Today is August 15th, 2024, and about three months ago, I started my (second) first day at MSRI. And since then, things have been busy. Weekends are filled with work events: Charity Bazaars, HPV Clinic, Galic Football events, or even a quick office trip to the river. Another intern may visit and spend the weekend in KL, or Arianna, Kailey, and I will visit another intern pair. I have started volunteering at FREHA: A Low Barrier Reproductive Health Clinic. I also spend my free time napping, reading, journaling, water colouring, and lino cutting after work. So much has happened within these past three months. For this blog post, I want to give you insight into my favourite monthly moments and some things that I have been up to.
May
May was all about getting back to routine. After the initial shock and excitement of being in a different country (again) settled down, I was able to slow down. It is a funny feeling to return to a place that was once so foreign but now feels normal. So much has changed within the year. When I arrived in Malaysia in May, I was not worried about visiting tourist attractions or exploring the city because the city had already become my home. Instead, I spent time enjoying the return to the people and community that I already knew. But also enjoying the time and space I have now. Last year, I got into watercolouring and reading, both hobbies I enjoyed so much but got lost in the busy university student lifestyle when I returned to Canada.
June was pretty cool.
Started the month with an intern crossover episode when Marcus came to visit for two-ish days on his way to Kota Kinabalu. The Malaysian Cancer Society hosts an HPV Clinic at the school, providing vaccines to women and girls early in June. The day included running up and down four flights of stairs, communicating with Kailey and Arianna by shouting in the stairwells, eating chicken and rice, and laughing and smiling at all the small jokes that happened throughout the day. We hosted our first mini-dinner party! Inviting Tom, another fellow intern at MSRI. We had spring rolls with shrimp and peanut sauce for three days straight for dinner. In the middle of June, I started to plan the school Open Day, an event that would be held in July. Open Day is an event I helped organize last year, so it was a full-circle moment to plan the same event almost a year later. Lastly, the month ended with a sports day. Planning and helping lead 250 students to a football field in 31-degree weather. Which honestly was a lot of fun.
In June, I read “The Writing on My Forehead” by Nafisa Haji, which was an 11/10, one of my favourite books and catapulted me into my reading grind.
“The Writing on My Forehead” by Nafisa Haji is a book that explores the long-term effects of the partition between India and Pakistan. As a result, families were placed all over the world, and while the past can be a source of pain for some, filled with family secrets- it is what brings them all together. The main character, Saira, a second-generation immigrant, discusses her experience of growing up in the US and the dilemma of staying close to her roots and culture or welcoming the new perspective and upbringing. While we make decisions throughout our lives, we are given the false narrative that we are always in control—what will happen happens for a reason. There are no “what ifs” but rather what has happened. The book explores topics of family, tradition, community, capitalism, NGO work, and so much more.
July flew by.
Started the month strong with a long weekend trip to Kota Kinabalu to visit fellow interns Lauren and Marcus. The weekend consisted of fried fish noodles (9/10), learning more about PACOS and DAP, going to the beach, spending time at the Artisans collective … and then I got sick :(. Upon returning to Kuala Lumpur, Ana (an intern from CHIPS) and Karunia (an intern from KSDC) visited on separate weekends. On the weekend, Andrea (MSRI manager) and Aliza (board member) took us outside of KL, and we drove out of KL for about an hour to a secret river swimming location.
In July, I got into lino cutting and started carving little stamps. I also started drawing and watercolouring monthly recaps. I also found a Kram Board in the school and started playing against some teachers during lunch break (I lost).
My work day consisted of occasionally teaching, working 1:1 with students, purchasing 120 cartons of eggs, and putting together information and video updates for funders. And, of course, Open Day happened! Which is essentially an open house for the school. Each class spent time decorating their classrooms with school projects, art and photos and participated in a door decorating contest. We invited friends, family and current funders of the education program to visit the school. Students spent lots of time practicing presentations and working on interactive projects to showcase their learning. It was a day where students could demonstrate their learning journey regardless of their situation. It was a day to celebrate the power of education.
Wow, so now it’s August.
Once again, I started the month strong by substituting one of the classes. What started off as me teaching the students English ended up with them teaching me Arabic and Farsi—a pretty good deal. Then, I went on my visa run and met all the other interns on the weekend in Phuket, Thailand! It was an amazing weekend. Seeing the other interns in the middle of their placement was really lovely. We talked and caught up with each other, ate some really good Thai food and shared some laughs. Crazy to think the next time we will all see each other will be in January. Seems like an eternity away.
Now that I am back from the visa run, I am working on a video for the education program. I have been interviewing secondary students (G6-IGCSE) and asking them questions about their hopes for the future, things they enjoy learning about, and the wishes they have for the school. I just finished editing the video, which will now be used at fundraising events and sent to the funders as a program update.
I will start an art club this week and work on some fundraising material for the organization. I am excited to do this and look forward to seeing the different art projects the students create and their creativity outside an academic classroom.
So that’s what’s been going on. I can honestly say that no day has been the same; every day holds something new, and it’s been busy.
It is crazy to think that this placement has only three months left. This makes me a bit sad, thinking that I will have to say goodbye to this organization and community in a little bit. But who knows, maybe I’ll be back again.
