Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Treasure Shop

Sabah Cheshire Home, Sandakan - 'A Second-Hand Shop' will be announced to the public on April 15th, 2012 as "The Treasure Shop".  This project was started back in 2008 and within in the last five months things are finally starting to come together.  I call this my baby project, as it was the first project I was asked to help with when I arrived. 


We have suffered a couple of floods, we have moved heavy furniture more than once and have sorted and washed through several pieces of clothing.  Within in the last month we have finished painting, created a new interior look, had a small photo shoot for the clothing and obtained sponsorships from the community.  It has been very exciting to see this project in the works and to have the ‘behind the scenes’ experience. 


Throughout this experience I have learned a lot about non-profit, fundraising, and what it takes to develop a business.  We still have more work to do, but each week we have been able to check off something new from our ‘to-do list’.   All development and resources of ‘The Treasure Shop’ has been voluntary work from the Sandakan community.  It is amazing to see the community come together, not just to help, but to see everyone having fun while they do it.

During the next few weeks I will be helping out on the establishment of the new website, below is a website photo teaser that we sent out to our community.  



Saturday, March 10, 2012

Today I Became A Teacher


This month, I started teaching English abroad.  As a one off project, I am teaching 10 to 12 year old students.  I am volunteering for the "Education Care Program" that is organized by the Rotary Club of Sandakan.  This program is for low-income families who struggle to give their children a proper education.  The Rotary Club helps provide school funding and other accessories for these families.  As an additional education benefit, I will be teaching English every Saturday for two hours free of charge for any student that is a part of the program.
 
A few reasons why I chose to do this was because I wanted to be able to work with children, I wanted the experience of teaching abroad and I wanted to be able to give these students the opportunity to advance their written and verbal English skills.

As expected on the first day the students were a bit shy and nervous, but they all seemed eager to learn.  For the first class I had them fill out some general information about themselves and then asked each of them to read it aloud.  This helped me determine their English level.  They also learned about local 'American food', some 'American history', and some geography. 

In just one day, I could already see why 'teachers' love their job because even the little things can excite you.  So here is my little bit of excitement from my first class. 

Since English is a second language to them, there were many times I was given the blank stare and I wondered if they even knew what I was talking about.  After discussing 'American' geography and learning about the 50 states; we then talked about similarities to the Malaysian flag and the American flag.  I asked them to count the number of stars on the American flag they said, "50".  Then I asked, "does anyone know why there would be 50 stars?"  They all said, "Because there are 50 states".  It was at that moment where I felt the excitement.  It gave me encouragement to see that not only were they listening and learning, but that they understood the lesson I gave in full English.  This is just another adventure that I am so truly thankful to have been able to experience.  


Sunday, March 4, 2012

Just Another Adventure in Sandakan...

So funny story...I have a friend of a friend who does freelance photography.  He was looking to add underwater photography to his portfolio.   Many people in Malaysia do not know how to swim. The challenge that he has came across is trying to find volunteers that do not have a 'fear of water'.   So I guess you can say, I was in the right place at the right time.  At first I was apprehensive of the idea as I am not a model but...I love the water and thought...'why not' it's just helping a friend.  There was a total of six of us that were up for the challenge, some who were not that comfortable in the water, but I was very proud to see them try because of their genuine spirit.  This was all strictly volunteer for all of us and we ended up spending about five hours at the pool.  I will say, you might be an excellent swimmer, but trying to pose in the water with fabric entangled around you, is not an easy task!  I managed to get a copy of one of the photos before it goes into the editing process.  Despite the water headache, from swallowing too much water, all in all, we enjoyed trying something new and it was a great experience!