SHE is no ordinary teenager. While many of her age would spend the weekend hanging out with their friends, 18-year-old G. Hema Lattha dedicates her time guiding and teaching boys from the Divine Mercy Boys Home in Kepong.<\/p>\n
Hema said she got a deep sense of satisfaction in teaching at the home.<\/p>\n
She started in March by teaching some Year 3 and 4 children at the home two days a week. After some time, she started tutoring a Year 6 pupil, who had only started going to school at 10 years old.<\/p>\n
Hema spends an average of two hours every Saturday coaching the boy in all subjects with special focus on Math and Science.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are challenges but when I see improvement in the student, I feel happy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn school, they put him in the weaker classes and sometimes those students do not get much attention. Here, I try to help him as much as I can.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I leave the home after my session, I am happy that I am able to contribute something to someone,\u201d said the A-Level student from Help Academy, who lives in Bukit Rahman Putra, Sungai Buloh.<\/p>\n
Hema\u2019s interest in voluntary work has a lot to do with her family, her involvement in the Interact Club while in school and her personal beliefs.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\nWhile her parents are very supportive of her work, her involvement in her school\u2019s Interact Club was a crucial factor in her landing herself at the Divine Mercy Boys Home as she first learnt about the home through a friend during one of the club\u2019s International Understanding Nights.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how I first got to know about the home. When I finished school, I wanted to do some voluntary work… I just wanted to help some people with what I have.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother helped me to look for a few homes and my father will send me over to the home before I got my driver\u2019s licence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also has to do with my ambition since I want to be a doctor.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoctors help people, and I want to surround myself in such an environment where I can help people. I wanted to see if it was the right thing for me,\u201d said Hema.<\/p>\n
Apart from realising what she was capable of, her stint at the home had also opened her eyes to other things.<\/p>\n
For instance, Hema is very touched by how the boys at the home view life.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of these boys know why they are in the home. But that doesn\u2019t bring down their spirit as they are always happy and positive about life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is great to see that they are so happy and content with what they have and I am glad to learn that from them,\u201d explained Hema, adding that she would be teaching her student until he sat for his UPSR later this year.<\/p>\n
Hema was also very thankful to the home coordinators for giving her a chance to help out at the home as it was a big learning experience for her.<\/p>\n
The Divine Mercy Boys Home is in need of voluntary tuition teachers for its Year 2, 3 and 4 children in the subjects of Math, Science and Bahasa Melayu.<\/p>\n
Teachers are needed during weekdays, preferably after 7pm. For details, contact 03-6272 3568.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n