Accompanied by two teachers, the Pioneers (the nickname for Pioneer Junior College students) had a few targets set out for themselves: Educating the children on hygiene, brushing up their English, improving their standard of life and through the course of their stay, ensuring that a good time was had by all.

The orphanage, home to 25 children ranging from 5 to 17-years-old, presented the Pioneers with some difficulties. Firstly, communication was a challenge as the children’s grasp of English was minimal. Then there were the cultural sensitivities, which regulated the way how the two genders socialise and interact with one another in public. Still, the Pioneers took each challenge in their stride.

What Came Before

Since 2007, Pioneer Junior College (PJC) has organised similar programmes in collaboration with the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) and Metro for Children Charity. Some of these community building initiatives were delivered around the region, in developing areas such as Hanoi, Vietnam and Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Pioneers headed into a new world of living and learning.

This year’s programme saw the PJC volunteer group venturing into Indonesia for a bit of social work.  The project is funded by the Metro for Children charity fund-raising drive conducted in December 2009.

Each student volunteer was selected from a pool of more than 50 applicants based on their participation in fund-raising, strengths and attributes suitable to the cause and commitment and dedication to the project.

Something New

What the Pioneers encountered at Panti Asuhan Hidayatullah Orphanage was something very new to most of them.  The orphans here -- some of whom were not very much younger themselves – have been brought up in a completely different lifestyle to that of Singaporean guests, who were accustomed to living in an urban, industrialised environment.

The children live in two dormitories -- male and female – and attend public school, either primary or secondary, every weekday. The distance from their dorms to the front gate is approximately 600 metres; it’s another 4 kilometres to the primary school and 2 kilometres to the secondary school from the gate.

Most of the orphans make their daily journey to school on foot. However, for the primary schoolers, hitchhiking appears to be a quicker option and most local motorists who wheel by the orphanage are usually more than happy to give these kids a ride to school in the morning.

Immediate Improvements

As part of their the Bintan trip curriculum, the Pioneers had to construct a cement stairway leading from the ground to their classrooms. Mixed and paved by their eager but inexperienced hands, the young Singaporean volunteers were fortunate to have local caregivers at the orphanage impart their cement-paving skills.

Armed with enthusiasm and cement, the Pioneers construct a staircase.

So excited were the orphans at the prospect of having a new, more functional staircase that when the Pioneers arrived in the morning ready for more heavy labour, they discovered their Indonesian friends had already beaten them to the task of laying out the bricks and assembling at the proposed location of the staircase.

Over the week, the children at Panti Asuhan Hidayatullah Orphanage were also taught basic first aid and hygiene tips, and were thrilled with plenty of exciting but educational games that introduced new English words while reinforcing the vocabulary they were already familiar with.

The Pioneers kept the kids entertained with games.

Making it Last

A plantation project was also introduced by the Pioneers as a measure to provide the orphans with some hands-on education. Several fruit trees were brought in to be planted and cared for by the children, incorporating responsibility and useful skills into their after-school activities.

Plans are also afoot to ensure the children at Panti Asuhan Hidayatullah Orphanage enjoy an education beyond school walls. As part of the ongoing expansion plans, the caregivers hope to establish a library in the orphanage to encourage reading amongst the orphans. And the signs are encouraging: With donations from members of the public, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Welfare, as well as from various organisations in Singapore and Malaysia, the caregivers are hopeful that some of the funds could be reserved for the construction of the in-house library.

A Winning Adventure

For these student volunteers from Singapore, the service learning trip to Bintan was an eye-opening one. The realisation of how blessed and pampered the lives of children in Singapore are made these students really feel for their new Indonesian friends.

In addition, the visit has allowed these young volunteers to step out of their comfort zone to immerse themselves in an entirely different environment,  doing their best to improve lives and bring smiles to the faces of the orphans of Bintan. And the Bintan adventure will surely not be the Pioneers’ last contribution to society as they continue to do their bit to make the region -- and the world -- a better, happier place.