By Atiqah Ismail
The room came alive when he smiled. Smiles that broke into an effortlessly grin, making those around feeling happy. That is Muhammad Asri Ismail, a volunteer with Censerve who has embarked on numerous local and international humantarian missions.
“My parents are my inspiration, their love enriches my soul,” he explained.
Hailed from Marang, Terengganu, Asri believes that team work is essential for the success of any mission. In the story of wonderpats, all the pats will work together to achieve their goals. Regardless of any situation they are to support and push one another.
Asri and his team members shared the same passion and work closely like a well-oiled machine and was picked for an award called Anugerah Pasukan Sukarelawan 2015. They succesfully organised the two international programmes under Censerve which are the Ummatic Mission (U-Mission) Journey of Khalifah to Cambodia and Thailand with the slogan “Towards Achieving Mardhatillah.
They were faced with many challenges to ensure their dreams come true. They realised there were lots of things that needed urgent attention but it didn’t slow them down. The desire to help minority Muslims in Thailand and Cambodia made them stronger to continue their mission. In their mission, they had to use the sea lane to enter these countries where safety was doubtful.
“This kind of missions will expose the volunteers with a different dimension of life, being grateful, to seek help for our brothers and sisters in Islam (Muslims minority) when in need, ” he added.
“Life is about giving to needy people. Being a volunteer teaches one to be an extraordinary person, to be a survivor and to prepare for any challenges in the future.” ***
