Annai Illam Charity home visit 2.8.2008

arrived at school atrium at about 7.30am..

feeling really fresh.. haven't been up that early in ages..

anyway.. met up with my coursemates in the atrium..

too bad.. we were to be divided into 2 groups this morning..

one would go to RUMAH SHALOM.. while the other.. would go to ANNAI ILLAM..

LiangHin, ChuJin, WenWei & JiaHuan went to RUMAH SHALOM..

while.. me, Hazel, Alice, WenYi, YahLee & XingYing went to Annai Illam..

before we started out.. we took a few pics.. at the atrium..

and we're off~~

ANNAI ILLAM is somewhere near Batu Caves..

it's an Indian area.. quite a peaceful place actually..

when we got there, we were met Mr. Chandran, who was the founder of Annai Illam Home..

he explain the way they run the home, the concept of Annai Illam, the situation at the home, the problems they faced etc..

ANNAI ILLAM, means Mothers' Hope in Tamil.. it's such a beautiful name..

there, they don't just give out stuff for these families in need..

instead, they help improve these families' lives, help them adapt and help them get a new life altogether..

what a great concept that is... truly touched..

they teach single mothers how to sew.. and provide sewing machines for them..

they set up food stalls for these families for them to earn a living..

they teach the children computers lessons..

they have classes and time tables for each and every children..

besides that, they have this recycling drive, collecting & selling recycled stuff to earn some money to maintain the home's costs..

most of the children at the home were not around, because there was a school day replacement for Hari Raya holiday that day..

so, Mr Chandran suggested that we went around the area, doing some survey, just to find out how these people are doing, how they're coping and if they were facing any problems etc..

so we went around the neighbourhood, with a few children as our tour guides..

we only got to talk to a few of them..

i guess we scared them, with the whole lot of people walking to their door..

then we went back to the home, and did some cleaning, re-organizing and stuff for them..

the psychology students took charge of the library..

while we re-organized the storeroom..

there, nothing is thrown out, not even a piece of paper.. which was quite a fascinating fact for me..

to them, every little bit counts..

it just shows how fortunate we are..

never do we worry about how we're going to live through the next day..

we never have to worry about getting money to buy clothes and food..

it was really a very meaningful experience for me....

i guess i just never knew how fortunate i was..

and how i never realised that i've been taking all these for granted..

i'm really glad i went....

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my lovely coursemates + friends..

aLicE jiejie + me..

yAh lEe + hAzeL..

wEn yI + xiN yIng..

sTaRr.. ^^












sTaRr + yAh Lee..
















xiN yInG + sTaRr..

wEn yI + sTarR..

sAthIyaN + sTaRr..

mOnisHa + sTaRr..

sHen Ni + sTaRr..

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on our way..

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in the bus..

cHee cHeng + aI Ling.. distributing food & drinks.. thanks ya~

psYcHologY bday girl.. doing "requests" from her coursemates..


oUr phOtoGrapHer.. cHee cHeng..

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at Annai Illam home..

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cute children from Annai Illam home..