2012 Year in Review: Part 3 - ASB 2K12 Jungle Gym, Kansas City, Missouri

Last spring, I joined this one volunteering service organized by a group of Vanderbilt students. It is called Alternative Spring Break (ASB) and it is kinda big thing jugak laa kt Vanderbilt ni. Sape2 yg nk join kena apply dlu (yes, I'm talking about a lot of questions and also interview). I wasn’t short listed masa first2 dye announced sape yg lepas the application tu sume, but then, about one week before the group nk gerak ke site masing2, Alhamdulillah Allah swt kasi I rezeki, I dpt email from the upper management that I  got a chance to join ASB kat Kansas City! I was so excited and hell yeah, tanpa ragu2, I accept the offer and paid $325 if I’m not mistaken. Walaupn duit kering lepas byr for the program, but it worth every penny. It’s a life changing experience. 

So these are my ASB members - from left (back row): Patrick Hodges, Gabby Nichols, Kellie Kuzmuk, Catherine Kim, Laura Kaufman, Winsor Yang, Megan Twomey. Then from left (front row): Tariq Simpkins, Hannah Kennedy, Kristin Barth, Mengting Ren and me! They are all undergrad students (age 18 - 21).

It was 10 hours drive from Nashville , TN to Kansas City, Missouri. Basically ap yg ktorg bt at this site is to help the kindergarten and primary school students learning in class. Ad dua tempat ktorg bt service. From 8 am to 12 pm ktorg volunteer kt kindergarten. Then from 1pm to 5pm ktorg bt service kt Niles: Home for Children.

This kindergarten is a bit special sbb budak2 yg kt sini pn agak special. Dorg smua came from keluarga yg miskin and with abusive parents. Most of the kids are morally damaged but they area very nice. So sad bila tgk dorg mmbesar dlm keadaan cmtu. Bila dah keluarga mcm tu, anak2 kecil tu sendiri sedikit sebanyak terpengaruh dgn habits parents dorg. Bila dorg main dgn kawan2 dorg, bad words that were not worth repeating dah jadi bnda biasa kluar dari mulut dorg. Dorg ni agak out of control and bt I pening kepala jadinya. Ada satu masa, a bunch of kids ni berebut colored chalks smpai ad sorg budak ni tikam kawan dye dgn scissors. Masa tu gak jantung I berhenti rs cam xleh brnafas and everything turned slow-mo for a while (u know something bad happen when things turn slow-mo). Dgn segala kuasa veto yg I ada, I cepat2 rampas gunting tu and marah bebudak tu sume (cuak kot. xnak tgk org kena tikam dpn mata sendiri +.+).

Walaupun dorg ni a bit ganas, after few days kat situ, dorg smua become sgt welcoming and tiap2 pagi mesti tunggu I dtg class dorg n smua berebut2 nk duduk atas riba I :'). Kids. They just want to be loved and given attention. I harap dorg has good future and grow up in better environment.

Playground time!

With my fav kid - Camille (in pink sweater). Everday dia akan mintak my lipbalm and muncung2 mulut lepas pkai. How I wish that I can meet her again :')

Kat Niles: Home for Children ni a bit different than the kindergarten. Students kat Niles ni umur dorg from 8 - 17 tahun. Dorg ni agak special jgk. They have learning disabilities so tempat ni dibina utk bantu dorg yg ad potential ni utk study. Dorg boleh membaca and mengira cam students2 lain but a bit slow. Some of them still  mastering basic calculus  at 17. Overall, dorg from better family than the ones kt kindergarten. Still under poverty line but not abusive.

Every lunch time, menu wajib setiap ASB members are chips and peanut butter/jelly sandwiches. Everyday makan ni smpai I naik muak. For dinner lak, ktorg ad turn masak. During my time, Megan and I masak Nasi Goreng and Grilled Fish Fillet.

Customized sandwiches *mengada pulakk

Preparing dinner with Kellie. She is super awesome. Majoring in Psychologist. Vandy Runner. Smart. Polite. And yes, tall and pretty like supermodel. Just perfect. *akak dye 4.0 student kt Harvard Uni. Baka genius. Grrr.
After dinner, ktorg akan ad reflection time. Every group members akan gtau dorg punya hi and low of the day, observations, things need to be improved, reminder and etc. Then, later that night, masa untuk Life Maps. Masa ni setiap org akan bercerita pasal life dorg sejak lahir smpai sekarang (highlights jela. nk cite smua x dapek laa). Life Maps ni confidential so all I can say is that every people have different histories and it is so interesting to know the ups and downs yg dorg lalui utk smpai ke tpt dorg berada skrg ni.  

As for tempat tinggal, ktorg stay kat satu church ni for a few days before church tu terbakar =.= . Ad sorg mamat homeless ni mengamuk org xkasi dye duit then dye balik puntung rokok dye kt area church ni. I don't think dia berniat nk bakar tpt tu tp terbakar la plok. Nasib baik la barang2 ktorg selamat. Tmpat yg terbakar tu pn sikit jer. Area dapur. Ktorg then terpaksa pindah stay kt satu Christian school ni. Tempat ni better sbb ad tempat mandi. Sebelum ni ktorg kena g gym untuk tumpang shower dorg. And hey, ktorg tdo dlm sleeping bag. best rs cam ulat bulu dalam kepompong hihi. 

They called these Warm Fuzzies. Everyday setiap org kena letak dlm paper bag tu a note saying good things about each individual. Bila dah tamat ASB baru smua bleh amik and baca. Sronok gak laa layan org puji lepas penat2 balik bt service. LOL

Tempat shower ktorg. Al kisah nya kt tempat ni pn pernah terbakar at one time ktorg pegi. Siap ad 2 fire truck dtg. Smua org evacuate tmpat tu except for Tariq yg syok mandi while others duk risau kan dia. *ktorg pn pelik kenapa asyik nk terbakar je smua bnda hurmmmm

Life Maps session. Every session ended with either group hug or cinnamon roll hug. *miss this moment the most

We spent about a week in Kansas City. Sempat gak la melawat City of Fountain ni tapi malangnya smua fountain xde air sbb masa tu cuaca sejuk. And this place famous dgn dye punya BBQ but I xdapat laa nak makan. Layan ikan jela sambil tgk dorg smua menikmati isi2 lemak2 daging BBQ. Grrrr. Sabar2.

BBQ  

City of Fountain tp xde air :/

This pic won the first prize for ASB 2K12 Picture Contest! *see if u can spot ASB in this pic

Public Library

Bottomline: From ASB, byk sgt bnda baru yg I belajar. I observed cara pengurusan masa dorg mmg mantap gler. And time handle unexpected situation ( mcm kes terbakar kat church), dorg mmg sgt pantas and cekap arrange next action that needed to be done. I ad gak blajar game2 yg dorg slalu main cam catch phrase, Ninja, and Apple for Apples (my fav).

Religion-wise, sgt mengejutkan bila 2/3 ckp yg dorg agnostic. Agnostic means tengah2 or still looking for agama untuk dianuti. Walaupn dorg smua lahir dari keturunan yg ada agama like Christian and etc tp dorg cam ragu2 and rs cam xlogical. I hope one day diorg diberikan hidayah utk terima Islam.

Last night before ASB ended, ktorg ad bt satu "ritual" yg agak menarik. Setiap org duk dalam bulatan in a dark room yg hanya diterangi lampu lilin. Then, one at a time ad dua org akan bgun ikut turn masing2. Dua org ni kena tap bahu sape2 yg dorg sesuai dgn description yg dibacakn leader. Antara "tap" yg anda dapat are "inspiring person", "someone that you would like to be" and sewaktu dgn nya. Terharu gak laaa hurrrrrr.

A very life-changing person. It is true that this one week volunteering service won't do much to change the world but it did change me. Thanks ASB. Definitely will join this again. Maybe Senior Year punya spring InsyaAllah. * I brought home 2 souvenirs - Chanel blusher given by sorg makcik kt church and a soft toy given by one of the Niles kid <3 (and also Niles certificate!)