By week 4, it was beginning to feel a tad boring falling
into the routine of learning in the “greenhouse”. The volunteers felt it would
be a good idea to take the learning beyond the familiar four walls of UMCares. We
thoroughly discussed as a group about the possible destinations we could go to
and after considering a few limitations, the best place we can think of is the
University's Asian Art Museum. As it happens, the theme of learning we are
following this week is culture which was why we felt that the museum could provide
the nearest access for the Palestinians to take a peek into the Malaysian
culture.
However, it seemed as though the volunteers forgot about the
bleak and dreariness of museums and this museum essentially was a little lifeless
as it wasn’t exactly the perfect tourist site to enlighten foreigners about the
vibrant cultures of Malaysia. Upon entering, we fought on how to make the
experience as interesting as possible. Undoubtedly, there were a number of interesting
items you wouldn’t find every day, such as extravagant cloths of songket, ancient machetes and traditional
pottery ware. With Saja in particular, it may have been too factual and boring making
little room for the imaginations of an 8 year old to run wild. With helpful
suggestions from Dr Adele, Adlina and I quickly tweaked our lesson plan to
teach Saja about the colours of the artefacts besides naming the items too. Saja
had to put up with two floors of historical items hence you could imagine how
challenging it was to make the learning as enjoyable as possible but Saja was extremely
polite and patient about it. She repeated the colours well and with Adlina to
the rescue with her crazy antics in her teaching skills, Saja gradually showed
enthusiasm during the trip.
Unprepared, what we weren’t aware of was the excitement on the third floor had in store for us. When we reached the top, we were presented
with an array of traditional instruments of a gamelan ensemble. In shock and horror, Saja immediately leaped off
her wheels – luckily she wasn’t hurt! She was mesmerised with the display and
instantly wanted to get her hands on the instruments. She forgot her wheelchair,
remained on her knees to pick up various “drumsticks”, and started clattering
away; knocking on gongs, drums, caklempongs,
and what seemed like traditional Malay xylophones. It was a relief to see Saja getting
lost in her eagerness to play music as she finally found something she was interested
in. It further struck me that she is more of a kinesthetic learner than
anything else and we have also spent three weeks doing many hands‑on
activities.
Not only it’s an educational trip for Saja but I and Adlina will
definitely make the trip a learning experience gaining from Saja’s learning styles
and attitude. We’ll continue to be prepared for emergency amendments in all of
our learning sessions.
To many more surprises from Saja!
To many more surprises from Saja!
Najibah x
