The Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal was buzzing on the 14th of June at 7:00am. It was littered with hundreds of people heading to places like Bintan and Batam but most of the crowd was UWCSEA students who were in a service called Island Foundation which helped with a learning centre in Bintan. They were headed to Bintan for one weekend for their second trip to visit the people they had been learning about for the past few months. It hadn’t even started and you could tell that it was going to be one thrilling trip.
This was the service’s second trip to the learning centre in Bintan. The kids were excited, especially the ones who had gone for the previous trip as they got to reconnect with the friends they had made on their first trip. The learning centre was a cement building in the middle of a bunch of straw and wooden houses. It was painted a pastel orange and green with yellow roofing. The ground surrounding it was muddy, a field where the kids could play football or cricket. The road leading into it was straight, made with tar but covered in a layer of sand. On one side was a row of wooden houses where local villagers lived and on the other was a rice field which was one of the village’s biggest income. Right through the middle of the rice field was a little paved road that led the the beach. The learning centre was located right next to one of the wooden houses in the largest piece of land in the whole village of the coast of the Riau Archipelago.
The weekend consisted of tough work under the sun, in the mud, planting seeds, building wooden planters, decorating the garden and cooking for the 100’s of students that came in and out of the learning centre everyday. As the sun slowly dipped into the ocean, leaving the sky tangerine with a hint of pink, the wind grew stronger, the clouds grew darker and before they knew it, it was night time. Even at night, the kids at the learning centre were full of energy, excited and more or less happy. The UWCSEA kids definitely did take notice of their extra energy, one of the students, who requested to remain anonymous said, “those kids were some of the excited and just genuinely happy children I have ever met!”. How is it that the people who don’t have everything they need, are always so happy?
“The Island Foundation is a great place. I think that the trip was a great way to exchange cultures and ideas. We had done arts and crafts, and the children had sung songs before we went to sleep. I really enjoyed the trip, and I hope that I can go again.” wrote one Grade 6 student in her portfolio. The children in that village were happy because in their minds, they had everything they needed. They had food, water, friends and family and in reality, that is all they really need. Society is filled with people who want more and more but what we need to realize that they are pretty lucky. “Whoever is happy will make others happy” and that’s exactly what the kids in Bintan did for the UWCSEA kids.
This was the service’s second trip to the learning centre in Bintan. The kids were excited, especially the ones who had gone for the previous trip as they got to reconnect with the friends they had made on their first trip. The learning centre was a cement building in the middle of a bunch of straw and wooden houses. It was painted a pastel orange and green with yellow roofing. The ground surrounding it was muddy, a field where the kids could play football or cricket. The road leading into it was straight, made with tar but covered in a layer of sand. On one side was a row of wooden houses where local villagers lived and on the other was a rice field which was one of the village’s biggest income. Right through the middle of the rice field was a little paved road that led the the beach. The learning centre was located right next to one of the wooden houses in the largest piece of land in the whole village of the coast of the Riau Archipelago.
The weekend consisted of tough work under the sun, in the mud, planting seeds, building wooden planters, decorating the garden and cooking for the 100’s of students that came in and out of the learning centre everyday. As the sun slowly dipped into the ocean, leaving the sky tangerine with a hint of pink, the wind grew stronger, the clouds grew darker and before they knew it, it was night time. Even at night, the kids at the learning centre were full of energy, excited and more or less happy. The UWCSEA kids definitely did take notice of their extra energy, one of the students, who requested to remain anonymous said, “those kids were some of the excited and just genuinely happy children I have ever met!”. How is it that the people who don’t have everything they need, are always so happy?
“The Island Foundation is a great place. I think that the trip was a great way to exchange cultures and ideas. We had done arts and crafts, and the children had sung songs before we went to sleep. I really enjoyed the trip, and I hope that I can go again.” wrote one Grade 6 student in her portfolio. The children in that village were happy because in their minds, they had everything they needed. They had food, water, friends and family and in reality, that is all they really need. Society is filled with people who want more and more but what we need to realize that they are pretty lucky. “Whoever is happy will make others happy” and that’s exactly what the kids in Bintan did for the UWCSEA kids.
By Urja
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