Have you ever wondered what kind of life and experience you will be going through if you had grown up without a family or siblings? How often do we sit back and reflect on how lucky we are to be given food, clothing, love, shelter and education… yet we still grunt about what we possess?
Early February this year, we brought our AA Foundation and the entire team to Trinity Children Centre (TCC), which is located not too far from our office in Petaling Jaya. TCC is a place that homes orphans, abandoned, abused or neglected children to provide them care and hope for the young children. TCC consists of both boys and girls, aged between four and seventeen, comprising mainly the Chinese and Indian as well as a small number of foreign nationalities.
(AA Foundation Committees & its volunteers)
We planned our visit on a Saturday since it was the weekend and we were all free. Thought it was good choice… we met up in the office as most of us did not know the direction to TCC. At about 10.30am, we were all ready and started to drove like cars on parade, haha. One car following close to another, there were about 4 cars in total. Upon our arrival, we saw our bosses who were earlier than us, sitting in the hall with the kids. They reached early as they had to rush for a meeting with the clients. Within minutes, children came pouring out the front door, eager to welcome us and interact with them. What a lovely bunch of kids. But, we smelled something fishy when we noticed the children all dressed in their school uniforms.
*TADA* A sudden crisis occurred as we were told that the kids are having replacement classes in school on that day (yes replacement classes on a Saturday!!) due to the Chinese New Year holidays. The next thing that came to our mind, what is going to happen to our plans? Most of the kids were getting ready and waiting for their van to pick them up to school. We did not prepare for any contingency plan and the children have not had their lunch. Thanks to Grace, our AAF “financial controller” who knows PJ area like the back of her hands. We quickly drove to the nearby KFC and bought lunch for the kids. Imagine that we tried to rush for lunch within 20 minutes? The kids enjoyed their KFC, although some of them ate hurriedly before they are late to catch their van.
Early February this year, we brought our AA Foundation and the entire team to Trinity Children Centre (TCC), which is located not too far from our office in Petaling Jaya. TCC is a place that homes orphans, abandoned, abused or neglected children to provide them care and hope for the young children. TCC consists of both boys and girls, aged between four and seventeen, comprising mainly the Chinese and Indian as well as a small number of foreign nationalities.
(AA Foundation Committees & its volunteers) *TADA* A sudden crisis occurred as we were told that the kids are having replacement classes in school on that day (yes replacement classes on a Saturday!!) due to the Chinese New Year holidays. The next thing that came to our mind, what is going to happen to our plans? Most of the kids were getting ready and waiting for their van to pick them up to school. We did not prepare for any contingency plan and the children have not had their lunch. Thanks to Grace, our AAF “financial controller” who knows PJ area like the back of her hands. We quickly drove to the nearby KFC and bought lunch for the kids. Imagine that we tried to rush for lunch within 20 minutes? The kids enjoyed their KFC, although some of them ate hurriedly before they are late to catch their van.
(Potential Malaysian Idols-to-be, some of the kids took the time to perform a song for everyone of us)While some of the kids left for school, at noon, the lady who was on duty showed us around the home and we were introduced to the dormitory-style bedrooms where up to 4 to 5 children sleep in a family group, the computer lab, the music room with different sorts of instruments including an organ, guitar, drums, and the little dining hall where the children have to eat in shifts.
(This is where the kids share their room)
(Getting ready to leave for school)
(Some of the medals won by the children)
(Home-made cupcakes by our CEO - Ms. Tammy! Are your taste buds drooling? )What touched us was the children’s desire and openness to share their daily lives, their personal possessions and photos with us.
We absolutely loved the experience of visiting these children. Although we realize that we may not be able to save and help all these kids, we can all do a little bit to make a difference. For anyone thinking of a trip like this, go for it. You’ll be amazed by what captures your heart and what have been missing from your life. It was for a short period of time but we made a lot of memories in TCC. Meeting these children made our trip more meaningful.
TCC is looking for generous organization and individuals to help defray the monthly expenses. The contribution will assist in the rental for the premise, expenditure for the children’s needs and upkeep of the home. As the intake of the children increases, we need to tap the efforts and expertise of many different types of volunteers on a continual basis to meet our growing needs in helping these children.
To learn more about TCC, you can click the link below:-http://www.tccpj.com.my/index.cfm?menuid=7&parentid=35
