I was given a task by Ms.Norji to do the write up for the booklet. It was a bit challenging for me to write up the progression that has happened on site as I wasn't around for the first few phases due to being sick. I took two days to complete the write up.

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Here is what I did:

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Introduction

Community Service Initiative is a module that requires the students to learn by giving service to others. Service learning is basically using curriculum to foster a sense of care and concern among the students for their community and the world at large. This can be your village, an orphanage or a distant dying species. In this process, the students will recognize and take steps to meet the needs of others, enhance their creativity and critical as well as their reflective skills. Moreover, this module will help develop their personal and social responsibility. The students will learn through participating in a service experience and will have the opportunity to use their skills and knowledge hands on. They will be exposed to community needs and also gain empathy for others and learn about the resources available to people for revitalizing their communities. Lastly, The Students will have the opportunity to develop basic knowledge and skills in community service strategies, tactics and techniques, including the art of volunteerism.

 

Week 1 (1st April-7th April 2019)

On the 4th April, a few of the students went to the site to pay a visit and to also observe the site. The students had to measure the site, take some photos and also to take note of what changes are needed for the site. There were a lot of termites and also unsuited for children to spend their time reading. The condition of the site is poor and it needs to be transformed completely. After the site visit, the students had to produce plan, section and elevation drawings before the briefing day which is happening on the 5th April.

On the 5th April, the students who are part of the Community Service Initiative module gathered in E5.04. The lecturers, Ms. Norji and Mr. Edwin, briefed them on what they are supposed to do for this particular module and what they need to keep in mind while doing the task that were given to them. They were told to transform the existing site at the Orang Asli Village located in Serendah which is an hour away from Taylor’s University and were also asked to split into separate groups of 6.

 

Group 1: Sponsorship

Group 2: Exterior walls and surrounding

Group 3: Interior floor and wall transformation.

Group 4: Shelves and books arrangement  

Group 5: Fun-learning aids

Group 6: Pre+post +logistics

 

After they were asked to split into groups, they had to start their discussion on what they plan to do and how they plan to do it. The class was elated and enthusiastic for the given task as it is new and exciting to them. Before the briefing ends, the students were told to prepare themselves and to plan what they want to do before the presentation day which happened on the 26th April. They have to come out with a proposal and present it to the whole class.

 

Week 4 (22nd -28th April) 

After weeks of preparations, it is time for the students to present their progress and to share what they have planned throughout the weeks. The first group to present is group 1, they presented their progression of asking for sponsorships, collecting books and furniture for donation purposes. Group 2 presented what they have found on pinterest for the exterior wall mural painting, the resources they need to also make this process possible. The students in group 3 presented their proposal and they have proposed two types of mural design for the interior walls as well as the floor restoration.

 

As for group 4, they have presented their ideas for the lighting in the mini library and as well as the coding the planned out for the children’s books. Group 5 proposed to do a word game to help make learning fun for the children in Serendah, snakes and ladders games for mathematics and many more. Lastly, it I group 6’s turn to present. They have presented their main poster design, website, social media links, video and their plan to aid the other groups in terms of promotion. The students in group 6 also shared their plan to spread awareness for this project to the class and encouraged the class to help out in that process by sharing the social media links and asking their friends to follow their pages. The presentation took 2 hours and 30mins. 

 

Week 9 (27th May-2nd June)

On the 27th May, group 6 and the representative from each group had a meeting with Ms.Norji and Mr. Edwin at C9 to arrange the transportation and the timing for the first Phase of transforming the mini library. On the 1st June, the students have started to work on site. Some of the group members from Group 2,3,4 and 6 went on site to start the cleaning process of the Mini Library. The journey took an hour and the students arrived around 10am in the morning.

 

As soon as the students arrive at the Mini Library, Orang Asli village in Serendah, they started to take the tools and equipment that they needed out of their cars and start cleaning the exterior of the library(etc. floor,window,staircase...). After that, some of the students started to move out the old furniture, books, bookshelves and the others out of the mini library in order to start the cleaning process for the interior. In the meantime, the rest of the students started to scrape off the dirt from the exterior walls and started to paint the base coat on the exterior wall while the some of the students from group 6 head out to collect the food for the students working on site.The whole process took roughly 7 hours and before the group of students depart from the mini library, they kept the tools and equipment and ensure that everything is in the right place.

 

Week 10 ( 3rd June- 9th june)

During the raya break, some of the students returned back to the mini library to start cleaning the interior floor and also to apply epoxy on the floor, making the floor look new,clean and comfortable for the Orang Asli kids. 

 

Week 11 (10th June- 16th June)

After the raya break, the students head back to the mini library once again to continue the process of transforming the space. As soon as they arrive at the site, they began to take their tools and equipment out. The group 2 started to take the wall paint and start painting the exterior walls while the group 3 start to paint the mural on the interior walls. The group 6 members started to take some photos and videos for social media posting. Some of the group 1 members came and they start  assembling the chairs that was purchased in IKEA.

 

After the paint dries, the group members from group 5 started to get the learning aids that they have produced on their own and started installing it on the walls while group 3 starts to draw the mural drawing on the interior wall. Once again, one of the representatives from group 6 head out to buy the food for the students on site. When the food arrived, the students took a break to have their lunch.

 

After lunch, the students begin to resume doing their task. A few hours later, group 3 have completed the mural drawing and begin to paint the mural on the interior walls. As this is going on, the students from group 4 begin arranging the books on the shelves. As the process of transforming the space continues, the amount of trash have built up. The group 6 members helped by clearing out the trash. The process of transforming the mini library went on from 10am-7pm.

 

Week 12 (17th June- 23rd June)

On the 22nd of June, it is the official launching day of the mini library. Some of the students arrive at 10am to begin their task as the event of the launching for this mini library will begin at 2pm. The students from group 6 begin taking videos and photos to post on instagram to update the social media on the progress and the results of the previous phase for transforming the mini library while the students from group 3 begin their task to complete the window design while this is happening, the students from group 1 arrived and started to work on the balloons and ribbons for decoration purposes for the launch. As some of the group 1 members are blowing the balloons and tying the ribbons, the rest of the group members from group 1 started to tie the balloon and ribbons up on the trusses. Some of the students begin to set up the stationery and goody bags on the tables to give the kids for the launch of the mini library. 

 

At 11am, the rest of the students arrived and begin doing their task. The students from group 3 begin installing the lockset for each and every windows in the mini library. Some of the group 6 members started to get their equipment to help fix the fun learning aids that was broken by one of the kids in the village and try to make it as strong as possible while the other group 6 members are editing the videos for the launching event. The students from group 1 helped the students from group 6 to set up the banner and to hang the banner which was designed by one of the students from group 6 while the students from group 6 helped to align the banner and ensure that it is hung in the middle. Two of the group 6 students, drove down to a mart to buy extra plates for the guest before the launch begin.The students from different groups helped set up the tables,clean the tables and placing the food that was delivered to us before the launch start. 

 

At 2pm, the launch of the mini library has started. The emcee started entertaining the audience while waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive while the music blast in the room creating a good vibe for the guest. The emcee interacted with the kids that were invited for the launching day and the kids were ecstatic. When all the guests arrive, the group 6 members presented the video of our progress throughout the weeks starting from week 1.  After the video, we invited our guest speaker to come out to give a speech. After that, everyone gathered outside for the ribbon cutting ceremony which indicate that the mini library is officially open for the orang asli children. After the opening ceremony, the food is served by the students to give the guest a welcoming feel and good hospitality. At 3:30pm, the launch is over and the students begin to clean up the paper plates, cups and the other rubbish on the ground. At 4pm, the students began to depart home and rest.