Nurturing compassion and gratitude in children during pandemic

IT has been more than a year and half since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. We have had to adapt and learn new ways to live, to work and to socialise as we are faced with pandemic rules and lockdowns.

For children, activities such as going to school, play time with friends and attending birthday parties are slowly becoming a distant memory, replaced by online learning, home-centric activities and Roblox. This is a challenge not only for parents and caretakers, but also for teachers.

“We realised that kids were having a hard time coping with online classes, especially when they went through the first, second and third Movement Control Order (MCO). They had a hard time and some took education for granted,” said Lisa Yoon, Primary Principal from Campus Rangers International School.

Like many other teachers, facing Lisa is a heavy task of continuing to find innovative ways to educate and keep children motivated at home.

“We started to reflect on the less privileged children. Our teachers have taken on the task to educate the children about what schooling is and how privileged they are to have the opportunity to be online and have an education.

“We even shared with the children the story of 18-year old Veveonah Mosibin from Sabah who had to climb the trees to get internet access to study and take exams.

“So, in conjunction with our ‘International Month’ that runs from July to August, we decided to get our primary school students to write digital letters and e-cards to less privileged children - who are from schools sponsored by World Vision,” said Lisa.

According to Lisa, the project with the theme ‘Spread Joy Around The World’ aims to nurture students on kindness and gratitude.

“It is such a difficult time, and we want these communities to know that there are other children of similar ages who have them in their thoughts and prayers.

“The students realise how fortunate they are. We also encouraged them to thank their parents, and prepare letters to these underprivileged children.” said Lisa

As the head of Preschool and Primary schools, Lisa believes the importance of instilling social responsibility from young.

“When we do this project, we get the parents to be involved too. We want everyone to know that everyone has a role they can play for the community.

“We also believe that projects like this can improve their self-esteem, teamwork skills and we want them to learn about strong work-ethics,” she added.

Since its establishment in 2011, the school which started off as a learning center for IGCSE exams, has allocated approximately RM50,000 to RM60,000 every year to donate to World Vision, orphanages and other charities.

According to Campus Rangers Founder and Managing Director Jason Ho, World Vision organisation was chosen as part of their annual charity project because of its programmes impact not only the children, but also the community as a whole.

“About eight years ago, when we saw the number of students in our school start to grow and were in the hundreds, we decided to donate to 60 children from nine countries, namely India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam, Mongolia.

“So each year we set aside for these 60 children, and every year it comes up to almost RM50,000. The whole idea is not only to help the children, but to help in a way that can impact the community as well,” said Jason.

In celebrating its 10th anniversary, the school is planning to continue its charity projects by organising a virtual run this coming September. The proceeds from this program will go to Childhood Cancer Society KL.

“This is what we are all about. We educate while nurturing students to make an impact on society,”