BATU GRACE ASHRAM, KULIM, KEDAH.

Mrs. Sakunthala (The Caretaker)

The Prayer Room

The Kindergarten

On the 19th of March 2011, the Youth Cares members once again had their charity visit in combining the month of February and March. They visited Pusat Jagaan Kanak-Kanak Batu Grace which is situated in Kulim, Kedah. We left Penang at 9am and arrived at around 11am. Once arrived,we met the caretaker of the home, Ms. Shankeri and Mrs. Sakunthala. We explain to both of them about our charity project. Mrs. Sakunthala was very pleased after listening to us! :)

Fortunately, on the day we visited the home it was one of the children birthday. So we bought a birthday cake to celebrate with them. Preceding the day of our visit was another child's birthday. their names were, Archana, 9 years old and Gayathri, 12 years old. All of them were so happy and excited for the birthday cake since it was a 3kg butter cake fully decorated with colourful icing cream.

After celebrating, we served all of them the delicious cake. *YUMMY*... Later then, Mrs. Sakunthala gave a little explanation about the home that there were 49 kids living in the home. Age from 2 years old to 20 years old. They were actually renting the home. On the same day, some children had gone out to take donations in order to raise funds for the home. Mrs. Sakunthala was briefly telling us that most of the children in the home were abandoned by their parents. Some of them have single parent and some of them were orphans.

She also said few of them were not even Malaysian citizens and they don't have a valid document such as birth certificates, identity card and so on. We were sad to hear that some of the children there had a hard time at the age of 5 to 7 years old.

After Mrs. Sakunthala explain to us about the home, we went for a quick mini tour around the home. The home is actually divided to 4 sections. They are the girls hostel, the meditating/prayer room, the boys hostels and also a kindergarten for the little ones. Every Saturday evening, the kids will have a special prayers conducted by Mrs. Sakunthala's husband.

After going around the home compound, we brought down the dry rations which we bought for them. The rations consists of milk powder,soap powder, bihun, floor cleaners, and many more. They were very thankful for the things we bought as they need those things. One of our member donated some cash for the home too.

At 12.30pm, we took a few group photos with all the children before we leave. Then, we said goodbye to all of them in the home and left to Penang.

Reported by,

Taranee.

Archana and Gayathri's Birthday Celebration.

2011 FIRST MONTH CHARITY EVENT

On the 22nd of January, the YC members had their first month charity for the year 2011! They had their charity event in Persatuan Kebajikan Sinar Ceria which was located in Bukit Mertajam, Penang. We moved from Penang at 2.45pm and reached the home at 3.30pm. The caretaker/the founder of the home, Mrs. Pakiam was actually anxious to meet us. Then, we introduced ourselves to her and explained to her our objective of doing this charity.

That particular day was a day where all the kids would have their free time going out to play games. Unfortunately, on the day we went to the home, all the kids were out for a one day trip holiday. They went to Sunway Lagoon in Kuala Lumpur which was sponsored by one of the donors of the home . Although they were not there, the small children were there, Trisha, Shanmugam and Jega.

As soon as we were there the 3 of them were very generous and loving. We were having a little chit-chat with the kids, then we started to play with kids at the playground in the home itself. The kids were enjoying themselves and so were we.

Later then, Mrs. Pakiam showed us around the home, the home is actually a small terraced house which is combined with another terraced house which a former kindergarten programme contained that now they have housing for the children, office space for administration work, kitchen, and store room. Mrs. Pakiam told us that she was very worried for the kids when they didn't have a home or a shelter for the kids to be secured. Then she had a plan of buying a house for the kids. She didn't care much about the price whereby she gave first priority for the kids. May GOD bless her always!! :)

As we were talking with Mrs. Pakiam, we didn't realise that time has just gone so fast. And so, it was time for us to end the day with saying good bye to the kids and also to Mrs. Pakiam. Before leaving, we gave our donations for the home and also Mrs. Pakiam thanked us for being kind and open hearted for donating for the home.

After that at 5.30pm, we said goodbye to Mrs. Pakiam and the kids in the home and went back home with a wide smile in our face!!! :D

*IMPORTANT NOTE*

The home is actually in need of computers in order for the kids to learn.

Reported by,

-Darshiini-

YOUTH CARES AMAZING RACE 2010

On the 19th of December, Sunday, the Youth Cares members had a wonderful and challenging game called the AMAZING RACE ala Youth Cares! The main objective of this race was to create stronger family ties and this race was also a learning experience for all the youths in the family.We got up at 5.00am sharp and left the house at 6.30 am on the dot.

Everybody were told to assemble at a pre-determined venue,Esplanade before 7.15am. After everybody was accounted for, all of us had our morning breakfast which was nasi lemak! Come to think of it, that was rather heavy for an early morning breakfast!!

After that, all the adult participants were called for a short briefing regarding their grouping with a junior and also about the rules and regulations about the race. After the briefing session, the adults were joined by their respective juniors and were told about the route that we were suppose to use during the race and as a guide we were given a map.

We started the race at 7.55am. All groups were grouped by number sequence. But when the race started, groups were not called out by sequence, but they were called out randomly. Every 5 minutes a group will be called out. The time limit that was given to all groups to finish the race was 3 hours. Among the activities involved during the race was sketch some prominent buildings in the Penang Heritage enclave, take a bus ride to Weld Quay/jetty (a first for some) & to identify some heritage buildings. Many teams managed to finish the race within an hour! After all groups were done with the race, they were treated with nasi lemak again & kaya+planta bun. After that, we submitted our file to the judges to be scrutinised by the judges. The judges' verdict was finally announced after 15 minutes.

Even though, most of us were born & bred in Penang, we did make some silly mistakes regarding identifying some buildings. This are the kind of things we tend to take for granted in life. In the end, almost everybody had some sort of body pain but still we managed to go back home with a lifetime of memory.

Report by,
Swarna & team

FINAL CHARITY 2010

The Youth Cares did their last charity activity for the month of December at Kamakshi Children Home , Kulim, Kedah on the 18th December 2010, Saturday. The Penangites started towards Kulim at 9.45 am. They reached Kulim at about 10.30 am. Without much ado, we departed from Nithiya's house at about 10.45 am and reached the home at 11.00 am sharp.

When we reached the home, the caretaker Ms. Kamala told us that the children had gone to the playground as it was a part of their routine on weekends especially on school holidays. But, she offered the kids to come back earlier, as we wanted to spend more time with the kids. While we were waiting for the kids to come back, Ms Kamala brought and showed us around the home.

Kamakshi Children Home was very well maintained by the caretakers. It certainly conveyed a homely and healthy environment for the kids to be there. After a short tour around the home, we sat down to have a little chit-chat with Ms.Kamala. Soon after the kids arrived. They refreshed themselves and sat on the tables to join the chit-chat session with us. Mrs Karuna (Achi) from our side did a very good job on controlling the big crowd of 50 children of ages 8 to 15. So did Ms. Gowri and the others. To get to know the kids a little better, we made the kids stand up and mention their ambitions one by one. The kids were very spontaneous and none of them showed fear to speak in the front of a crowd.

Then it was time for the kids to have their lunch. So, we bade farewell to the kids. After that, we made our way to the administration office to hand in our donation for the home. Ms Kamala thanked us for the donation and for entertaining the kids for almost an hour. Then we left the home with our hearts filled with satisfaction that we have again accomplished doing a good deed by carving happy moments for the unfortunates to forget their pasts.

May God Bless Them Always....!!

Reported by,

Nithiya Shan.

World Walking Day, 2010.

On the 21st of November 2010, World Walking Day was carried out simultaneously across the country. In Penang, it was held at Padang Polo at Jalan Sepoy Line (Opposite Penang General Hospital). To encourage a healthier lifestyle, the Youth Cares members, managed to encourage a few participants to participate in this event organised by Nestlé.

On a Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early at 5.00am to meet up with the others around 6.30am. Once we were all gathered, we make our way to the t-shirt booth to collect our FREE T-SHIRT ( Thank you Nestlé!!!). After collecting the t-shirt, we quickly changed into our new bright green t-shirt! As warm up exercise, the organisers invited an aerobic instructor for the participants. The participants had an amazing and laughter filled aerobics session for a good half an hour.

After an exciting round of aerobics, the host of the day (who was funny and entertaining) explained to the participants of the rules and regulations of the walk. After the briefing session, we were all guided to the starting point. We started walking to the designated route after the horn was blown.

For the final 100m, participants were told to be creative with their walk, for example instead of walking normally, participants can try the moon walk or the Egyptian walk. The first 500 participants to reach the finish line, they were given a goodie bag (Nestlé products) and every participants were presented with a lucky draw ticket. Unfortunately, none of the Youth Cares members were lucky enough to win any prizes for the day. But, we could be considered lucky as we shared this event with our family members.

As you might have known by now, Nestlé was the main sponsor for the day. So, many booths carried Nestlé products but there were others as refreshments. Such as Milo, cereals like Honey Stars and Maggi noodles.

To warm down ourselves, we had the last aerobics session. After a good start to our Sunday morning, we headed back home!

Reported by,

Darshiini.

The Festival of Lights.

The Youth Cares carried out its recent charity program in conjunction with the Festival of Lights on the 7th of November 2010. This time, we held it at the Seri Cahaya, Batu Maung Home, as that was the only home available at such short notice. We were glad that almost all the contributors were able to attend this event.

Our crew arrived at the home at about 3.30 pm. As it was still nap time, most of the children were still sleeping while some have returned to their foster parents for the holidays. So, we had to wait for them to get up and freshen themselves for the evening prayers. Meanwhile, we enjoyed some light refreshments and Diwali cookies prepared by the home.**mmm.. delicious** At about 4.15, the kids were all awake and we were ready to start off with a short thanksgiving prayers.

After the prayers were over and everybody was getting their blessings from the caretaker, Mr.Vig (one of the donors) came up with a brilliant idea to have a 'on-the-spot-donation'. So, Swarna equipped with her trusted pink little cap, when around the room collecting extra donations. The amount didn't matter, it was the thought that count. At the end of the day, we donated more than we wanted initially to the home.

After the prayers it was time for the kids to have their tea time meal. While the kids were having their meal the elder contributors who were there for the occasion, started to give out small ‘ang pou’ packets which were prepared by the Youth Cares members for all the kids there. We also gave ‘ang pou’ packets to the senior citizens who lived there. We were all moved when we looked at all those happy faces when they received the ‘ang pou’ packets. But we were not the only one moved by it, the senior citizens were moved as well. They even looked shocked and at the spur of the moment, hugged one of our donors.

Later, we had a little chit-chat session with the kids along with a photo shoot session. Then we left the home with our hearts filled with satisfaction that we have done a good deed on a good day and ended our day beautifully at about 5.30 pm. After that we, the YC & family, went on to have our very own chit chat and tea session at a coffee house before everyone departs to their respective states or countries.

Sharing a festivity with your family members means a lot, but when you share it with the less fortunate, it has a greater meaning to it.

Report By,
Nithiya Shan & Team

Shan Children Home, Tanjung Tokong

On 13 June 2010, the Youth Care members once again had their charity visit to SHAN CHILDREN HOME, Tanjung Tokong. We went there about 3.30 p.m. This time around, we had arranged some station games to interact with the kids of the home. There were 5 station games altogether. The games were conducted within the compound of the home.

The station games were :
1. Solving a puzzle
2. newspaper folding (see how many kids can stand on 1/4 of newspaper)
3. box reading
4. Blind folding
5. rusty telephone (can you convey a message properly or are you rusty)


Some of the member went there early to set up the games. As there were 20 children in the home on that particular day. We had exactly divided them into 5 group consisting of 4 players each in different ages. After all YC members arrived safely (after getting lost).The games begun.The joy could be seen in the children's eyes. After that at roughly about 5 o'clock, we ended the games. Soon after that, all the YC members tallied the marks which was given to every group. As a result, 2 groups (Group A & B) won 1st and 2nd placing respectively
.
Even though, the prizes were on given to only 1st and 2nd placing, the YC members presented a small notebook as souvenir to all the children in the home. Later, before saying goodbye to the children, we celebrated some of our relatives (June babies) birthday there. The cake (home made marble cake) was given to all the children. Then, we left the home, thanking the care-taker and also thanking the children for participating for these games.



Reported by,
Darshiini & Taranee