Service Learning at Roslin Orphanage

This is Trybe's second visit to Roslin Orphanage in 2010. We visited in October to better understand the place and also keep a look out for possible opportunities to serve the orphanage and community around. Indeed, we were able to list out a few areas of needs. With a group of students, we planned and prepared for the second trip. We have 3 teams going for the Service Learning (S-L) Project in December, and I was very honoured to lead the first team for this S-L Project. We spent a couple of weeks to plan and prepare for the trip so that we are able to serve the community in Kupang, West Timor. Our team, comprising of 11 girls, prepared plenty of activities for the children at Roslin. The activities include origami, balloon sculpting and also teaching English nursery rhymes.

Our second day in Kupang was a Sunday, therefore, we had the whole day to interact and play with the children. We did ice-breaking activities, nursery rhymes and balloon sculpting. One of the highlight for me was singing our very own version of 'Old MacDonald'. My team had translated the song into 'Pak Budi ada Kebun'. (Captain Budi is the founder of Roslin Orphanage) In the evening, Ibu Peggy, wife of Captain Budi, arranged for us to meet her as she would like to personally welcome the team to Roslin. She also shared with us on some of the activities that she had planned. Everyone was so excited to meet Ibu and many of us prepared questions to ask about how Captain and her started Roslin Orphanage.

In the next couple of days, we helped out at Roslin in their daily chores. We did gardening, laundry, bathing the children and prepare breakfast. After completing the chores, we spent time with the children. It was a tiring, but everyone seemed to forget the exhaustion when we get to play with the children. On the fourth day, Ibu had asked for our assistance to distribute food to a nearby village, Village Oefafi. We started the day at 4am with a visit to the wet market to purchase the materials and came back to prepare the meal. We spent the whole morning to wash vegetables, cook and peel eggs. We prepared the meal for 300 children at the village. By noon, we loaded the food to the lorry and we set off shortly after lunch. It was long day, but everyone felt it was worth the effort when we saw the children contented with the meal that was prepared for them.

On the last day, we were very fortunate to have been able to meet Captain Budi, who had just arrived in Kupang. He invited us to a simple dinner at the night market. Before dinner, we had our farewell with the children at the orphange. The team were hesitant to bid goodbye and many had tears in their eyes when we parted with the children. During dinner, the team shared briefly about their experiences with Captain Budi and many shared that they would like to come back to visit in future.

It was definitely a fruitful trip and I believe all of us have many memorable memories that we take back with us to Singapore. Thank you Captain and Ibu for having us at Roslin!