SHAYKA SHAHID JOYEE (CEB150702)

Dapur Jalanan, Bangsar

20 March, 2016, Sunday.

Dapur Jalanan (Kuala Lumpur)

Back in my country, I have done some of Social Engagement activities but they were on our own effort. But when I came here in Malaysia for studying, I got "Social Engagement" as a course to complete my graduation and this is the first time I am doing something for the needy people officially which made me feel proud as well as overwhelmed. On this day, my group, which is group 2 and group 1 combined altogether and went to Dapur Jalanan which is situated at Bangsar Club Utama.

After reaching there, I, along with my groupmates started preparing food. While preparing food, I learnt some skills which includes how to prepare food in a very short time and of course with hygiene. And of course, teamwork. One thing I learnt from this event is that teamwork is very important to be successful in any work and it reminded me of "together we stand, divided we fall."

Food Menu

While preparing food

Food we prepared

After preparing the food, the main committee of Dapur Jalanan shortly briefed as about how to response in front of the needy and homeless people, how we should treat them and also how we should distribute food among them. From the briefing I realized many things and also got to learn a lot of things. First of all, as they are homeless, I should behave politely with them as they will feel inferior among us. Moreover, I shouldn't do any action which offends them. So, I was careful about these things. Also, the committee members motivated and inspired me a lot. I really liked how they help the poor and needy people. Now, I also have a dream to do something for these poor and helpless people. Finally, their behavior attracted me very much. From them, I also learnt some moral values such as punctuality, talking and behaving politely and so on.

Briefing session

Dr. Zalfa, who is our lecturer of this course, suggested us to take a group photo after we finished preparing food. So, I didn't miss the opportunity and told everyone to gather to take a good photo which we can send to the management.

At 5 pm, I, along with my groupmates reached Jalan Panggong for distributing food among the poor and needy people. After sometimes, I saw many people gathering at a place waiting for food and at a distance some people are preparing plates to serve food to the needy people. Without any delay I went there to help the members. I was assigned to serve glass full of orange juice. So I and some of my groupmates started preparing them. From this activity I got to know how I can serve for the poor people and also teamwork is very important for these kind of activites. How the members joined hand together and working for the needy people inspired me very much.

After a while, the needy and poor people started coming for food and we started distribution. At that time, I noticed how much they are in need of food. There were several kinds of people made queue for food. People from different races and cultures gathered there for food. When they were taking food, I realized how thankful they were and how happy they were when they got the food. I was overwhelmed with happiness and to see their integrity. I was also thankful to Allah for what He has given me. From this activity, I learnt that that we should always be thankful for what we have and should be happy with that. Because there are many people in the world who don't have basic needs like shelter, food and so on to survive. The condition of these people hurt me from inside also motivated me to do something for them in future.

I also noticed some points which I think I should notice to know more about them. I noticed, how they were okay with their present condition as if they have accepted what fate has written for them. For instance, I saw some old people patiently waiting in the queue to get food. It shooked me to a large extent. Also, some pregnant ladies were waiting for the food in that condition. I felt pity for them.

Homeless and needy people having food

 When the people were having food, I got the opportunity to talk to them. So I approached to one of a pregnant lady and asked did she liked the food or not. She replied, "We don't get this kind of opportunity everyday. But I am very happy and also thankful to Dapur Jalanan as they are provding food for the needy people like us. Because we don't get to eat this kind of food everyday."

One thing I realized that not all the poor people are very upset with their condition. They are still happy with what the fate has given to them. Some of them were very jolly and friendly. If they can be happy with their present condition, then why shouldn't we be thankful for what we are blessed with? I questioned myself and also promised myself to be always positive in what situation I will be in future.

Sharing session

Finally, I along with my groupmates and the committee of Dapur Jalanan made a sharing session where everyone shared their opinion about this activity. I also shared my point of view and my opinion with everyone. And also, how we felt to conduct this activity. We also discussed about how we can improve the activity in the future. Finally the members of Dapur Jalanan thanked us and also told us to share our experiences to others so that others can also get interest to conduct this kind of activities with them. I also thanked the committee and assured that this won't be my last activity. We will do more activity for the poor and needy people. At the end, we ended this activity with a beautiful group photo.

Group Photo