Once every 4 months, it's my turn to provide lunch for about 30 kids of Kg K (let's just keep the place anonymous). My church has adopted this village in Penampang by building a small community hall and employing two wonderful uni students to teach the kids Malay and English daily. The community hall is like an overheated oven and I wouldn't have lasted two days if I were to teach there, so I am really impressed by the two teachers. The residents of Kg K are local Kadazans-Dusuns who are illiterate and because of their ignorance, their kids are not registered with the relevant department and so they can't get their identity cards which means they can't go to government schools. A vicious cycle. There's been some positive results so far and the kids may be getting their ICs soon. Anyway, the church's idea of one nutritious meal a week for those kids below 12 is great, don't you think.
Nov 08: I cooked chicken stew, fried french beans and rice, and bought butter cake for dessert. After lunch, the kids and I played a game which my daughter called "Buying the kids' affection." I was just giving them small change for telling me the names of the things in the classroom in English. I think I am most comfortable teaching 3rd graders. They are old enough to interact with, yet young enough to impress. The kids reminded me of the summer I was teacher's aide to my Aunt Lucia, a teacher in Langley, Whidbey Island USA. Those 3rd graders in Langley were the ones who decided I should be called 'Terri' but that's another story for another post.
Dec 08: My home group got together to wrap the presents and cook for the Christmas party for the kids. I have a slight fear of going to the kampungs (village) because of the dirt and gravel roads and it seems like every visit ends up with some car getting stuck in the road, even in dry weather. Did I tell you a miracle happened to me when I visited a kampung in the heart of Sabah about 4 years ago? No? That's another post then.
April 1, 09: This morning I made shepherd's pies for the kids, then decided to add homey beans omelettes cooked like a frittata, to go with rice, just in case they didn't like the pie. Dessert is watermelon since it's so hot there. The kids don't eat very much (most are about 5-9 years old) and the first time I cooked for them, I cooked enough for 60 and there was plenty of leftover so some of the kids tried to discreetly pass the food through the school's windows to their parents. It was touching to see that.
It's time to send the food to the kids at Kg K. This time they'll have to come and carry the food up the hill. Me, I'm heading off to a ladies' brunch after that. Remember, don't sweat the small stuff, really, give thanks for all that God has provided!Have a great day everybody!
p.s. I'm told the pie was a big hit.
Nov 08: I cooked chicken stew, fried french beans and rice, and bought butter cake for dessert. After lunch, the kids and I played a game which my daughter called "Buying the kids' affection." I was just giving them small change for telling me the names of the things in the classroom in English. I think I am most comfortable teaching 3rd graders. They are old enough to interact with, yet young enough to impress. The kids reminded me of the summer I was teacher's aide to my Aunt Lucia, a teacher in Langley, Whidbey Island USA. Those 3rd graders in Langley were the ones who decided I should be called 'Terri' but that's another story for another post.
Dec 08: My home group got together to wrap the presents and cook for the Christmas party for the kids. I have a slight fear of going to the kampungs (village) because of the dirt and gravel roads and it seems like every visit ends up with some car getting stuck in the road, even in dry weather. Did I tell you a miracle happened to me when I visited a kampung in the heart of Sabah about 4 years ago? No? That's another post then.
April 1, 09: This morning I made shepherd's pies for the kids, then decided to add homey beans omelettes cooked like a frittata, to go with rice, just in case they didn't like the pie. Dessert is watermelon since it's so hot there. The kids don't eat very much (most are about 5-9 years old) and the first time I cooked for them, I cooked enough for 60 and there was plenty of leftover so some of the kids tried to discreetly pass the food through the school's windows to their parents. It was touching to see that.
It's time to send the food to the kids at Kg K. This time they'll have to come and carry the food up the hill. Me, I'm heading off to a ladies' brunch after that. Remember, don't sweat the small stuff, really, give thanks for all that God has provided!Have a great day everybody!
p.s. I'm told the pie was a big hit.
12 comments:
Good for you! You're an encouragement to the rest of us.
a group of us r goin to visit a home too..pity i cant cook like that..if not it would be marvellous!
this is awesome :)
God is good, and He provides. keep blessing those children with your food!
u've got a gift...to bless people with your super yummy food and through ur writings!
thank u for being a blessing for us, ur blog readers.
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Somehow reading this post put a wide grin on my face...am so proud to have a friend like you. :)
:-) well done!
chopsuey: thnx:)
joe:i'm sure u're good at cheering them up!
catk: :D
corey: it's two-way, n i am blessed by all of u too
anon: i get ur point. i think dr m did a lot of harm when he told the bumis to go ahead n multiply w/o consideration of their financial status. it is a fact tt kids cost $ n how can the poor get out of their poverty if they can't give their kids a proper education? wouldn't it be better to have fewer kids n afford better education? all poor nations have this problem of the poor having too many kids n no proper education yet our then-PM was so irresponsible to make that call to have min 5 kids.crazy.
pp: ...no lah, cooking is fun for me. just don't ask me to live in the kampung w/o good sanitation:)
plain jane: rmber to say hi when u come to skyline:)
Hi Terri. I feel touched when i read the post. I hope one day Malaysia can provide education to everyone and poverty can be eliminated.
Hard to believe there are still children in this situation in the world and extrememly glad there are people like y'all working to make their lives better.
Hope you and family are well.
anon: there's so much the govt can do but is not doing...
tealady: thanks dear. me mom's not too well :(
Love your effort. One day I will do the same. :)
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