The “Down To Earth” project trip to Kg. Lana
Bulu, Jitra, Kedah was carried out on 17th November 2012 by
Foundation in Technology students of batch January 2012. As the Ceremony &
Protocol (C&P) department, our job was to make sure that the flow of event
runs smoothly.
The
program started with a Solat Hajat session starting at 11.30 pm on the 16th
of December, the night before the trip to pray for security and success of the
event. Then, the project manager, Zulfaqar, gave a bit of reflection and
reminder for to be the very best of our conduct. Moving on, the Head of C&P
department, Rethauddin briefed us on the flow of event for the day. The
attendance is then taken.
Departure for Kedah
At
1.30 am, we helped the logistic department to keep our supply of souvenirs,
donations and raw materials among other things on the bus and urge our course
mates to be on their respective buses by 2.00 am before checking attendance in
correspondence to bus. Each student had been allocated their bus group and they
were to stay with the group throughout the program to avoid inconveniences. By
2.30 am, we departed for Kedah and arrived at R&R Gurun, Kedah at 5.00 am
for breakfast and Subuh Prayer. By 6.30 am, we departed for Kg. Lana Bulu and
arrived at Kg. Lana Bulu Masjid at 8.00 am.
Before
we start our gotong-royong, we were given another briefing by the Project
Manager on task allocation prepared by the C&P department, and by 8.30 am
we began spreading out to our respective posts.
Community Services
Inside The Masjid
The
group that is assigned to do cleaning works inside the Masjid was further
divided into sub-groups for certain tasks. The tasks include dust wiping,
removing spider webs, vacuuming the carpets, arranging religious and
educational books as well as Qurans on its shelves, folding and arranging the
telekung(s) neatly, cleaning the fans and ceilings, wiping the windows and
glass doors and sweeping and mopping the corridor floors.
Outside The Masjid
Outside
the Masjid, more groups are assigned to clean the drains, the ablution area and
the toilet. Others clean the compound by sweeping the dry leaves. At the
cemetery, more cleaning works are done. Weeds are pulled, dried leaves are
swept aside and trash were collected.
Feast Preparation
For
this project, we prepared a feast for the villagers as part of our charity
work. The menu includes beef curry, fried chicken, rice, watermelon and orange
juice. The job was assigned to the Food & Beverages department. The tents,
tables and chairs are set up for the convenience of the villagers.
Opening Ceremony
At
11.30am, we began the opening ceremony by carrying out tahlil, lead by the Imam
of Masjid Kg. Lana Bulu, as the villagers arrive for the feast. Then, we had
the feast with the villagers.
Closing Ceremony
At
1.30 pm, all students and villagers gathered inside the mosque for Dzuhur
prayer in ‘Jemaah’. Afterwards at 2.15 pm, we had a closing ceremony. Two of
our CNP members were assigned to be the master of ceremony. First and foremost,
the master of ceremony invited our project manager to discourse our
appreciation towards the villagers. Then, the floor was given to the Village
Chief to give a concise speech and then followed by the Imam. Then we proceeded
to the distributions of our donation to the selected villagers. After that, our
project manager was once again invited to deliver our gift of appreciation to
the mosque. Surprisingly, we also received a gift of gratitude from the mosque.
Next, we had a photo session with the mosque committee.
Wrap Up
At
3.00 pm, we started to wrap up by dismantling the tents which was carried out
by the boys while the others either boys or girls stored the chairs and tables
in the storage. Another group of students went to clean the dishes. Around 3.30
pm, after making sure that everything was spick and span, the students were
instructed to board their respective buses. Again, we took the students
attendance to ensure that no one was left behind. After that, we quickly depart
for Tasik Darul Aman for the second phase of our DTE program.
Activities at Tasik Darul Aman
We
arrived at Tasik Darul Aman at 4.30 pm and immediately proceed with photo
session by department and course. Then we moved on to our next activity which
was games that our CNP department planned in advance for that late afternoon.
Originally, we prepared two games for the students but because of the time
constraints, we only managed to carry out one game. We called it draw in line
and guess. We from the CNP department divided the students into six groups
consisting of ten individuals per group. Six facilitators from the CNP
department were assigned to the six groups respectively. The game was carried
out for four rounds and the group that rightly guessed the questions by the end
of the line most would be the winner. Within the remaining spare time, we
spread bookmarks which were prepared by the media department to the public.
The Final Wrap Up
After
we have finished the game session and bookmarks distribution, we had a sharing
session with our Islamic Studies lecturer, Ustaz Ahmad Rushdi bin Haroon. And
at 6.30 pm, we departed for R&R Gurun and stopped there for awhile for
Maghrib and Isyak prayer and not to mention dinner. Finally, we departed for
UTP and at long last arrived at UTP at 12.00 am.
