A group of 25 volunteers consisting of Universiti Malaya (UM) students from various faculties spent time with the Orang Asli children in Kampung Keeb and Kampung Dawoi, Sungai Siput, Perak.
The program called 'Community Serve Indigenous' or CSI is the first physical program organized by the Universiti Malaya Volunteer Secretariat (SEKRUM) after the COVID-19 pandemic. "CSI, among other things, aims to provide opportunities for UM students to interact and extend help to minority and marginalized communities, in addition to improving initiatives to foster awareness of the importance of science among the children of this village," said Megat Shazril Aiman ​​Megat Shahriman, one of the program's volunteers.
A total of 300 residents from both villages participated in various planned activities, including gotong-royong, sports , cooking, and art events. Reading and colouring activities with children, which are the main activities of this program, have been carried out at Rumah Baca Kampung Keeb and Kampung Dawoi.
According to Megat Shazril Aiman, the majority of the residents there are from the Temiar and Semai tribes. "This program organized in partnership with a non-governmental organization (NGO) focuses on fostering the habit of reading, because we found that most of them are still unaware of the importance of acquiring knowledge, and some still do not know how to write or count," he said.
The results of preliminary observations before the implementation of the program found that the residents here love the sport of futsal and sepak takraw among teenagers, and drawing activities among children. Therefore, these activities have been used as the main filling for the building of friendship between residents and volunteers.
"This CSI program was originally designed to highlight students' awareness of the problems in the lives of the indigenous people. Through the activities carried out, they were given the opportunity to immerse themselves in and learn the culture of life of the indigenous people. By doing activities that the residents enjoy, this objective will be easily achieved," said Engku Hanan Nasuha Engku Ismail, another CSI volunteer.
"The sweetest thing is when the children who at first seem embarrassed to accept our presence, then become friendly and friendly after doing activities together. If children like drawing, teenagers are very good at playing futsal and sepak takraw. The mothers are very friendly and share their life stories and cooking tips with us during the getong-royong session to prepare food," said Engku Hanan Nasuha again.
Interestingly, the accommodation of the volunteers is provided in a guest house specially built from bamboo and bertam wood. The volunteers were also taken to interesting locations around the village, including Lata Penyel in Kampung Pendeq, which has a 50 meter high waterfall with clear water.
In appreciation of the presence of the volunteers, the villagers performed a sewang dance. "This special performance is actually only performed in conjunction with the presence of important guests, weddings, deaths, or traditional treatment ceremonies. We understood that they used the traditional Jahai language, and we were also invited to dance together, in addition to learning how to play borrowed musical instruments," said Megat Shazril Aiman.
"My hope is that, apart from achieving the objectives that have been outlined, the students also realize that we also have a responsibility to jointly realize the global sustainable development targets (SDG) organized by the United Nations, especially providing quality education," he concluded the conversation.
Photos by SCRUM
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For more information about this program, please contact Megat Shazril Aiman ​​Megat Shahriman at megataiman75@gmail.com.