Graduation Ceremony of PKetam Students

We helped the local school decorate their hall for a form 5 graduation ceremony. The first they've ever held in the history of the school!

Helping Flood Victims

Monsoon hit our country hard this year, flooding many villages in the East Coast, and villages near rivers. The OA were badly hit, leaving many stranded in villages without food and water.

My girls and I worked hard to collect items for the OA. The ammount of goods we collected flooded our house so much so we had no space to walk. Thank God for friends who came to help us sort out items....food/clothings/basic necessities etc etc. We loaded more than half of a huge lorry. Many thanks to kind donors who gave.

Nel also followed the team on a 7 hour rough journey, where she helped load items into these boats to be transferred to villagers in need. Proud of her for being willing to help whole heartedly.

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2015

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It's been a long time since we've been to help the OA.
We decided to tag along when team went in to help build a proper water filter for the village as well as to provide solar energy.

Jo found a secret hideout

Land cleared for vegetable plantation. Self sufficient village.

Preparing shelter for a night in the cold village

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2015

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I'm proud of my girls who rescued these abandoned babies...4 of them, from skinny scrawny (almost drowned) creatures, to these beautiful four kittens. They did well...stuck to their responsibility of feeding and cleaning regularly. Today, somebody came and adopted all four. It was with heavy heart we let them go. The older one cried all night, but was happy we found them a good home, and is joyful now, knowing we can still visit them. The little one is upset....but we knew it was best they went together so they'd grow up together. I'd say, animal rescue has taught my girls a lot of things, especially compassion, kindness and responsibility.

 @poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2014

Baked Eggplant and other random things.

Of late, words will not come to my mind. I wonder where have they gone. Perhaps I'm over tired, especially after teaching, and then helping my own children with subjects such as literature. So another short picture post today.

 The yarn art from previous post has been turned into a simple turtle. Next time we will try weaving the yard onto wires to try shaping it, perhaps into an umbrella or a better turtle.

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Friends...
Kids had some friends stay over. Jo had a wild time in the baby pool with the little guys. They were a RIOT! doing all sorts of stunt jumps into the pool,shooting at each other with water guns. Of course they had to walk into the house, leaving puddles of water everywhere.

Nel and her gf decided they were too old for this, and spent time playing Tinker Bell fairy games online, and practicing ballet. They also decorated Nel's doll. Nel stuck yarn on her doll's dress, and added her ballet skirt. Then they painted the rest of the shirt using crayon for fabric.

That night, little guy friend wanted to do some art (paper cutting.) I asked what picture he'd like, naturally he said "CARS." So my very first car kirigami. He coloured it all carefully and stuck them in his book. :)

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Fund Raising.........
Some time back, I blogged about my children raising funds for the poor. Well, Jo actually made lemonade and cookies on her own to sell. Here, she's put all the money in an envelope and passed it on to her grandpa who will use this money to purchase food stuff. 

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Baking Eggplant......
My children have a dislike for eggplant, which I typically stirfry with dried shrimps, or chilli and black salted beans or salted fish. I asked Nel, what would motivate her to try some. She suggested cheese. So  I tried this today,

- season eggplant with salt and bit of paprika, drizzle with olive oil. Top with pasta sauce and bake at about 210C till soft.
 -Remove pan, add a spoon of plain yogurt on each eggplant, top with light cheddar cheese, bake till melted.
 Well....Nel gobbled them up pretty quickly. :)  As for Jo, just 2, not bad for a start.

I had my eggplant with bread, and added shitake mushrooms, lightly sauteed with paprika, and bit of salt.  Together with salad, it made an absolutely delicious sandwich.

Here's to a good weekend everyone. Cheers.

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2013

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Volunteers in making..

 a mum is allowed to brag once in a while right? Just 2 weeks ago, Jo made a whole jug of lemonade for our family. After we'd taken our drinks, she charged us 50cents each drink! We were surprised, but she said "Mum, I've decided I want to raise funds for the poor. Every penny goes to them." So we paid up willingly. After selling to visitors and all, she made a mere $4.50. She asked, "What can I

do with this mum?"

I replied, "Well..another $10, and you could buy a pack of milk powder."
"Things are so expensive nowadays mum..." she replied, dejectedly. But as I write this now, she's not given up. She's in the kitchen actually attempting to bake her own oat cookies, which she is gonna sell to raise more funds. I'm proud of my lil girl who'll turn 7 soon.

As for my shyer girl Nel. Seeing the way she helped load and unload heavy stuff for the remote village made me proud enough. Her initiative and willingness to work hard is something worth praising. Not only that, she's been bringing stuff of her own because she wants to teach the remote children English. And she did teach them stuff last week.She may also begin volunteering on PKetam to teach English once a month. Yup...let me "brag" once in a while. I am proud of them.

But you know, this did not occur overnight. It started with me bringing them to Old folks home once a month, from the time they were toddlers. And then we started going into interior villages. And now, they on their own accord are beginning to want to reach out to help others. :) :) I'm beaming.

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2012

Connecting with a child

I got into class as usual, with an urgent objective in mind, to train and prepare my primary kids for Start's upcoming concert in July.

Often as teachers (and even parents) we get over busy ensuring that homework is done, objectives met, duties and activities carried out as planned, schedules, schedules and datelines.

At StART, though I know, building the self esteem of the underprivileged child is the most important goal, I sometimes forget. Well, today I didn't, because the children didn't let me.

After a brief warm up and review of materials learnt in past weeks, I told the children, "Today, you're all going to sing for me one by one, coz I need to know if you've learnt your lyrics and song well."

They panicked! The children started walking around the room, singing on top of their voices, peeking at the lyrics occasionally and then closing their eyes again to memorize. Finally I called them back and said "Never mind, if you don't get it all right today, I just want to know where you are. Now, all line up in front of me, I need to see you face to face."

The brave children went first, belting out the songs, creating their own words when they forgot the original ones. Some sang in tune, some out of tune, some without tune and rhythm, some perfectly. But as each child sang, I kept my mouth close, except to smile and look in their eyes. I felt today, that I needed to connect with these children, and they wanted to connect with me.

Then came the shyest child, the one who always hides at the back and hardly talks to me. She sang, barely audibly. I  listened to her own version of the learnt song, and found myself smiling genuinely because I wanted to encourage her. And because she needed to get lyric cues from me, she was forced to look at me.

As she looked at me mouthing the lyrics with a heartfelt smile, she automatically reacted from within. So she started smiling as she sang. That was contagious, coz I felt myself reacting with a bigger smile as something warmed my heart! :) And that was contagious to her  too, coz before we knew it, she had the biggest smile plastered on her face and we both ended up giggling.

Never mind, that she and some still haven't yet nailed the song. What's important is that today, we established connection, we connected with each other.  I didn't start out planning for this to happen, but it happened, and it taught me an important lesson. How each child yearns to be connected with a trusted, loving adult, and how a simple short exercise together can help establish that much needed bond/connection.

~~Now if you're a busy teacher, or a parent, why don't you try what what I learnt today with your child.

-Stand  or sit so you're the same height as your child.
-Hold her arms, and sing a love/silly song to her. Then ask her to sing a love/silly song back to you.
-As your child sings, listen not to the song, but to that sweet quality of her voice.
-Look not at her eyes, but beyond them to see her precious little being.
-Feel that love from within and smile.
-I'm pretty sure, your child will smile back in return, and before you know it, you'll be giggling, and perhaps, even tearing a little if you've not connected for a while.
Remember to let your child know she's important to you. :)

In our hectic schedule, it helps to set bonding time, where conversation goes beyond "have you done your homework?". Put aside expectation, goals, and routine, assure your child that you're there, that she matters, that she's loved, that she's precious.

Commitment

Commitment, a promise.

When I mentioned that it was time to visit the OA village again, Nel said "Hooray!" with such eagerness and anticipation. Jo however, was my reluctant gal.
 "Can I stay with AhMa please?" she begged. After some negotiation, she finally agreed to come along (not that she had a choice anyway! haha..)

It was during the journey then, that we discussed the meaning of commitment. Commitment is sticking to what we've decided to do and doing it to our best without giving up (unless we discover in the process that it is harmful or dangerous.)

We talked about how sometimes commitment means keeping our word even if the journey may be difficult. It sometimes means getting used to/being in a situation/environment  which we're not used to. It is not going or quitting when we feel like it, but keeping our word and doing as we've promised. With Jo knowing that we'd promised the villagers to return, she said "Ok mum...I'll keep going." I'm glad she understood the word and went with a happy heart. :)

So we spent our weekend in the village. The toilets were not in proper working condition and weather was a little hot, but my girls did well. :) Nel was a great helper who volunteered to load stuff onto the truck before the trip began, she (and Jo) helped with  preparation of our communal dinner with the villagers,  Nel made friends by sharing sweets with the children there. I'm proud of her.

Jo...well Jo..... Jo was the keeper of all puppies there. Making sure their mama fed them, making sure the runt of the litter had proper shade to rest in before the rain and so on. 

At the end of the trip I asked my girls some questions. I asked "What did you learn?" "What roles would you like to take up?" "How would you help them if you could?"

Nel answered "I enjoyed sharing my sweets with them. I really enjoyed the puppies. I'd like to help the villagers by sharing things with them. If I could, I'd like to teach them not to simply sell their land and to treasure their land and trees. I'd like to teach the children not to simply trust strangers. I really enjoyed the trip mum."

Jo answered "I loved the trip, coz I love the puppies so much! Mum, is the runt safe? Who will look after him mum? Mum, I'd like to teach the villagers the same things che-che (sister) is going to teach them."  
(to which Nel replied..copy cat! :D  )

Making friends by sharing a kitten :)

Jo very protective of the run, while Nel coos her puppy to sleep

Nel was really good, walking the whole village sharing raisins and candies with em. Here Jo's decided to join in too.

Finally I leave you this picture. It was totally adorable seeing that puppy eyeing the cat as if asking "Mind if I take a sip?" And he did stick his nose right in for a drink. Cute eh. :) We should be like this too don't you think? :)

Finally, last but certainly not least, I'd like to say thank you to a few special people, Marianne, ML and Germaine for your kind contribution towards the OA people in the form of medicine, food and gifts. Thank you dear friends.

Fruit Harvest and Happy New Year

WE decided we'd spent the New Year in a very different way this year, in the remote village. On our journey there we stopped by several farms as it seems to be harvest time for most fruits now

We saw lotsa Pulasan on trees at Bentong Farm...

Plucked some Longkong or Dukong

Saw this very unique species of Brinjal (Eggplant)

Stood in awe at this really huge melon

Loofa??

Alex AuYong the Xtra Miler, came with us and enjoyed the endless feast of durians

We went and plucked our own mangosteens! This was like treasure hunt looking through the trees for ripe ones. Nel and Jo really enjoyed this (and so did I! ) :)

Here's our loot, not bad almost a whole pail

Passion Fruit
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Following the yummy fruit harvest trip, we headed to the village that we've become friends with. It was truly a wonderful time there, spent with friends, the villagers and  visiting doctors.

Here the kids were searching for grasshoppers and praying mantis. THey were very excited to show me their catch and even offered me some as pets. I didn't take any home coz I think they're better off in the wild.

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Some of what they caught. I've never seen a praying mantis fly till this trip! Beautiful large wings!

A large one!

Volunteer docs came with us and visited at least 5 or more villages. Amazing doctors they were to give of their time and help to the villagers. :) Grateful they came along to help. What a wonderful way to spend the 1st of January 2012 by helping the needy.

And as usual, very hungry children, slrrping even to the last drop from the pot.

Well....on New Year's Eve, we decided to drive out to the nearest town to celebrate. After a so-so dinner, we drove up to main town to welcome the New Year. That's when my beautiful kids fell asleep. So they missed all the fireworks and New Year greetings. I've to admit that while the rest of the team members who visited the village with us greeted each other "Happy New Year", I too...stayed in the car, drowsy and half awake, too tired to move. haha....

Then....we drove back to the village, walked back to base bamboo house to find that we had lost the keys. Spent some time trying to break in...(mind you no electricity...but thank God for flashlights), and finally managed to get in for some sleep before the 1st of January 2012. :)

Happy New Year Everyone....:)

Giving

Pictures from recent trip to Remote Village again. (First and foremost, I'm really thankful and grateful for a few kind angels who donated items for this trip. We were able to bless the villagers with food/clothing items because of you. I'm thankful, the villagers are blessed because of you.)

Warming herself over the fire after working in the rain.

Baby with hole in heart
 

looking shyly at us (we visited to provide them with rice/milk powder)

To the city folk, this might look beautiful and lovely. To the inhabitants of this house, it is dark and cold. A lady lives here with her aging father and sister who suffers from mental disorder. None of them work, food is scarce.

This lady's very hardworking. Here she is with her harvest of tapioca. Still because this village is far from town, she can hardly make a living out of this.

Child drinking straight from tap. In the past, this might've been good. Water was fresh and clean. However, development in areas nearby have turned their water into muddy water, browner than teh tarik.

A mother of many children lives here. Funny how many of the men are reluctant to work, and are instead hooked on alcohol. Thus mothers have to work on farms whenever they can, and they earn about 20RM (USD5) a day...and usually about 200RM - 300RM a month.

children wet from swimming in the murky stream. Here trying to shoot a bird. They're very good with their sling shots.

We provided these children with food. Notice how this child, has not eaten the given food, but has instead kept it preciously, in his shirt, to be taken home and shared with parents and sibblings.

Even cats there share the heat from the firewood.

This goat....err.....was running away from Jo. end of story.

Many of the children there have skin problems and flue particularly in rainy season. Medication much needed.

Showing us the path to their homes

My dd helping carry rice to give. Food was very kindly and generously donated by some friends (I call them angels)

Providing breakfast to these children