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Feb '15 Birthday Celebration at At Taqwa by Reni
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Our lovely volunteers of the month
It's that time of the month again, the day that we are always looking forward to! This time we have more volunteers joining us for the celebration! Despite being only the second celebration, we have received a lot of support and encouragement from friends and even strangers.
Words cannot describe how comforted we felt when we knew that people in our community are very supportive of this movement. It drives us to want to do more for the society.
Us busy unloading the balloons and decorations!
This lady is the in charge of At Taqwa
Our Programme outline of the month:
1. Introduction
We had prepared stickers with names of both the kids and the volunteers' for easy recognition. Research had also shown that calling a person by his or her name will make them feel closer to you!
A short Introduction of the brothers and sisters of the day!
A short Introduction of the brothers and sisters of the day!
2. Ice breaker games!
We got them to play two simple games as ice breaker! They totally enjoyed it so much that they kept wanting to do them again. Sometimes the simplest games are really the most fun :)
3. Singing Session!
We had divided them into teams of 4-5. Each team has 2 volunteers attached to them and it got them very involved in the session. After learning the songs, we asked them to perform in front of their fellow friends without looking at the lyrics. I was surprised by their progress as each team did very well!
The competition was fierce!
3. Fingers painting
We know every children love to get their hands dirty while playing! We wanted to unleash the creativity in them and let them have fun freely. Fingers painting sounds just right for that!
The watercolours sold in stores contained too much chemical that it worried us a little and so we had decided to DIY the colours using only flour, food colouring and water!
You just have to mix the three ingredients together. I didn't follow any measurement, but what I did was to slowly add the water while stirring the flour so that it will not get too watery as I would have stopped when the texture is similar to that of water colours'.
You can add a little bit of oil at the end, it is said that it would add a little shine to the colour so that it will not look so dull.
It is really very easy to make and also very easy to wash off! We love it as we can ease our mind and let the kids play because we know it is safe! Look at all their colourful paintings! Won't your heart melt?
At first they were lost on what to paint
We encouraged them to pain ANYTHING that comes to their mind, just anything..
From plain white drawing blocks...
to beautiful flower
It's just so priceless knowing that they enjoyed the process so much.
How they bond with the fellow volunteers
Their love for Allah is beyond measure!
Angry bird for the angry kid hahaha
Our lovely volunteer, Susanti, with her art work!
4. Birthday celebration!
Our cupcakes are sponsored by talented @ladysckae.
Lovely lady with big heart who bakes yummy cakes! She even prepared presents and handwrite birthday cards for the kids. We were all smiles and grateful when she said that she will be sponsoring the cake for the rest of the celebration in At Taqwa.
Look at the tiny details on the cupcakes! The girls' favourite characters!
Gundam for the boys!
There were actually 5 February babies but one of them were still in school due to extra class and another one is the little lad over there that couldn't sit together with us for more than 2 minutes.
Sarina, Dahlia and Kamalludin.
Kamalludin is my favourite kid because he is the eldest in the orphanage. He really acted like one big brother, who take care of all his little brothers and sisters. It turned out that his birthday is only 1 day apart from mine (different years, of course!)
So, yes I am considered a February baby too, although my birthdate is only once in 4 years. I wasn't thinking of celebrating it, since there isn't an exact birthdate this year. We were happily singing the birthday songs for the children when suddenly they all sang Happy Birtdhay song to ME! Hahaha
I was shocked, of course, because I didn't tell the kids about it. I later learnt that my friend, Lisa, actually came to visit them before hand to let them know that it would be my birthday too.
and so I was pushed to join the birthday boys and girls in front. It was my best birthday, period. It felt very surreal. I was celebrating my birthday together with them, making a wish for Birthday in a Box in Birthday in a Box event itself.. It felt as though my wish has already come true, at least half of it!
Let's all grow together and love one another <3
The kids approached me to wish me Happy Birthday. I felt super super touched!
This is prepared by one of the girls. The best birthday card that I received this year. It's simple but so beautiful!
5. Giving out goodie bags
We DIY-ed this lovely box from used box! spent sleepless nights for this but it's so worth it!
After all, we are Birthday in a Box!
We were giving out the presents that our sponsor, @ladyscake, prepared for the birthday boys and girls
aint he cute!?
It is their culture that they will go in line kissing the the back of your hand/ putting the back of your hand to their forehead, as a form of appreciation and respect.
Love how they will go in orderly manner to receive their goodie bags.
Okay, sometimes they get too excited too! Hahahha
A group picture towards the end!
The same thing, but with my face inside. And nope, I didnt make him cry!
I had personally donated shoe racks for them as I saw that their shoes are always lying around on the floor and it looks very messy.
All in all, the event went on well. Although there were hiccups like some of the kids had afternoon class on a Saturday, which the in charge didnt tell us when we informed her that we will be celebrating their birthday.
We had to change around the programme so as to wait for the kids, but at the end one of them still didnt get to join as he will be back very late.
Other than that, it was all smooth and well. All thanks to the volunteers who were very engaging with the kids. At the end of the day when we asked if they enjoyed the event today, the kids replied saying that they had lots more fun than last month's. I guess it is heavily due to us having more volunteers this month and therefore they felt more engaging to the programmes.
There are 720 hours in a month, we only need 3 hours of your time to make a difference in the children's life. Now do you know how much impact a 3 hrs of your time could make?
Cheers to Birthday in a Box!
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