Four representatives from the Bachelor of English Language & Linguistics (BELL) programme, Adam Hakimi, Nurin Iman, Imran Toriq and Gan Xiao Tian participated in a sharing session, “Volunteer without Borders'' organised by American University of Sharjah (AUS), United Arab Emirates. The session was a joint effort between AUS and other Malaysian universities to share and discuss volunteering experiences and community engagements. The two pairs shared their experience and personal takeaways in conducting their Social Engagement projects, Easy English with BELL and My Tribe My Pride.

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Participants of the session reacted positively to the projects presented by BELL’s representatives and were impressed that the projects commenced during Malaysia’s lockdown. 

 

“Even though our volunteering experience was not conventional as we weren't able to conduct it physically, we were still able to gain so much knowledge and experience through this approach,” shared Nurin. 

 

Adam added that it was truly a wonderful and personal experience despite having it online. “The positive feedback that we have gained truly made our volunteering journey worthwhile. Ultimately, there is this feeling that you cannot truly put into words when you involve yourself in volunteerism.”

 

During the discussion, Imran shared his motivations for volunteering. “We are privileged in many aspects, be it knowledge, wealth and physical well being, while unfortunate ones aren’t able to afford those. Therefore, there comes a feeling to make the world a better place for them, and I believe it’s an obligation for us to help each other.”

 

Overall, the sharing session served as a great means for BELL representatives to share their work and learn from other participants’ volunteering experience. To learn more about their projects, visit their web pages at Easy English with BELL: https://englishwithbell.wordpress.com and My Tribe My Pride: https://eldse2021.wixsite.com/mytribemypride.

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Note: This section was written collaboratively by the participants for the Faculty's Newsletter

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