Anisah
I personally cherish every moment that I had with the community at SK Tumunda Salimandut, alongside the other volunteers. I was quite nervous at first, of meeting new people and working with them for the next two weeks. But rest assured, it was definitely a pleasure working with these 15 passionate souls, maybe because each of us was as much a nerd as the others so we just got along so well.
During the two weeks, as much as I enjoyed teaching and tutoring the kids, I however did have a few resentments, mostly involving my Maths tutees. I had four students with me, two of them weaker than the other two, so I had a bit of trouble synchronizing my teaching plans for all four of them. I ended up giving a lot more attention to the two weaker ones and not teaching the other two as much. I realise now that I could have taught them more than I did, knowing their abilities and potentials. So, when the two-week programme finished, I couldn’t help but ask myself whether I had taught them enough. It bothered me to quite a great extent actually. But a fellow Charismen reminded me that as much as we were teaching, we (us the volunteers) were there to learn as well. And that was exactly the reason why I signed up for this project, to pick up more teaching skills and to become better at it. So mission accomplished, I guess. I just wish however that in school, we would have an education system that is more inclusive and can meet the needs of both the high and low-achieving students.
That aside, no words can actually describe the feeling of contentment that I felt during and after our time at the school. The people there welcomed us with open arms and treated us like we were one of them. The teachers and staff were very supportive of us and we could feel how much they really appreciated our presence (even the headmaster teared up in his farewell speech!). Also the song that the Standard 6 kids performed during the closing ceremony ‘Kenangan Terindah’, it said ‘Kakak dan abang capailah kejayaan, kejayaan itu adalah impian kami semua’. I cropped that part of the song and played it probably more than 100 times already.
Seeing them looking up to us had really motivated me. I will definitely work harder for my final year and graduate with flying colours Insyaallah! Lastly, even though our time at SK Tumunda Salimandut was short, I really hope that we had touched some lives and had inspired the students to always believe in themselves and to achieve whatever their ambitions were. We got this, guys!
Written by,
Anisah Shariff Ali
