22 student volunteers from the NTU Malay Language & Cultural Society set off to Davao, Philippines, from 11 to 23 June 2019, to carry out a project with key objectives that included: education improvement, community infrastructure enhancement and social enterprising initiative for livelihood improvement.
To achieve these objectives, the team meticulously planned out lessons for the children studying at Waan National High School. The team focused on imparting knowledge in subjects such as English, Mathematics and Science. While the language lessons serve to cultivate the children’s confidence in communicating with others, the more scientific subjects helped pique their interest in more specialised fields.
At Waan Elementary School, the team conducted lessons on the environment and recycling. For instance, the children were taught different types of materials that are recyclable. The children were also encouraged to reuse old materials such as plastic bottles – as containers to plant green bean seeds, or for making eco-bricks.
During their time there, the MLCS team also improved the community farm. Their hard work of building vermicompost beds, a vegetation nursery and fencing along the perimeter of the farm, greatly enhanced the infrastructure that many local farmers relied on for a living.
In line with the goal of helping the community in a sustainable manner, the team sought to empower the villagers with skills that could help improve their livelihood. Through a workshop on financial literacy skills, the villagers better understood how they could manage a business – from operational concerns to budgeting resources.
Overall, this multi-pronged project led by the students from MLCS truly lived up to its goal of being both sustainable and empowering. The experience is definitely one that will be deeply etched in every one of them.
“An expedition should not impact the community but somehow also own ourselves, to reflect and change our perception of things.” Muhammad Danial, Head of Programmes
About Lumikha Lestari
Made up of 22 members who came from many diverse backgrounds, Lumikha Lestari is a humanitarian overseas expedition by NTU Malay and Cultural Society that aims to uplift lives in the Philippines.
