Hands For Education - Chiang Kah Vern

Hands For Education is a non-profit project started and led by our very own students. We sat down with Chiang Kah Vern (4M), the founder and leader of this amazing initiative.

Hands For Education volunteers during their introductory session.

What is Hands For Education?

HFE is a student-run initiative that aims to help the underprivileged kids that live in low-cost flats in Kota Damansara. What we basically do is conduct mentoring sessions every Sunday in the community hall. It’s not just a regular “tuition”; instead we include things such as sports activities and tutoring sessions.

How did you start the project?

All of us had always wanted to do something, but we never really had the time or plans to do it. I’ve always noticed that near our school, there are these flats, but most of us never really took our time to look into the conditions that are in those flats. When I started to read about them online, I got to know the problems that underlie these places: most of these kids have no interest in learning, and barely go to school. When I first visited them a few months ago during the school holidays, most of them weren’t doing anything, and they really had no sense of purpose, especially since their parents aren’t there to guide them.

Initially it was just a spontaneous idea; the thing that really sparked off this project was the MyHarapan social project challenge.

The moment I saw that, I thought “this is the best way for us to start”. Even though anyone can easily say that they want to start a social project, there are issues that they will face. The thing about MyHarapan is that they give us a lot of advice & financial aid to carry ut the project. In the end, I just texted a few of my friends, and we got on with it.

The team planning during the MyHarapan social project challenge.

What challenges did you have?

The main challenge would be communication with the kids we mentor. It’s pretty hard to connect with them since we come from completely different worlds & most of us don’t have a great command of Bahasa Malaysia, while most of them speak only Bahasa Malaysia. It’s also hard for them to break out of their shells since most of them are really shy. The only way we could tackle that was by going consistently and showing our commitment - after a while they warmed up to us.

How did the recruitment of volunteers go?

Within the first month, we got about 50 volunteers, all 15-17 years old. At the moment, we have around 30 to 40 members, since many have other commitments. It really happened through social media, and spreading the word through youth pages as well.

We also want to emphasise is that we are not affiliated with the school, because we think that anyone from any background should be given this opportunity. It’s a program completely run by the students as well, which means it’s a learning process for us to know how organise activities & how to manage the volunteers. In fact, we have a few volunteers from Cempaka Cheras and HELP International School in addition to Sri KDU students. We’re trying to get volunteers from different schools through online promotions as well.

What do the volunteers benefit from it?

Definitely there’s a sense of satisfaction of knowing you helped someone. It’s very different from donating to a charity fund; this is really a hands-on approach where you get to the root of the problem & you get to connect with these kids from wildly different backgrounds who have very different lives, and you are able to emphathise with them.

Are there any especially fun experiences you had while carrying out the project?

Last weekend, we had our first official session (we were previously on a “pilot” phase) where we did a few sports activities. It was really fun, even though I cannot describe exactly why - it’s just sports! - but I think it’s really the kids’ enthusiasm during the games that gave us a lot of energy. It becomes very fun!

The volunteers carrying out activities with the children.

How could you improve the project?

One issue that we really need to work upon is sustainability. We need to ensure that all of our members take ownership of the project. However, I think that has to come with time. We believe that while we are trying to help people, it’s also important that we mould leaders from our programme, so that they can take charge next year & feel like they are making an important difference.

So far what we’ve done is that instead of just having all the volunteers come in one session, we assign leaders to a group of kids. This can build a closer connection between the children and their mentors; it makes them feel like they have an older sibling.

What do you wish for the future of HFE?

While our initiative is just limited to Kota Damansara, we really hope to inspire other groups of students from other schools to carry out similar programmes to help underprivileged kids in their areas. The issue about poverty is that you could give people as much money as you want, but they are never going to sustain themselves if they can’t earn their own income without the skills & attitude needed. These are things that you can’t learn from a textbook, but need to develop with time.

How do students who are interested get involved?

You could text me, if you have my contact, or you could head to our website https://handsforeducationmy.weebly.com/ . All the info is there, as well as a contact form. You can sign up as a volunteer or donate financially so we can buy supplies for to our activities. We’re also looking for teachers who want to share resources or even conduct seminars for these kids in the future.

The main requirement to be a volunteer is that you must be passionate in making a difference and are able to commit to coming often. It’s not about your grades; you may be the top students in your form but if you don’t have the commitment, you can’t make much of a difference.

Personally, how do you balance all these activities with your school life?

When you do anything, you need to be passionate. When I go for the HFE sessions, I don’t really feel tired. In fact, I feel more energised because it’s something that I get a sense of satisfaction from. If you want to do anything, you must be passionate! Of course, that is a little idealistic; you still have a limited amount of time, so you always have to prioritise things at certain times.

What advice would you give to people who want to be active in these kinds of activities?

In all honesty, don’t look up to me! I’m just a normal person, and I think everyone is talented at their own things. Most importantly, you must find that passion within you. Don’t be afraid to start exploring new things.

If I was speaking to a 12-year old Kah Vern, I’d never believe I would be doing debate and HFE. Don’t confine yourself to who you are today, but instead explore as many new things as possible, and hopefully you will find something that will suit you.

Interview by: Muhamad Irfan (5A)