“Kindness is a language that a deaf can hear 

and a blind can see”

Social engagement taught me a lot of things while we as a group engaged and interacted with the disabled people. The foremost is being kind to them. I feel that I have learned a great deal about life with disabilities, and I think that some of my attitudes and ideas about disability have also changed. The things that I have learned vary widely, including new words and terms, issues specific to students with disabilities, the types of disability movement groups that exist, and specific information on certain disabilities, especially cerebral palsy. It's not uncommon to feel a bit uncertain talking to or interacting with someone who has a physical disability. Socializing with people with disabilities should be no different from any other socialization. And yes, Social Engagement course give me a way to socialize and interact with the disabled people.

By engaging with disabled people, I got to know what “disability” is actually means. Throughout the journey, I realised this thing: Disability is the inability to see ability. Most of the people out there are thinking of the “disability” as a big barrier for them to communicate and interact with the disabled one. The most important thing to know when interacting with people with disabilities is that they are people too, they are human being too and they are God’s creature too! In this, equity among disabled people and normal people is much important and should be concerned by all individuals.  

We had participated in a charity walk organized by the Faculty of Economics and Administration of University of Malaya dedicated to children with Cerebral Palsy. Before participating in this walk, I don’t even had listen the word “Cerebral Palsy”. I don’t know that there is a disability exist in this name. Through this charity walk, only then I realized there is a disease called cerebral palsy, which means congenital disorder of childhood that affects muscle tone, movement, motor skills which is the ability to move in a coordinated way. There is no cure for cerebral palsy, but we would make changes in their life by giving them a special treatment. I can say that this charity walk made a big impact within me where I understand and realized that the obstacles in the life of people with disabilities is even more tougher than what we as normal being going through. We with a perfect physical would always facing difficulties in facing some struggles. I just closed my eyes and asked myself: “Then? How would they do?” A walk of only 3kilometres made me to think that a group of 100 or 150 people is not enough to make a betterment in those people’s life. Every one of us and each and every individual should take concern to improve those people’s lifestyle gradually. It would rise a hope among the children towards a better life.

The most important thing that Social Engagement taught me is being thankful and grateful of what we are having now. Honestly, this course made a platform for me to engage with the disabled people out there and to learn more about their life. The one thing that I realized almost all the time during we spent our time with them is all that we should never treat them like people with disabilities but as normal human being but by giving them extra care in order to make them to feel fulfil. Don’t ever think that serving and helping them is burdening! Willingness to give them little may bring a great hope within them. That is the courage for them to live their life.

Over the past 14 weeks of this journey, I have learnt much about myself and other people and so I need to take a moment to reflect on my experiences and in essence how lucky I am to have the life that I do. So many people have to deal with so many more injustices than myself, which I can only begin to imagine the effect that this has. I have made the effort to learn about other sick and disabled people lives, to allow me to appreciate what others go through on a daily basis. This learning has made me realise that things are not always clean cut as they seem, leading to me having a greater empathy for people in different situations. I have done my learning through talking to people with disabilities by taking the Social Engagement course as an opportunity. I will be taking this as an experience to continue serving the people with disabilities no matter how. A high gratitude to be expressed to Social Engagement course.

With love,

Kirubha 

Learn from life experience instead of books.

"Learn from life experience instead of books"

  

Social engagement project had thought me a lot of life experience. Honestly, without this social engagement project, I would never had a chance to really engage with disable people. From our project such as Walkathon and dinner with disable people in Seventh Residential College I  learn a lot about disable people. The man on the wheelchair in this picture is Uncle KarunaKaran. He is one of disable resident in Cheshire Charity House in Batu Caves, Selangor. He has difficulties in moving his whole body and it is hard to understand what he said. Surprisingly, even though he is disable, it  is not me who giving him advice and strength but he the one who giving me advice and strength to keep going with my studies. He always remind me to fulfil my prayers and to never disobey my parents. The one thing that I learn and never forget in my life is that never treat disable like they are disable. We just need to treat them like normal people but give an extra care for them in order to not make them feel intimidate. Things like this I learn from experience, you can't learn things like this through books because it require heart and soul into it.

Love,
Adilah Shahanuar

Just a little

Genies have gone through several projects, like Walk-a-Thon, Dinner with OKU and Charity Walk. Through these events, the most important value is the gain awareness from the public and within the campus about the equity of OKU. Yes, they might lack some natural abilities, but we should respect them as a normal human being. People may think of helping the disabled are time-consuming and burdening and choose to ignore their human rights. We have to realise that we should appreciate what we have, and give those who needed it. "Just a little", what we need is just willing to give a little to those who need, this a little warm heart may bring out great hopes. 

Like when i participated in the Charity Walk, it was just a light activity which i felt that i didn't do so much for them. And this small, little action actually brought a lot of positive impacts to the Disabled as the purpose of the event was achieved - awareness. How? This little energy had been amplified by uniting the individual power, and it becomes a large energy. The value is the world just need a little better from you.   

"Not SYMPATHY, but EQUALITY"

"What we want is not your sympathy, but equality"

Until today, many more days and maybe even until I die I will remember this word from one of my oku's friends. Many not know but compared to the others, I have known them for almost one years since I was in semester 1. So when our group was assigned to do social engagement related to disabled people, I become so happy because I can spend more time with them, with my friends. 

I'm not going to talk about all the events because I think all have been explained by the others. What I'm going to tell is my story before and after knowing my oku's friends. At the beginning, I also have the same feeling with you guys. The feeling of not knowing how to interact with them, feeling scared to approach them, thinking how to treat them...but why??? They are also human being. Like us. Same with us. Even equal with us. The difference is the type of disability. They have a physical disability with more ability behind it. While us...also have other disability behind our perfect physical. 

Becoming their friends is the most beautiful moment for me in this college. Not all people have this opportunity. We are so lucky living in seven residential college because we can help them and becoming their friends. Be their friends, then you will know how to help and understand them. One thing that I always teach myself is to help the disabled with the ability that we have. They should be treated equally, understood and their rights respected.

Thanks for reading,

Azifa Amien (Dayang)

Together we make a Different

GENIE. 

Many ask why GENIE?

Why we choose our group name as Genie. Everyone want to have Genie which mean can brought a miracle to fulfill their wishes. We choose to be a genie as we want to bring a miracle which is bring happiness to all people surround us.

 We are from group Genie special and unique as our social engagement group has to engage with disability students(PWD) especially PWD from Seventh Residential College. In this one semester I had learn many things. Not only I been engaged with disable people, I do engage with so many people from other races and makes many new friends too.

                                            One of the project : Walkathon : Walk-A-Hope

 During the sharing session with one of the PDW students, I do know many this about the disable people that I never know. How’s their life and how they feel when there are some of peoples that look down on them. Everyone in this world have their own specialities and people like them even physically they not as normal like us, they do have their own specialities that not many people knows. 

 Zaki plays the keyboard

I can take Zaki, one of PWD’s student as an example. Even he has eyes’ problem, I really impressed with him. He can play keyboard very well. During our dinner he plays quite number of song and it really nice. I admire his talent most as he can play my favourite song which is Full House ost , ’Why’ with perfectly well . People like them shouldn’t be treat like they are different from us.

 

 Everyone is same. It just we have different specialities. They maybe look different from us because of our physical but in fact we fact we have no different. But together we can make a different. We are not just a friend, we are family. A new family that had been created .

“WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US?”

Social engagement is a good platform for us to participate in a community or society. From that, social engagement gives me a chance to have interaction with disabled people. Our social engagement group had done 3 programmes which are Walkathon, having dinner sharing sessions with disabled people and Charity Walk. From these three projects, I met a lot of disabled people which some of them are congenital defect and some of them are acquired disability. By that, they never had the idea of suicide but the courage to face their life and this makes me admire them very much. As we can see the picture below, although that aunt’s sitting posture is very hard but she still coming to support our project–Walkathon. Hence, we should spend more time participate in society to accompany them, helping them and not to let them feel that they are outsiders. Lastly, the experience that I get have shape me to become more grateful people and always be kind to other people. No matter whom they are or what they are, we need to always be kind with them and help for those who are needed.

 “WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US?”

 Written by,

Lim Wei Seng

"Truly it is not their hearts that are blind"

First of all, I would like to express my highest gratitude to Charroo for creating this super wonderful Blog and also not forget to all group mates in spending time and energy to make it happen. Personally, I’m so impressed with this subject, Social Engagement as it provides a medium for teenagers especially students to get engage with many people, regardless the races and religions of each individual. The Genie itself means fulfilling others’ wishes. From early of this second semester until now, I gained lots of new things and experiences throughout the activities that have been organised and held. I am truly happy as I would be given an opportunity to engage with disabled people for the first time during Walkathon; Walk-A-Hope last April. Honestly, I would never imagine how they, who are blind or partially sighted can survive without perfect condition or proper eye sight to see everything surrounding them. Some of them are suffering physical disabilities. But somehow, after talking to this blind-humble lady in my college, I believe, blind or any disabilities is not an obstacle for someone to succeed in anything. Although they are physically different with normal person, but there are no such things that their lifestyles also different with us. Disabled people and normal person are all same, no differences. I would not agree more that they have purest hearts as they accept the fate with patience and tough through lives without complaining. To sum up, be grateful for what we are having now, many people outside here are suffered and struggling to pursue their lives.

Love,

Adlin Shahida 

J