ini kami..

The overwhelming response to my last post 'ITU KAMU' simply indicates one thing: We're not alone.

Fariz and I know well enough that 'volunteerism' is a word with TOO great and TOO big meaning lies behind for some of our friends, that was why until few hours before the motivational programme in Sek. Rendah Permatang Pelandok started, we only have Fariz, Sherry and I -- three amateur facilitators, planning for the worst-case-scenario, boosting our self-confidence and physical readiness, to handle almost 50 kids in the primary school.

I grabbed Dani in at 1 a.m. after few minutes of discussion through Yahoo Messenger. That was really her last minute decision as right after she decided to join this 'daredevils' troop, she got only 3 hours to get her good sleep before we set off from UTP heading to the unknown Chenderong Balai.

Whatever it was, at that moment, Fariz and I realized that we had a better worst-case-scenario: 4 vs 50 now.

I met Sherry for the very first time, not in our own office building but in this lovely little school hidden in the middle of paddy field and palm oil. Together with Sherry were Faza, Farah and Rini. Then another 3 chaps joining us: Bob, Amir and Juleo. And Sherry's hubby, Kamarul, who played the role of a 'logistic manager' before the classroom session, jumped into the fun pool of facilitators. ..

--- 11 vs 50. All of a sudden, the sky was bright.

..and among these 11 facilitators, I only knew Dani and Fariz. I knew Sherry as 'The Sherry' in the emails, I knew Kamarul as 'the husband of Sherry', I recognized Faza as 'the quiet one with chinese face', I couldn't remember the name of Rini, I thought Farah with a spec on and without a spec on were two different ladies, I saw Bob, Amir and Juleo as one unit so that I could save my time remembering their names...

... and I was sure that they did the same thing to me too -- but that did not matter much. All of us had some kind of unspoken agreement: we are here for the kids.

Everybody played their parts in the programme. What we did not expect was, the kids became a bridge for 11 of us to know each other well. Surely one and a half day of time was not enough to build up good relationship among a bunch of strangers, but in this case, it was the passion that matters, not time.

..and now, I know Sherry as a capable but humble young lady; Kamarul is fun and a born motivater; I was surprised by Faza's 'non-quietness' but after knowing her actual age I hence not surprised by her restless energy; I finally found out the explanation of why seems-to-be-shy Rini could easily pulled kids' attention with her soft tone; and Farah is ACTUALLY Teacher Ruby's daughter; Bob, Amir and Juleo were the three stooges that have 300% of enthusiasm in volunteering, and have 600% of sense of humor.

... ...

Let me rephrase or review my stupid assumption about VOLUNTEERISM. I said volunteerism is TOO big for some of our friends in my opening paragraph, now I kinda disagree, cuz I met a bunch of new friends who really see volunteerism is a way of reaching out, and learning, and making new friends, and having fun -- no big thingy at all And the sky became even brighter and brighter when some of my friends were blaming me for not asking them to join along! So glad to hear that they actually have the same passion too!

ps.. Upon request, for the very first time, a picture montage of ITU KAMU is linked below. Enjoyed.