STEADFAST Club under the supervision of Centre for University, Social Responsibility (CENSERVE) IIUM recently visited Kg. Jumnik, Cambodia on a six-day educational and community service mission. The program which was name Malaysia- Cambodia Educational Program 2014 (MACE) aimed to help our respected alumni, Ustaz Rashid to achieve his dream in developing the village community particularly children who need education for their future undertakings. Not only that, the mission aimed to expose the members of STEADFAST Club to the culture and lifestyle of Muslims community (Melayu Cham) in Cambodia as well as provided chances for them to contribute and serve the global community, in accordance to the club’s motto, “Aslih Nafsak Wad’u Ghairak” which is translated as “Purify Yourself and Preach Others”.

Since MACE was not a collaboration with any Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) in Malaysia, MACE team made an effort to collect funds on our own for the sake of the program. During the month of Ramadhan, we organized 2 big events namely Donation Drive and Car Boots Sale. Donation Drive was held almost every day at bazaar Ramadhan around Kuala Lumpur while Car Boots Sale was held during weekend where the team sold pre-loved clothes which was donated by students and staffs of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Not only that the team also ran donation from class to class and gave out Jogathon Card to ensure the smoothness of the program. Our Financial Team worked hard to reach few companies for sponsorship. In short, our journey to MACE started from scratch.

On 1^st September 2014, 28 volunteers together with Senior Administrative Assistant from CENSERVE, Mrs. Merhamah Md Iza finally made our way from IIUM early in the morning towards Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) for the big mission. We arrived at Kg. Jumnik after travelling for about 5 hours from Phnom Penh International Airport.

Activities during the program included motivational session with school children, educational session with kindergarten kids, visiting the village, interviewing the villagers as well as presenting some contributions in the form of clothes.

The program was deemed a success since we received good feedback from Ustaz Rashid. Our team went home with humbling experience from the difficulties faced by minority of Muslims community in Cambodia especially in term of education. We realized that MACE program was only a small deed and our effort would not change the lives of Melayu Cham there. However we did hope they knew and realized that we care about them and they will not be forgotten as the saying goes “time flies but memories remains.” Last but not least, we hope that this program acted as a catalyst for STEADFAST club to organize more program of these nature at international level.

On 28th June 2014, Steadfast had organized Hospital Volunteer 2.0 programme at Hospital Kuala Lumpur which involved the patients in Pediatric Ward. This programme is also organized with the belief that it is utterly our responsibility to promote social responsibilities among the STEADFAST members to be generous and helpful, providing assistance and aid for those in need. At the same time, members also can develop their communication skills by communicating with the community. This programme was participated by about 41 committees and participants.

Overall, the programme run smoothly as planned. All committees played their role in ensuring the success of the programme. The whole program was a success. The patients were so happy to participate in the programme and they seem to enjoy all the games conducted at all the stations. The participants themselves had gained such a meaningful and memorable experience throughout the programme.