As one of the foundational pillars of society, charitable giving, especially in international schools has evolved from just fund-raising and making donations to more involved participation and exposure to the needs of the community around them.

For some it is part and parcel of the curriculum whilst other schools have developed their community service programmers to reflect their commitment to cultivating good habits and nurturing better beings.

“One question we have to ask as individuals and institutions, is ‘If we left this place tomorrow, would the community miss us?’ asks Jonathan Steffen of Dalat International School. As Coordinator of the Distance Learning Resource Centre, Jonathan leads a team of English Club students to a rural fishing village in Penang to teach children English.

“As we began to develop our connections with the village leaders, it was an obvious question to ask about how we could be a unique asset to the community. We did not want to make the mistake of assuming we knew what they needed, so we let them tell us what their needs were.

” The fishing village called Gertak Sanggul is a 90-minute ride from the school and is primarily a Chinese- Malay community. Twice a year, the English Club gives English lessons to a group of 50–80 children for five consecutive Saturdays.

For many, knowing that their time in their adoptive countries may not be long makes them eager to leave their mark in some way before they move on. “Certainly the economic impact would be felt, but have we been a positive part of the community fabric to the extent that we are valued for our social, spiritual and servicecontributions?” asks Jonathan.

“Or have we valued productivity, privacy and protection to the degree that we isolate ourselves and become virtually useless as a member of the community?” These are thought provoking, soul searching questions that Dalat wants their students to wrestle with, whilst at the same time providing them opportunities to test their answers.

And this pretty much sums up the general sentiment of teachers and students from several international schools in Malaysia who are keen on making a difference that matters to all.

“I think it is veryimportant for children especially in an international school context, because children of privilege should realise they have a responsibility towards others,” stresses Rajan Kaloo, Director of Services for elc International School.

“Otherwise they’ll turn out cold-hearted human beings with no regard for fellow man,” he adds with a smile.

“There are schools that are successfully turning out academic orientated children, but at what cost?” Kheeran Naidu who is the President of the Interact Club in elc agrees saying that these activities not only act as a respite from their academic studies but also serve to give young people a better perspective on life.

Having long been exposed to and involved with charity projects thanks to his father, who is a member of the RotaryClub Damansara, the teenager admits that this has helped him appreciate the little things in life.

“Giving back to the community and helping those who are less fortunate makes me realise that I’m luckier.”

Kenji Lee a Grade 9 student at Dalat who is in his first year with the English Club, claims that the experience has inspired him to help more people outside the school community.

“Teaching the fishing community has made me realise how much fun it is to help others,” he says recalling a field trip they went on to show the kids from the fishing village what a turkey was.

At Alice Smith School the habit is integrated in everything they do, be it lessons in the classrooms or extra-curricular activities. According to Director, Valerie Thomas-Peter the concept of charity is inculcated from a very young age.

“So even our primary level will get involved in projects that will get increasingly more complex and more focused on the community they are in. We have a structure that really builds as the child gets older.”

Recently students in Year 10 and 11 organised a bake sale where they sold pizzas, doughnuts and cupcakes to raise money for the TAT Turtle Sanctuary in Tioman Island which supports the conservation of turtles and promotes awareness.

And when the sixth formers organised a charity dinner in aid of environmental projects, the students themselves contributed by being a part of the banquet team and served the guests.

This further highlights themost apparent changing aspect of community service in schools where students are showing more commitment and effort in terms of organising and coordinating charity campaigns.

“elc is a little bit unique in the sense that our Interact Club is consistently active, year in and year out,” explains Rajan, “So many of the students who are altruistic by nature generally gravitate to the Interact Club as they see it as a vehicle for their causes.”

One of their more important events in the year is the Christmas Cheer that is organised with the help of the Rotary Club of Damansara.

The students treat orphans to a fun-filled day of dancing, singing carols, games and at the end, the orphans are given a school bag filled with stationery and sweets. Books are also collected and donated to the library of each home.

Even the English Club at Dalat was set up to address an expressed need for some of the students to serve the local community, specifically the villagers. “The initial batch of students were quite excited to apply the things that they were learning about service and generosity,” says Jonathan.

The students are independent when it comes to teaching the class and planning their own lessons. But being students in an international school environment, these efforts are not contained to their immediate environment alone.

As Rajan points out, “They have such a global outlook that they are not confined by borders. Over the years we have provided wells in Africa, we have built schools in Myanmar as well as raised awareness about landmines in Cambodia.” 

For students at Alice Smith, one of their more recent projects was raising funds in aid of the tsunami and earthquakevictims in Japan.

Spearheaded by sixth former Isabella Tan who has family links there, a range of activities was organised with the help of her friends. Some designed t-shirts and badges to sell while one teacher even volunteered to have locks of his hair cut by students for a small fee.

The sixth formers also made a trip to Kenya where they spent time teaching at the Itinyi Primary School as well as participating in a conservation project; digging trenches and helping to plant jatropha trees to create a protective belt on the outskirts of a forest.

Though many of these activities are not compulsory, the positive response to many of these charitable initiatives are assurances that these students are on the right path to becoming generous members of society who are sensitive to the needs of others, as well as confident and capable world leaders.