This project entitled “Attitude Determines Altitude!” aims to help the targeted Form 2 students from SMK Miharja who are poor in financial and also academic. We propose to organize a Mental Health Motivational Talk Camp and provide tuition classes & mentoring series to help them cope better and more effectively in life.

Did other fund-raising efforts contribute to your projects? What were they?

Yes. We collected donations from friends and relatives. They saw the kindness of Khind Starfish Foundation in initiating this project and many contributed generously. We had bread, buns and cakes donation from Adventist Community Services (ACS) for the targeted students. Students were very happy whenever they received these bread and buns. The PIBG of SMK Miharja also made contributions towards to the weekly lunch for the students.

Provide details about how your project actually worked.

In general, the project was held successfully and smoothly, thanks to a bunch of dedicated team of student helpers. We had a good treasurer who always look into our budget before we decide on things to purchase for the project, classes and the camp. There were no language barriers, our common language with the students is English language. For those students who are weak in English, we spoke to them using either Bahasa Melayu or Chinese language. Nevertheless, we always encourage them to speak in English language.

We had our weekly English classes where we taught them how to speak well in English, how to communicate with each other, proper grammars, essay writings and literature components to prepare them for their final examination and for PT3 examination. To encourage them to attend classes, we awarded a gift worth RM 5.00 at the end of each month for those who attended each classes weekly throughout the whole month. We also had spelling bee test, group activities, songs, actions and essay writing competition to help them improve their English. Gifts were given often to provide positive reinforcements to the students.

Together with the contribution from the PIBG of SMK Miharja, we provided healthy lunch for the students each week. We had a lot of bread and buns and sometimes even cakes, donated by Adventist Community Services, for the students. The students were very happy because many of them who came from very poor family background do not get the chance to eat proper meals and good bread and buns. Often, we ask them students to bring home the extra bread and buns to share them with their family members. One student commented, “Wow, I didn’t have so much rice to eat before, I’m so happy!” We, as student team, often felt touched and happy when we know that these students are happy.

The students were very pleased and thankful for this project, especially towards Khind Starfish Foundation, for sponsoring this project. Many of the students improved in their English language. Some of them initially were not able to write even a proper single English language sentence. At the end of the project, many of them were able to write proper sentences with good grammars. Besides that, some of them were so happy and joyful when they were able to speak English successfully at the end of the project. Many of them scored good marks for their Literature Components section in their final examination. They were very delightful and a big thank you to Khind Starfish Foundation for making them happy in their study journey.

On another note, we gave them weekly activities and short talks on self-confidence, self-esteem and self-value. We can see that at the end of the project, many of the students gained more confidence in doing things and are able to have the courage to stand in front of the students to talk. We also taught them how to appreciate the big and small things in life during the camp. Station games that were organized during the camp were meant to help these students to aim high in life and not to be defeated by obstacles that they face in each part of their life journey. We encouraged them to have positive attitude in all that they do because a good attitude will help them to be a successful person in life.

The headmaster of SMK Miharja was also very pleased with our project, achievements and commitments. The headmaster had requested our team to continue guiding the same group of students to prepare them for PT3 examination that will be held end of October 2016. We have agreed and will commit to help these students to success in their English paper because we truly care for them and wish to see them improve in their English language and personal growth to serve the country and society better.

This project has indeed helped us, as student helpers, to be more aware of the help that many people need around us. It has helped us to be more thankful and grateful with the things we have in our lives. We saw that students who have the determination to learn can end up doing much better for their examination. We know these students have been really blessed by the project and we hope that they will share the kindness and love that we have gave them to the others in the near future.

“To make a difference in the lives of those around us.” has always be my aim in life, as I continue to journey through this beautiful life that God has gave to all of us. God can change broken pieces to masterpiece. I believe that when the students are hardworking, no matter how poor you are financially or in academic, you will still be the top when you determine! The last sentence that I encourage the students during the camp was “Keep aiming the moon, because if you fail, you will still be among the stars.” Never give up in life.

One of our student helper team, Kenneth Teoh, has commented, “This has been one of my happiest moments in life, to be able to spend good time with the students and make them happy and to let them know that they are of great worth to the society!”

Thank you Khind Starfish Foundation!