Where have I been?

Hmmm… more than a month since my last blog posting. Have I stopped doing voluntary work?

Well, no. I am still actively involved with Buddies of Ipoh. But the things that I do are getting more and more routine. Less of those complicated cases I used to get back then. Main thing is probably because my fellow volunteers who attend clinic duties are assigning less clients under me, because I already have a long list of clients.

As for my old clients, either they are doing considerably okay now (okay enough to be independent) or in the case of some of them, they have gone missing from my radar.

And so my routine continues… clinic duty in Ipoh once a fortnight. Clinic duty in Taiping once every 2 months. Home visits when necessary. Monthly board meetings. Making sure the children under our education sponsorship programme get their monthly bus fares/pocket money disbursed on time. Talks/exhibitions when requested.

Once in a while there may something non-routine. Like last Tuesday I was in Penang, invited by USM’s Women’s Development Research Centre (KANITA) as one of the panellists for their International Women’s Day programme, with the theme, “Inspiring Change”.

The other 2 panellists were teachers from Sekolah Kebangsaan Lemoi, Cameron Highlands. It was interesting listening to the challenges they had to face being the first (and so far the only) 2 female teachers at the school, away from all the facilities that we have been taking for granted.

It was an eye-opener for me, and being the “adventurous” type, I would love to one day visit the school.

Hopefully my sharing on what I do as a volunteer with Buddies was also an eye-opener to the audience.