Project Yang Tzai
Expedition date: 6th – 20th June 2011
Team YuKnights, in light of Project Pelita under NTUMS’ Overseas Expedition, recently completed a 2 week expedition to Yang Tzai, a rural village located in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. In Yang Tzai, the majority consists of approximately 20 000 Chinese Muslims who make a living out of farming and raising livestock.
There were several religious and cultural practice differences between the Yang Tzai Muslims and us. While Singaporean Muslims follow the Syafiee school of thought, the Chinese Muslims on the other hand follow the Hanafi school of thought, thus there were several practices that differed such as in prayer. Language proved to be a challenge for us as the Chinese Muslims only spoke Mandarin while some of the religious elders could speak little Arabic. We often had to communicate in sign language to get the message across. Despite the language barrier, the people of Yang Tzai did not see that as a hindrance to welcome us into their humble village. They were immensely hospitable, always greeting us with “Assalamualaikum” and often inviting us into their homes and offering us whatever food they had.
Our project consisted of 3 objectives: Construction, Education and Culture. Youth groups before us had raised funds to build an Islamic Knowledge Centre that will cater for the Yang Tzai Muslims and educating them with Islamic Knowledge. Our objective was to furnish and beautify the new classrooms with murals to make it a comfortable and conducive environment for learning.
Apart from construction, our objective was to teach about 30 students in the pre-school at the mosque in the village. We conducted lessons on Arabic, English, Health and Hygiene as well as Arts & Craft. For example, each lesson of 40 minutes, 6 facilitators and our translator will conduct a designated lesson. Worksheets that have been prepared are given out to the children to aid in learning. After every introduction, the class will be broken into smaller groups where the facilitators are able to interact further with the children.
Lastly, as part of our cultural programme, we conducted a carnival where the villagers were exposed to the Singaporean culture from traditional games like capteh and henna art. We also distributed the donated items that we collected in Singapore during the carnival.
We ended off our project with an opening ceremony on our last day in the village. The villagers of Yang Tzai were invited and were treated with our local treats such as “Kacang Putih” and also Curry cooked with meat that was sacrificed the day before. We also took the opportunity to show our appreciation to the Village Head, Ali, who had helped us during our stay in the village.
Project Yang Tzai 2011 – in pictures
All our bags are packed, we’re ready to go!
Standard tools for eating in China
Cool sleeping bus that was like in Harry Potter
Goodbye urbanisation
MAMENG!! aka the satay of China
Standard beef noodles – served anytime of the day
In Zhao Dong province
The Silver Hills
Our warm welcome
The Faces we’ve come to Love in Yang Tzai village
The boys and the ladies
Construction aspect - Painting murals in 3 classrooms and on the exterior walls
The paint fumes were suffocating and toxicfying but after a day, we got used to the fumes and were having a lot of fun painting 
Education aspect - teaching the kids everyday from 8-12 and 1-4 on English, Arabic and more as well as playing games in between!
Recreature aspect -
Carnival
Opening ceremony Day
And that more or less wrapped the 14day project up! There was R&R in between where we visited a waterfall, stone forest, cultural village and of course, shopping. Memories to last a lifetime(:
Pre-Expedition at Pertapis Children’s Home
SO, here’s what yuKnights have been up to recently!
We’ve had our pre-expedition at Pertapis Children’s Home which was a half-day event on the 26th March! It was lots of fun planning exciting games for the kids and each activity had an objective which allowed them to develop in personal skills. Some of the activities included “Build-a-Straw-House” (that instilled teamwork amongst the children) and an obstacle course for the kids.
We also had the children make friendship bracelets and bookmarks to be given to the children over at Yang Tzai village. This cultural exchange is something unique that we would like to bring further once we are at Yang Tzai. We sincerely hope that the Pertapis children had a lot of fun and enjoyed themselves. As for ourselves, we definitely learnt more than we bargain for from the children and it was indeed a pleasure to spend a day of fun with them!
Here are some pictures!
A cheery mural done on the walls of the Home.
Building a house made from straw proved harder than expected!
Making bookmarks for the Yang Tzai children.
Put your Right hand in, put your left hand in~~
Boys having fun at the obstacle course.
Teaching the Pertapis children to write in Mandarin.
HAPPY YUKNIGHTERS!
♥♥♥ read more »
BATALLIA ’11
We need your support!(:
YuKnights are reaching out to all of you out there! Help us, help them!
You can do your part by approaching any of the yuKnights member that you know, but if you do not know of any, feel free to email us at yuknights@gmail.com. Any help or support is much appreciated and may Allah swt bless your kindness(: InsyaAllah, any small help will go a long way in a life of the Yang Tzai Village children in Yunnan, China.
Look out for updates on our fundraising page on the “fundraising efforts” tab at the top of this website. Otherwise, check our facebook group and like the page!
Salam,
♥ yuKnights
Igniting Dreams, Uniting Passions
The Beginning of an Incredible Journey#5
Faci Session #5 – 01 March 2011
The yuKnights team met up at the NIE Amphitheatre and the usual magrib prayers were held, with Nizham as the imam and Hafiz as the bilal. Shortly after that, we began with the first ice-breaker of the day, the deceptively-easy looking “Newspaper Square” game, where each team of 3-5 persons had to have one foot each inside a newspaper square that gets progressively smaller with each round. Hilarity ensued, as seen in the photographs below as each team tried their best to meet the rules of the game, whilst not falling in the process.
The guys holding on for dear life
Nizham,Asyraf and Aidil attempting the Newspaper Game
Nadya having fun whilst the guys cling on
Shahidah, Rasiah and Azizah playing the Newspaper Square game
After this game, Aidil and Rasiah were up to present their Habitude presentation about “The Tightrope Walker.” Through this presentation, the yuKnights were made more aware of their role in ensuring the trust of the team was justified, by making sure that they themselves were individually capable and qualified enough to be trusted. This point was further drummed into the team via a Blindfold game, where team communication and trust was vital for the success of the mini-mission.
Jihan and Naziah being blindfolded for the game
Jiayou girls!
Hafiz and the Welfare Department presented their bit about the health screenings and medical insurance coverages for the impending China trip. As of press-time, the team were still contemplating between the AIG or NTU coverages, but were confident and sure that Hafiz and his capable team will sort it out for us.
the yuKnights chilling out
The yuKnight-ess
Next up, Naziah, the yuKnights secretary, officially launched the yuKnights relay system, where a secure and comprehensive relay system was put into place for dissemination of vital information or in times or emergency. This will undoubtedly be a useful tool for us all to leverage on for the future.
The main event of this session was the Project Yang Tzai presentation given by Asyraf and Fitriah, who had both gone to the village in the past week as part of the recce effort. Their presentation gave the yuKnights a first-hand glimpse of the living conditions on the ground that the team will face during their trip there. Sanitation and basic toilet facilities were amongst the biggest things lacking. However, Asyraf and Fitriah reiterated the main focus of the expedition – to help alleviate the living conditions of the Yunnan Chinese and help in what ever way possible.
Asyraf presenting Project Yang Tzai
Project Yang Tzai
yuKnights!
The Beginning of an Incredible Journey#4
Faci Session #4 – 23 February 2011
This faci session was opened with the customary ice-breaker game, which for brevity’s sake, will be titled the “Machine Game,” where we had to act out the parts of a refrigerator. Soon after the conclusion of this engaging precursor, we moved on to the “Island Game”. This game forced us to interact with each other in a confined space and was filled with laughs, enjoyment and of course, further sewing of the fabric of our yuKnights team.
The "Machine Game" at the start
Playing the "Machine Game"
Next up, we had a Takzirah session which further enlightened and broadened our minds. Following that, the Publicity Department gave a presentation regarding the Monthly Dose of Islam(MDI) Lectures, where a stall will be set up selling knick-knacks and other refreshments to boost our finances further.
We then had ANOTHER game, this time, the stepping stone game, which added that spice of fun and laughter again to the session, lest any of the members were feeling tired or restless. This session was then concluded with a Reflection activity for the entire team, to allow us time to reconcile our thoughts and experiences of the day.
The Beginning of an Incredible Journey#3
Faci Session #3 – 15 February 2011
The yuKnights team met up at “The Hive” room located in NIE. Shortly after Marghrib prayers, the yuKnights team partook in a slightly more physical and engaging icebreaker game than in previous sessions. This game was a slight variation of the popular Ice and Water game and the team was split into 2 groups, whose aim was to take the other team’s flag without being ‘frozen’ out of the game altogether. After some initial uncertainty and unpleasant safety issues on the slippery terrain, the game was ended, after achieving the aim of fostering a closer understanding and to build up the trust amongst the yuKnights.
The room where it all happened.
After playing Ice & Water
After the engaging game of Ice&Water, the team heading back up to The Hive room to continue on with the order of the day. First up was Goal Setting, where every individual “Knight” had to come up with his or her own personal and team goal. This was an insightful session where the each member’s expectations for themselves and the team were aired out and made known to all. This will no doubt help to foster closer ties of intimacy within the group.
Goal Setting
Next up, Shahidah and Jihan gave an interesting talk titled, ” Habitute.” This talk reinforced the idea of group solidarity and togetherness as an important aspect of any social unit and that a strong and solid foundation is key to the success of the group. To further cement this idea, the yuKnights team were broken up into a few small groups and were tasked to create a stable structure, made entirely out of newspaper, based on the principles outlined in their brief, but enlightening talk.
Making of Structure
One of the interesting structures made on the day
Next up, the publicity team presented the finalised logo to the yuKnights team. The response was ecouraging and the logo, as you can see in the column on the right, is testament to the hardwork of the entire team who contributed positively in some way or another. However, primary credit should go Faizah, Shahidah and Izyan for the actual making of the logo. (I just suggested the team name and motto, so yeah. Haha.)
Last but certainly not the least, the yuKnights team ended off with a final icebreaker game called “The Human Knot.” The game involved stating each individual’s biggest fear over the course of this journey and involved them passing a ball of yarn around them, till everyone had spoken and hence, created one big entangled mess of a knot. The team then had to maneuver their way around till the ball of yarn was spun back into a ball again. This game was a great test of the team’s trust in one another by allowing their worst fears to be aired publicly, while also adding an element of fun and team-building into the mix.
The Human Knot
The Beginning of an Incredible Journey#2
Faci Session#2 – 08 February 2011
The second session began with the customary icebreakers and moved on to a more administrative note; positions in the respective departments were revealed and the first discussions were held by the departments and its members. The team was split up into 4 groups, namely Finance, Publicity, Welfare and Programming. The discussions were fruitful, giving the entire team ample notice of their department’s expectations and duties to be performed.
Next, the China OE team (as of yet unnamed) moved on to the exciting but unenviable task of conjuring up a team name for the Overseas Expedition. Again, discussions were held at group level and presentations were held after these discussions. Amongst the names mooted included Team SOAR, I.K.H.L.A.S, yuReach, Kaleidoscope and YuKnight. After fervant discussion, the team unanimously decided to be christened as yuKnights. As for the team logo, discussions trailed off after some time and the tagline, “Dream Makers, Star Chasers” was hastily chosen to conclude this tideous naming exercise.
This faci session ended off with Asyraf giving a talk on “Tazkirah: Travelling in Islam,” which was well-received and appreciated by all in attendance. Thank you Asyraf for the useful information!
(P.S. If you’re looking for photographs, sorry to disappoint! No one took photos during this session, sadly.)
