By Alya Nadiah
KUALA LIPIS, 1 May 2019: A programme “School Expedition to SK Lenjang” was successfully held at Pos Lenjang, Kuala Lipis, Pahang to provide the Orang Asli with education outside their village and also to expose IIUM students to the life of the aborigines and to gain experience.
The three-day programme from 25 to 28 April, participated by a total of 25 committee members and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Global Wellness Foundation, was organised by Gabungan Pelajar-Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS UIAM).
The group departed from the campus in Gombak at 3 in the morning on 25 April using five 4×4 vehicles.
Lenjang is a very remote place, far inside and can barely get in touch with the outside world. People need two hours of journey to arrive at Pos Lenjang with no signals and internet connection and inadequate power supply.
On arrival, the members were warmly welcomed by the Orang Asli kids with a bright smile. The programme began at night after the maghrib prayers with a module œMari Mengira or Lets Count. It is a mathematics module where they learned the basic knowledge of mathematics about plus, subtraction, multiplication and division. The module went well because all the students were very cooperative.
The next morning was proceeded with the science module œBahaya Merokok. In this module, they were provided with empty water bottles filled with cottons and three cigarettes. The students pumped the bottles as if the cottons were humans lung. After they had done the pumping on all three cigarettes, the cottons colour turned from white to yellow. The lesson learned was that smoking cigarettes is dangerous and affects our lungs.
The programme was then proceeded with Malay Language where the students distributed stationary kits consisting of pencils, erasers, rulers and colour pencils. This was followed by the English Language module.
Following these two modules, a hygiene slot was conducted where they learned how to brush their teeth and wash their hands properly. During the slot, hygiene kits were distributed consisting of toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo and soap.
On the last day of the programme, the Orang Asli kids were involved in an education explorace. This event was to expose them to the importance of teamwork, fast action and other life skills that were not included in their school syllabus.
œThis school is really in need of a lot more programmes like this, said the Principal of SK Lenjang, Hamzah bin Mat Jusoh.
All students and committee members enjoyed the activities conducted with the Orang Asli children and expressed the hope to stay connected with the school and looked forward for Lenjang 2.0 to be materialised next year.
“We thought we came to help them learn from us, it turned out that we learned a lot more from them about things that teachers never taught us, programme manager, Fakkrudin Hasani shared his thought on the experience they all went through.***
