Broadening Horizons in Kuching
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| Their first time at the beach. No point holding ourselves back. Anyway, this jumping photo has been a trademark of this programme since 2013. |
It is sad that most of the brightest students end up getting nowhere near achieving their greatest potential. Some of the bright girls hook up with the not-so-smart boys & end up with a bulging belly. Some of them experience culture shock when they leave for their studies & drop out of matriculation/university. Some of them get caught up in social ills. At the very end, those who do make it are very very few.
To address these issues, in 2012, I decided to personally mentor the PMR students. I would meet with them every week to exercise & also talk to them about life & how important education was. I also promised them all sorts of rewards if they did well. One of which was a fully sponsored trip to Kuching if they achieved straight As in PMR. As a result of this mentorship, 3 students achieved 8As in 2012 PMR. And, I took them to Kuching in 2013.
In 2013, I also mentored the PMR students but, this time, I decided it was probably more sustainable if the students were taught to mentor their juniors. I roped in the excellent 2012 PMR students to mentor the prospective 2013 PMR students. In 2013, 2 students achieved 8As in PMR. And, this is the blog post about their trip to Kuching in 2014!
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| The boat we took from Sibu to Kuching. 5 hours of being tossed about at sea. Not fun. |
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| They tried Kuching Laksa!! Yums!!! My favourite is at Mega One Food Court, King's Centre. |
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| They also tried Lui Cha. My favourite is at Hakka Lui Cha on Jalan Intan. |
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| I treated them to their first ever western dinner. I knew the owner of the restaurant so I persuaded him to sit down with us & share his life with my students. My favourite is Big Oven in Bormill Commercial Centre. |
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| I wanted my students to be aware of the cultural heritage of Sarawak so I took them to the Sarawak Cultural Village. |
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| I also took them on a tour of Kuching & we visited all the iconic sites in Kuching. |
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| We visited at least 3 malls too. This was their first time at a mall. Makes me wonder if they've been to online malls like Zalora. |
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| We watched a movie. |
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| Took them on a tour of Swinburne where we got connected with the staff there & found out about their scholarship programmes for Sarawak natives. Did you know that they have more scholarships than they do students? If you're a Sarawak native, you can seriously consider Swinburne. |
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| One reason I love my parents so much is they decided to contribute to my vision. My parents treated us to 2 dinners & they spoke extensively to my students. |
Why spend all that time & money on children who have absolutely no ties with me, you ask? I want to show them that the possibilities in their future are greater than what can be imagined within the jungle. I want them to know that I believe in them so much that I am willing to put my money where my mouth is & blow a large chunk of my monthly income on this trip. This was also my chance to expose them to all the best minds I know in Kuching & allow them to be enriched by their stories.
This trip is more than a reward. It's a gift that keeps on giving. I made it very clear to them during the trip that they have the greatest potential in their community & also the greatest responsibility. God has blessed them so that they may be a blessing to others. I told them to dedicate their lives to living to their highest potential & becoming successful. Then, I want them to return to their homeland & lead others of their kind to do the same thing. Thus, uplifting a forgotten people via their most talented.
To me, this is a small price to pay to make a REAL difference.
View all the pictures here.
