As'salamualaikum W.R.B,
This year was indeed a very special year for all of us. With more Secondary and Tertiary level girls joining us, we had a much larger cohort that was able to share the joy and blessings of being able to contribute to our Annual event- Iftar.
Every year, we would be eagerly anticipating the Holy Month of Ramadan, the month full of blessings and the month that bonds all of us together regardless of anything. To date, after every Eid-ul-Fitr comes, the girls, without fail, would start reminiscing the wonderful moments they had together whilst helping out in the Iftar and also start to plan for the next year's Iftars.
We have feedback sessions in class where the Ustazahs and Helpers would open it to the floor to welcome the students' thoughts in order to gain an insight as to how they perceived the whole event to be. This way, with the students' testimonials based on their anecdotes or negative experiences, the in-charge of our level would be able to convey to the Iftar commitee on what could be done the following year to improve the current year's situation.
IMSSA hosted 4 major Iftars this year. The first on the list took place at Cheng San CC (Ang Mo Kio, 6/07/2014), followed by, Harcourt Opposite Khatib MRT station (Yishun, 13/07/2014), then, Bukit Panjang CC (19/07/2014) and to end the blessed month, our last Iftar of the year was at Kaki Bukit Neighbourhood Park (Bedok, 20/07/2014).
As our AMK Iftar was the first on the list, our girls were all way too chirpy and excited to dive into the preparations. We went early that day to lend a hand in the work being done. Firstly, we had to do the making cum packing of the cup corn which was to be served later for the breaking of fast. Our girls not only worked, they also had a good hearty talk amongst themselves and the new faces that volunteered themselves to help out. It was tiring for them all to stand and pack, but just because the young at heart as well as the really young girls could do their assigned tasks without any hindrance, they were motivated to do so too. So, all the girls were highly driven by each other indirectly.
After packing all of the corn, we needed to clean up then proceed to the next station that was the making of Shawarma (Bread rolled with filling). That too was done with much merry and laughter. After that we proceeded on to do our Zohor/As'r prayers and then started on the packing of the bento sets. So, we needed to fill up the bento box with the variety of food that we had prepared for our guests. We also needed to ensure that the food was enough and if all the items were in the packed bento box. There were some shortages, but we managed to find substitutes for it.
Then the time came for us to start arranging the bento boxes, drink cans and bottles, porridge containers etc. It was this time where we needed to be swift & had to multi-task the most, as we had to welcome and usher in the guests to sit down, as well as cater to their needs and continue to arrange the items before the adhaan for maghrib is being called! It was indeed an experience never to be forgotten, enriched with values that could not be learned merely through words but had to be undergone by oneself. The girls truly felt satisfied at the end of the day where we could break fast as a class as the satisfaction of serving people can never be gotten elsewhere.
By helping out in these type of community involvement events, we nurture our students to develop a heart that cares for the less fortunate & also to lend a helping hand to let others to benefit from it.
Please do keep us in your precious doa's! Here some of the pictures that we snapped during our iftars!
This year was indeed a very special year for all of us. With more Secondary and Tertiary level girls joining us, we had a much larger cohort that was able to share the joy and blessings of being able to contribute to our Annual event- Iftar.
Every year, we would be eagerly anticipating the Holy Month of Ramadan, the month full of blessings and the month that bonds all of us together regardless of anything. To date, after every Eid-ul-Fitr comes, the girls, without fail, would start reminiscing the wonderful moments they had together whilst helping out in the Iftar and also start to plan for the next year's Iftars.
We have feedback sessions in class where the Ustazahs and Helpers would open it to the floor to welcome the students' thoughts in order to gain an insight as to how they perceived the whole event to be. This way, with the students' testimonials based on their anecdotes or negative experiences, the in-charge of our level would be able to convey to the Iftar commitee on what could be done the following year to improve the current year's situation.
IMSSA hosted 4 major Iftars this year. The first on the list took place at Cheng San CC (Ang Mo Kio, 6/07/2014), followed by, Harcourt Opposite Khatib MRT station (Yishun, 13/07/2014), then, Bukit Panjang CC (19/07/2014) and to end the blessed month, our last Iftar of the year was at Kaki Bukit Neighbourhood Park (Bedok, 20/07/2014).
As our AMK Iftar was the first on the list, our girls were all way too chirpy and excited to dive into the preparations. We went early that day to lend a hand in the work being done. Firstly, we had to do the making cum packing of the cup corn which was to be served later for the breaking of fast. Our girls not only worked, they also had a good hearty talk amongst themselves and the new faces that volunteered themselves to help out. It was tiring for them all to stand and pack, but just because the young at heart as well as the really young girls could do their assigned tasks without any hindrance, they were motivated to do so too. So, all the girls were highly driven by each other indirectly.
After packing all of the corn, we needed to clean up then proceed to the next station that was the making of Shawarma (Bread rolled with filling). That too was done with much merry and laughter. After that we proceeded on to do our Zohor/As'r prayers and then started on the packing of the bento sets. So, we needed to fill up the bento box with the variety of food that we had prepared for our guests. We also needed to ensure that the food was enough and if all the items were in the packed bento box. There were some shortages, but we managed to find substitutes for it.
Then the time came for us to start arranging the bento boxes, drink cans and bottles, porridge containers etc. It was this time where we needed to be swift & had to multi-task the most, as we had to welcome and usher in the guests to sit down, as well as cater to their needs and continue to arrange the items before the adhaan for maghrib is being called! It was indeed an experience never to be forgotten, enriched with values that could not be learned merely through words but had to be undergone by oneself. The girls truly felt satisfied at the end of the day where we could break fast as a class as the satisfaction of serving people can never be gotten elsewhere.
By helping out in these type of community involvement events, we nurture our students to develop a heart that cares for the less fortunate & also to lend a helping hand to let others to benefit from it.
Please do keep us in your precious doa's! Here some of the pictures that we snapped during our iftars!
