Reflective Essay

On 21st April 2018, I joined the Catholic Society club in my university for a visit to an orphanage named Rumah Kasih. It is a club consists of young Christians that have a sharing in faith to promote charity work to the ‘disadvantaged group’ in the community.

The purpose of this visit is to share our joys with them and to help them realize they should not think of themselves as unwanted beings.

The pre-visit briefing includes talking about the transportation, meals and do’s and don’ts during the visit. Taking Malaysia’s racial diversity into consideration, we were not allowed to mention any racial sensitivity or religious content. I was assigned the role of board game coordinator, perhaps due to my relatively young age and jovial character which my team leader felt that I could easily blend in with the children. Contingency plan were discussed if anything were to happen due to mishaps.

I brought along donations to the orphanage items such as clothes, shampoos and colour pencils. It was a very heart warming experience. We sang and danced along to the guitar played by one of the members in the club as ice breaker. The children took little time to open up. Throughout the visit, the children had taught me a lot about life and myself. I learnt to keep my heart open, to live in the moment and most importantly, realized there is so much to be grateful for in life.

The children were happy when we came to visit. One of the best ways to a child’s heart is to play with them, so we brought out board games. I played Snake & Ladders and Twister with some of the girls. We were struggling to keep ourselves from falling onto the floor and laughed when we did actually fall. In that moment, everything seemed happy and energetic. It felt like they had forgotten what problems they are facing, and just immersed in the moment we were playing together.

Children live in the moment most of the time. They cry when they are sad, and laugh like the happiest person in the world in the next minute. This taught me to not over think too much. I usually spent too much time in my thoughts wondering what I did wrong or stressing about the deadlines of my work. Unfortunately, this seems to be a common issue for other adults too. We seem to forget how to live. If we live in the present moment, our jumble of thoughts will slowly disappear, and the moment we are experiencing right now regains its uniqueness. We might even see life as a ‘playground’ again, just like we did as a kid.

One thing that amazed me was how quickly they bonded with us. Although they don’t get much attention and love in the orphanage, they are still willing to open their hearts to us. It would be amazing if everyone in the world would do the same and accept each other like these children. Many minor problems would be easily solved by simply willing