A Mentari Milestone - Petrosains 11 May 2008

After all the planning, countless emails and facebook announcements, we finally pulled off a great Mother's Day gift for the mums of Desa Mentari - the Petrosains trip for their children. Speaking as a mum, there's nothing more exciting than seeing our child light up for a treat that's both educational, enjoyable and safe. Both mums and children were lined up in force by the time all of us arrived.. Muaz woke up at six he was so excited!

Afif was worried that he was late - well, most of us were! After all it was a Sunday morning and Mother's Day to boot. We are grateful to all volunteers who made it to Desa Mentari and KLCC to help escort and shepard all 52 kids of all shapes, sizes and temperament through KLCC Park, Suria , Petrosains and the Skybridge and back to the bus and cars - a stupendous feat all!! And while we definitely lost sweat, patience and calories ( hopefully!), the kids' enthusiasm and energy in assimilating the novelty of KLCC ( for many kids it was their first time), Petrosains and the Skybridge experiences more than made up for it.

What was most rewarding for us was seeing how much the kids have changed from the mostly shy, apathetic children we met for the first time in January to the confident, curious crowd of kids of May 11. It was hard to believe for an instant that they are the same kids especially when I saw shy Syuhada going up to the tour guides of the Skybridge to ask them about Skybridge facts for the quiz. Aidil insisting that "ajarlah lagi Cikgu" and the kids actively seeking answers to the simple quiz Yasmin prepared were all signs that for the past five months - we must have done something right. They came out of their shell.

Of course Muiz still had to lose the specially prepared tag and Irwan was as competitive as always. I'm sure every cikgu /faci that day had special have their own stories about the children so do share with us your own story of that day on Facebook or on the blog. At least for that one day, their view of the world changed. Hopefully in ways that will give them the determination to work hard for a new, different future than their present.

There was no way we could have pulled this trip off without everyone's participation and hard work. Let's all salute Afif for planning whole trip step by step, Safa for the bright name tags and lanyards and letters, Hazira for the delicious lunch and dessert, ably assisted by Tarmimi and Co, Nik our YB for the crtical component - transport, Syafiq and Yasir too for being both chauffeurs and shepards. The rest of the Honor roll:

Group 1 - Fadiah, Afif*
Group 2 - Shafiq, Nik Nazmi*
Group 3 - Bahariah, Tini (TBC)
Group 4 - Lina Mydin, Safa*
Group 5 - Farhana, Elly*
Group 6 - Yasir, Hui Ru
Group 7 - Fazlin, Aida

Group 8 - Yasmin, Li Quan

Group 9 - Marya, Hazira*
Group 10 - Safiyyah, Tamimi
Group 11 - Farah, Amalina
Group 12 - Jolene, Cikgu Wani*

Great work everyone! Let's keep the momentum of this project going. Its strength lies in the sustainability.

This coming Saturday and Sunday will be a debriefing for the kids with their facis'. We'll talk about what they saw, felt and did - then pick an exhibit related to a specific concept that they have learnt and go deeper in breadth and depth. That's the first hour. They can be assigned an essay in Malay and/or English.

Give yourselves a pat on the back and get a leg massage! Next trip will be at least three months from now so everyone can recover :)