We Were Star of The Day
by Mandy Lim Pei Mun
Today we got up 15 minutes early to be on time before Dani fetched Pasquelle and I. We headed to Tunas Hijau office as usual. Pasquelle and I discussed on the activities we intended to do with the kids in the schools we are in charge of. Our events today were similar as yesterday.
We visited two schools. The 1stschool is SDK Kristus Raja. At Kristus Raja we were served with some ‘kerupuk’. Pasquelle and I were taken to a classroom. We then introduced ourselves and give a short speech of our environmental programs in our country. The children were shy at first but they are quite responsive and curious about our country. I was told that this is the school Curtis will be working for. The children were very enthusiastic with the news. Everyone was cheering and giving loud applause.
The 2nd school we visited was SDN Kaliasin 1. We were again given some light snacks of different varieties of Indonesian traditional cakes. It was delicious and colourful which was very attractive. Then we had a small discussion with the teachers. Grade 5 and Grade 6 students were instructed to gather in the auditorium for an interaction with us. We gave some introduction of ourselves and our country environment and some global problems we are facing like climate change, degradation of the ecosystem. The students are very active. We were battered with multiple questions but unfortunately we can’t stay longer to answer all of the kid’s curiosity.
We were so honored to be in this school. They made us feel like superstars. Constantly our autographs were taken; flashing of camera almost blinded our eyes; and we gave our email address to the kids. It feels good to be in the center of attention once a while. We distributed the specialize-designed ‘snake and ladder’ game-board from Tunas Hijau to the kids. All the kids were stretching their hands out for the board-game. We should have brought more but there were only 8 sets. Then more pictures were taken and more and more and more…….. So yeah we were the STAR of the day!!!!!! WOOHOOO!!
We bid our farewell to the kids. They gave us lots of high five and handshake just to thank us. Then we were escorted to the eating hall for a big feast!! We were served with fish, roasted chicken, kerabu nangka, some fresh vegetables with sambal, fried tempe, and so on. Countless! Then we had a photo session with the teachers. They printed out some pictures for us as a souvenir and remembrance. We felt heavy to said our goodbyes but everything has their endings.
Bram and Dani took us to an old shopping centre where the wet market and all kinds of shops are combined. Curtis and I bought sandals. We left the place hastily because we were uncomfortable of the smell. So that is all we did for today. Everything went smoothly except our trip to the landfill was cancelled because it is situated at the outskirt of the city. It is a long destination to the landfill. I’m happy with my day and I hope I made my contribution to the society.