TO celebrate WED, students from a local private college teamed up with refugee children from Yayasan Chowkit and engaged in a number of events to foster consciousness and positive change, in the form of a hands-on workshop where they learned to transform plastic bottles into terrariums (customized gardens in a bottle) while crafting coasters from old teeshirts, thus learning to recycle waste into useful products.
The workshop not only was a fun and educational experience but the refugee children also took home valuable lessons on sustainability, while fostering a sense of community and shared responsibility.
The university students also assisted 35 residents from an old folk’s home to create terrariums from recycled materials, giving the residents a sense of satisfaction and also engagement with the younger generation, putting a smile on the face of the elderly residents in the home.
Shahrish Riaz, one of the international students said: “It was a day filled with purpose and enjoyment and created awareness on the importance of the environment.”
The project showed that the collective efforts of students, educators and the community could make a difference and inspire change especially when it involved the environment.
The university’s project showed that climate change begins with the community and recycled materials were the best way as the cost is minimal.
Lecturer Cynthia Paul felt such projects fostered a bridge between the university and the community, as the beneficiaries were the refugee children and the elderly.
