I have always wanted to go on a mission trip. It is not just mere donating money to good causes, but actually going down to a site to help out in terms of building homes and whatnot. So when a friend told me about a voluntary teaching trip to Rempang, I jumped at the opportunity. Thank goodness my dear is of the same consensus, so he not only supports me, but goes along for the mission trip too!
Thus on Sunday 18th October, we all woke up early and took a ferry to Batam. Then a van to Rempang. The school is in the premises of a church, which does not really look like a church, just some wooden makeshift houses on a grassy field.
I think this must be what those old village or kampung schools used to look like, something I never had the priviledge of seeing, as when I was born, my country is already rather cosmopolitan.
Hence the teaching trip is an eye-opener and enriching experience for me. To be in a wooden classroom with wooden desks and chairs. To see a blackboard (how long have I not seen one?!) and chalk. To be in an area with no electricity and water being pumped out from somewhere. And flies infested!
Things like these make one realise just how lucky and fortunate the students here are. Yet why is it that there are so many here who take their education and good facilities for granted? We never had a blackboard since the early 1990s, all classrooms have been switched to whiteboards and markers.
We never had a fly-infested classroom. The classrooms all had brights lights and strong fans, yet we hear students complaining of how hot and stuffy the classrooms are, with high percentage of myopia among kids.
We never had to read by candlelight, yet we hear of people here who shun reading and claim it is the most boring thing in the world! We never had to use hand-me-down stationeries and books, yet we hear of students here complaining just because they do not like the colour of a certain textbook or pencil and pen!
Sometimes students ought to go for exchange programs in places like these to see just how fortunate they really are! Anyway here are some pictures of the school grounds :
Thus on Sunday 18th October, we all woke up early and took a ferry to Batam. Then a van to Rempang. The school is in the premises of a church, which does not really look like a church, just some wooden makeshift houses on a grassy field.
I think this must be what those old village or kampung schools used to look like, something I never had the priviledge of seeing, as when I was born, my country is already rather cosmopolitan.
Hence the teaching trip is an eye-opener and enriching experience for me. To be in a wooden classroom with wooden desks and chairs. To see a blackboard (how long have I not seen one?!) and chalk. To be in an area with no electricity and water being pumped out from somewhere. And flies infested!
Things like these make one realise just how lucky and fortunate the students here are. Yet why is it that there are so many here who take their education and good facilities for granted? We never had a blackboard since the early 1990s, all classrooms have been switched to whiteboards and markers.
We never had a fly-infested classroom. The classrooms all had brights lights and strong fans, yet we hear students complaining of how hot and stuffy the classrooms are, with high percentage of myopia among kids.
We never had to read by candlelight, yet we hear of people here who shun reading and claim it is the most boring thing in the world! We never had to use hand-me-down stationeries and books, yet we hear of students here complaining just because they do not like the colour of a certain textbook or pencil and pen!
Sometimes students ought to go for exchange programs in places like these to see just how fortunate they really are! Anyway here are some pictures of the school grounds :
The entrance of the school
Some of the classrooms
I was assigned to a Primary Four class. The students will be taking their English oral examinations soon, so my task was to give them a mock oral exam. It was actually the same as the syllabus here - reading aloud, comprehension and picture description.
The students I tested were all able to read and recognise the words. Of course the pronunciation and intonation were a bit off, but considering their backgrounds, they were pretty good already. There are students here with English education but still not able to pronounce anything properly!
Their comprehension was okay, as in they were able to grasp the passage and knew where to find the answers. However, it was hard for them to describe the picture. It needed lots of prompting from me before they could describe it.
All in all, I am really glad I went for this! Even though it was just a two-hour lesson, I have not lost my touch after being out of the education industry for so long. Being around kids again really make me yearn to do more for them!
The whole thing wrapped up about one o'clock and we then took the van back to the Batam Ferry Terminal. There is a mall opposite the Ferry Terminal, so we went for lunch and did some shopping there before catching the ferry at five.
My dear and I had lunch at A&W, something which can never be found here again! I really miss the food there, especially the root beer float! Lunch was a chicken set with curly fries and root beer.
The students I tested were all able to read and recognise the words. Of course the pronunciation and intonation were a bit off, but considering their backgrounds, they were pretty good already. There are students here with English education but still not able to pronounce anything properly!
Their comprehension was okay, as in they were able to grasp the passage and knew where to find the answers. However, it was hard for them to describe the picture. It needed lots of prompting from me before they could describe it.
All in all, I am really glad I went for this! Even though it was just a two-hour lesson, I have not lost my touch after being out of the education industry for so long. Being around kids again really make me yearn to do more for them!
The whole thing wrapped up about one o'clock and we then took the van back to the Batam Ferry Terminal. There is a mall opposite the Ferry Terminal, so we went for lunch and did some shopping there before catching the ferry at five.
My dear and I had lunch at A&W, something which can never be found here again! I really miss the food there, especially the root beer float! Lunch was a chicken set with curly fries and root beer.
A&W lunch
I miss the cuddly bear from A&W!Overall it was a really fruitful day! I hope to have the opportunity to do that again - able to help others as well as helping myself at the same time.
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