrane surrounding a normal egg, that lives for only 24 hours once released from the ovary, and fuse with the nucleus of the egg, and which upon normal, mutation-free cell division forms - YOU. Correct me please if I've got any facts wrong. It was all from whatever I recalled from the lectures. So give thanks that you even exists in this world, even more so because you are a normal, healthy human being. Give back to the society whenever you can. The first step you can take is try not to squirm or show your discontentment of them roaming about if one intellectually-disabled person is standing next to you, near you or even on the same bus or mrt compartment as you. That's all I've got to say.
p/s finished pride and prejudice for the second time in my life! the first was at 14/15. so much in love with these kind of love stories. i'm very much a fantisiser in love affairs i guess :p
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