CSR in Hospital Kuala Lumpur

Initially I was dreadful of the thought that I needed to sacrifice my Saturday morning to entertain a bunch of sick children. Although I have a huge heart about the whole corporate social responsibility/giving-back-to-society thing, I was still not ready to give up one-half of my precious weekend for this occasion (I have a new appreciation for weekends eversince I started working, mind you).

However, once I reached the Pediatric Ward of Hospital Kuala Lumpur that morning, I was overcame with a strange cocktail of feelings - I was happy and felt really privileged to be there with these children, as well as with huge compassion for them.

That Saturday was all about the children.

For some few minutes, on and off, I forgot about my ugly orange FSTEP t-shirt which I had to wear that day.

There was nothing much we could do to entertain this children except by holding a puppet show for them and organizing coloring and card-making activities. We even invited a clown to entertained them with some tricks and jokes, and the children along with their parents and staff nurses were clearly enjoyed.

In between the activities, we did a sing-along of 'Rasa Sayang' under Jonathan's helm with all of the FSTEP participants and the audience.

Then, we distributed the goody bags from ward to ward, meeting and greeting the patients. Some of us went to the pediatric oncology ward, from which they returned red-eyed with tears running down their cheeks. I guess you know why.

Participating in this CSR event opened up a whole new dimension for me in terms of being grateful to my well-being and the capacity to give back to the less fortunate lot. Most importantly, it showed me that each of us had the ability to put a smile of these children face through simple gestures of love. A hug, a smile or simply a light chat with them conveyed the message 'I care about you'.

Would I do it all over again in the future? Definitely.

juicyword@gmail.com

Twitter: @kyeberry