Have I told you that actually I'm not really into kids? It doesn't mean that I hate kids at all but sometimes kids are so annoying and that's why I'm not really into kids. I have cousins--who are kids and sometimes they are so naughty, playing with my action figures and breaking them that I can't stop myself from scolding the kids right away. My family (and my neighbors) has apparently known me as the guy who would scold little children for throwing small leaves into fish pond in the front yard. Yes, I kind of hate it when the kids create mess in my front yard because they surely won't clean the mess and just run home like "Mommy, I just fed the fish in the fish pond over there!".
They didn't fed my fish. They threw rubbish into my pond!
Well I gotta chill my chaz.
So, where were we? Oh, the kids. Okay, now you guys know that actually I'm not really into kids and sometimes I have awkward moment when I have to deal with kids--well you know, babysitting them. I'm fine with babysitting infant, but toddlers and chodings*? They make lots of mess which my mom finds it very normal and amusing (what's so amusing from breaking fine china and riffing on piano like a machine gun?). They run here and there and I feel like watching the live action version of Tom and Jerry. They speak loudly and sometimes they yell at people, they scream, and they cry like hell when they want something.
But my mom has said I was like that back then when I was a kid.
Dang it!
So I'm currently joining KKN** program from my university and all students from all departments are obliged to join the program as prerequisite for their graduation. The team I'm joining has to deal with environmental issues and the team is located in Maleber, a residential area in Bandung which has extreme density, resulting on the lack of open areas for gardening and farming (which is actually good for people with agoraphobia, but not for people with claustrophobia due to narrow alleys in the area). I don't really have problems with gardening and farming, as well as writing notes and official reports (I've got used to writing official reports, just like what I've done in the second and third semester). The problems I have to face is facing the local people. They speak Sundanese (though they also use Indonesian in daily convos) and their neighborhood is somewhat different to mine, resulting on different habits and culture I inevitably have to adapt with. So far I can adapt with the situation and I don't really have big problems (except for smoking teenagers hanging out around the headquarter the team stays at). There are some toddlers and chodings living at the neighborhood and often times, in afternoons they play soccer or tag.. on the alleys. There is a major alley (it's a street actually but due to its narrowness I call it an alley) where people pass by everyday, by walk or vehicles like motorbikes and bicycles and that'd be dangerous for the children because they play in the alley. The main problem for the kids is that they don't have wide open area as their playground.
Back to the kiddo topic!
This afternoon I walked out of the headquarter and saw some children playing soccer in the alley. Some of the children visited the headquarter, asking for cookies. One, two, and finally a group of children visited the headquarter to get free cookies. While the children asked for the cookies, I took them with me to take selfies together. And guess what? The children do love selfies, as well as free chocolate bars and cookies..
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| See three 'apparitions' standing at the back? They're my vriend; (L to R) Genia, Emizar, and Nurul |
What I did (actually what we did since my friends also took some selfies afterwards) wasn't only taking selfies; we taught the children not to litter. Every time they finish their meal and snacks, they have to put the trash into the trash bin instead of throwing the trash right away to their surroundings. We even made a small competition for the kids. Those who grabbed trash in their surroundings and put it into the trash bin would get free chocolate bars. As the result, (almost) all the kids grabbed (and even took it from another trash bin) trash and put it into the trash bin provided so they could get free chocolate bars.
Seeing the kids' reaction and happy expression has made me happy. I've been kind of downhearted lately and the kids kind of made me happy. Thanks, kids :)
* Korean word for elementary school students or children of the age of elementary school
** KKN stands for Kuliah Kerja Nyata, an obligatory program for all students from all department in Indonesia University of Education, Bandung. The students are divided into groups which would deal with certain issues according to the theme each student can choose.
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