Captain's Log, entry # 8

SECOND/FINAL DAY TODAYYYYY
Can you tell I'm low-key excited to go home? The migraine is still lurking around and it was not helping me be a good facilitator huhu😢

As from last night's post mortem meeting with Dr Arpah, we decided to shorten today's activities and moved up the closing ceremony, because we felt that with these kids, they weren't going to make leaving them so easy. (Haha? Or huhu?💆)

It was definitely a challenge to wake up the kids for the qiamullail, I'm sure they were still buzzed up on energy by the time the facilitators went to sleep. 😂

When the sun was coming up, we had to make some changes to the plan though, because even the facilitators had trouble getting up. I had already woken everyone up at 6.30 am, but let others use the toilet first. Then I fell asleep. When I heard Dr Arpah's voice say "Shamin, bangun." never have I gone from sleeping-like-a-log to 💩-my-pants levels of panic. Apparently everyone assumed i was gonna wake up soon. Haha. Oops. I felt so bad about not being there for my group in the morning, even if Fatin and the others assured me they only brought the kids out for a strolls around the area. This was the change in plans, because the initial plan was for some senamrobik-type exercise at an earlier hour. But if both the participants AND facilitators couldn't keep their eyes open, how to carry out the activity? 🙇

After the major clean up of all three houses, we had the place spotless and Anis and Mai did a great job making the old folk's home we slept at smell pleasant again. Then it was time to prepare for the closing ceremony. Already?? Time flies by so fast. ⻜ < that's the chinese symbol for "fly" btw, in case you were wondering.

From our initial plan of having a relaxed and laid-back ceremony, we were caught off-guard because

1. One of the higher ups of PEKEAS decided today was a great day to use their absolutely new, never heard of before, PA system. Immediately we all looked at each other and thought about what we were getting ourselves into.
2. The reported from Harian Metro finally decided to reply to my many texts asking if she were coming, but only told us abut it when her photographer was already 20 minutes away, and she was 10 minutes behind that. 

Safe to say I panicked, because among the persons she would be interviewing was the Pengerusi Projek. Which was ME. It also didn't help that it would be in BM and we all know Malay is not my strongest suit. Among the questions she asked included what I'd learned, and what these kids really needed in my opinion. Hopefully our project would turn out in the newspaper. that would be so nice to give recognition to PEKEAS so the masses know of this little place and can give donations and such to the kids.

And since our closing ceremony suddenly turned into a formal occasion, I had to give a speech. A speech that I was wholly unprepared for. A speech that can only be described as mediocre-at-best. I think it's because it was my first time being dealt that kind of challenge. So I wasn't as graceful as I would have liked. But given the overall situation, maybe I can forgive myself for that.

The highlight of the day though, was the surprise performance from the kids. WOW 
It was something so simple yet so heart-breaking at the same time. I truly wonder what went through their minds that made them cry, or if it was purely because the songs are sad ones. I don't think there was a dry eye during their performance. Truly it made me feel for them, and I felt so helpless to help them more.