Curtin Malaysia diploma students volunteer at Kompleks Kebajikan Hamidah Yakup

Miri – 4 January 2024 – A group of diploma students from the School of Pre-U and Continuing Education (SPACE) at Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) recently volunteered their services for a day at the Kompleks Kebajikan Hamidah Yakup orphanage as part of their Introduction to Community Service unit.

The 14 student volunteers aimed to bring some festivity and sense of joy, conducting various fun activities for the orphans. It was also an opportunity for the 14 student volunteers to interact with the orphans and their carers and foster a sense of being at one with the community.

The students consisted of first to fourth semester students from diverse disciplines including Media Studies, Information Technology and Commerce. For the first semester students, it was an exhilarating experience and an introductory phase of their university life.

The visit was actually quite a long time in planning. Members of the group visited the orphanage several weeks prior to assess the orphanage’s needs and discuss with the orphanage management the activities to be carried out with the orphans. Then throughout the semester, the group solicited sponsorships of clothing and stationery from various donors to be presented to the orphans.

When the day came, the students conducted a series of activities for the orphans whose ages ranged from seven to 16, and breakfast and lunch were catered by one of the sponsors, Chef X.

The day’s activities began with an ice-breaking activity, followed by various games such as a water balloon fight designed to teach the orphans to be protective of their peers, and a hopscotch game played on a mat slippery with detergent where the goal was to fill a tub full of water at one end of it, and a ‘Sweet & Flour’ game where they had to blow into a container full of flour to retrieve sweets hidden inside.

“The games were made to be both fun and educational, and the children enjoyed them immensely,” said the group’s leader, Elly Maszlien.

Alicesandra, another member of the group, related how the event was a meaningful experience for all the student volunteers. “It was fun getting to know the children and interacting with them. It was also a joy watching them participating enthusiastically in the activities and really enjoying themselves. It made all our efforts worthwhile,” she said.

Meanwhile, the manager of Kompleks Kebajikan Hamidah Yakup, Shamsiah Sanai Tahir, thanked the students for their efforts, saying that all the orphans had a good time and were looking to more events with students of Curtin Malaysia. She also thanked Curtin Malaysia Faculty of Humanities and Health Sciences lecturer Farahezza Hairon Nizar, who accompanied the students, for her continued support of the orphanage.

For more information on Curtin Malaysia, visit curtin.edu.my or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn or TikTok.

Some of the Curtin Malaysia student volunteers at Kompleks Kebajikan Hamidah Yakup

Orphans participating in the slippery hopscotch game

Group photo of the Curtin Malaysia students, orphanage management and orphans