Saturday 20 March 2010

First Volunteering Event

Okay about a week ago, one of my best pals asked me if I wanted to help out at a Buddhist Relic Exhibition, which is held this weekend at the Mount Waverley Community Centre. I am not sure on the exact name of this event though.

I have never done any volunteer work before (I'm lazy I know!), and so I've decided it is time to get down to some serious stuff. No more mucking around and lazying about! xD

The day started at around 10am. It was still rather quiet so Sand told me the procedures. Basically people will come to see the relics on display, but before all that we would ask them to register, and then hand out some brochures, CDs and DVDs, ask whether they would like to attend the empowerment session, the dinner event or make a donation. There were also a small selection of books for sale. Visitors could also write their prayers and wishes on a card shaped like a leaf and place them in the prayer box.

It got a little difficult when some visitors couldn't speak or understand English very well. Although I can understand Chinese (most of the time), I was unable to translate English into Chinese and say them out loud. But overall, it wasn't too bad. Afterward,volunteers and other organizers could go into the kitchen for a delicious lunch of rice, vegetables, spring rolls and samosa.

I must say, it was quite interesting learning about a religion. Although my grandparents are Buddhists, I don't know much about Buddhism at all, so today's event was a real eye-opener. In addition, it also felt good to volunteer. I will definitely do more in the future! =)

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