The
Kalsom Movement is now recruiting our volunteers – Malaysian students studying at
tertiary education globally, for the 21st edition of our
award-winning flagship event – Projek Kalsom 21 Motivational Camp
Projek
Kalsom has been dear to me, I hope it will be for others as well. This year
might be my final year with the movement, and I wish it will continue to touch
the lives of others (I will write more on my personal reflection on it later)
The
project is more than just a motivational camp – for most people it has been a
life-changing experience. You can experience it on your own by applying to join
it. The application is tough and strict, because we always want to pick the
right people for this.
Apply
here: www.projek-kalsom.org
My
personal story on The Star:
Dated:
9 November 2014
Source:
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Education/2014/11/09/Making-adifference/
I
HAVE always wanted to contribute to society.
Since
many opportunities have been made possible to me, I feel it is my calling to
give back in any way I can.
When I first joined
Projek Kalsom in 2012, I thought it was going to be like any other volunteering
programme. Little did I know that it was a turning point in my life.
I always tell people
that they need to come and experience the project themselves; I can say that
this is a motivational camp for the less fortunate students, but trust me, it’s
more than that.
The objective of
Projek Kalsom is a grand one, which is to eradicate education inequities in
Malaysia.
Sometimes, it is easy
to feel overwhelmed by the scale of the problem, that we often become paralysed
by the uphill task that we face. But I have always believed that small changes
lead to big differences.
It must not be
forgotten that Projek Kalsom, in essence, was inspired by a single newspaper
article back in the early 1990’s which highlighted the plight and struggles of
Ummi Kelthom, a single mother of six.
That article drove a
handful of students to initiate a community project which has become the
mammoth project it is today.
The project has always
been a student-based project – by students and for students.
The burning ideals of
our youth are captured and translated into an empowering mechanism, as each
facilitator acts as a role model for the participants. Whatever gaps of
knowledge that would normally have been deprived to the participants are
filled. Slowly but surely, the inequity gaps are narrowed.
Each year, the
programme modules are tailor-made and designed by different people to cater to
different environments and target groups. This is to maintain the dynamics of
the programme.
During my first year
with Projek Kalsom, I was a facilitator in Miri, Sarawak. It was challenging,
as we had students from both extremes – those who had a string of As and could
speak perfect English, to those who had a poor command of both English and
Malay.
Some were from very
wealthy families, while some were orphans, and others from problematic
backgrounds.
The challenge was not
just trying to communicate with them, but also making them feel that they were
very much part of the project.
We also cannot be too
hard on the children and make them feel intimidated.
This is why we
emphasise the need for volunteers to listen to the students, and treat them as
friends and not just participants.
The welfare of the
students has always been our priority, and we want to make them feel as
comfortable as possible.
I myself was initially
intimidated by the volunteers, as many of them were high achievers in their own
fields. However, I soon bonded with them as we had a mission to focus on.
Some of our volunteers
have since graduated and have jobs now but they have come back as Kalsom
Alumni.
I was the module
manager during my second year with Projek Kalsom, in Kuantan, Pahang.
Since we design our
modules to cater to the needs of the students, we had to raise the bar of the
programme as most of the children could speak English well. We had to push them
to broaden their horizons, while making sure their dreams were still realistic.
This is my third year
with the project, and as director, I need to make sure everything falls in
place, especially since all volunteers and committee members are based in
different universities and countries.
Video conferencing,
Skype calls and Facebook messages are essential in making sure we plan things
well to make full use of our three-week programme in Malaysia.
I am very lucky to be
blessed with such dedicated and committed organising members as well as
volunteers.
The biggest challenge
now is to ensure Projek Kalsom continues to be relevant to everyone while
remaining true to its founding values and ethos. It has come to a point that we
need to increase our scale as well as depth.
We also want to think
of ways to inspire students even though we are miles away from Malaysia. In
conjunction with our 20th anniversary, we devised a more sustainable year-long
monitoring plan called Kalsom Harapan.
We will also run a
workshop for students here in January, which will focus on academics. It will
be conducted by Malaysian university students studying in Australia.
Besides bringing in
new partners, as well as introducing new initiatives, I hope in a few years to
come, Projek Kalsom and volunteerism will be in the hearts of students.
I really hope that
Projek Kalsom will run as a social enterprise entity one day. My vision is to
make sure everyone understands the “Kalsom” spirit – that drive to inspire
people to make a difference in society.
For
more information on Projek Kalsom, log on to www.projek-kalsom.org.
* The writer, a
medical student is director of Projek Kalsom.
