Mawhiba - A Late Update

As we all know, there was a Mawhiba-CTY-PERMATApintar All Girls Summer Camp (that's a mouthful) from 14th June to 4th July 2013. MAWHIBA, meaning "giftedness" in Arabic. A total of 14 Level 1 girls were selected for this program, along with 13 Arabians and 2 Indonesians. There were 2 courses in this camp: Biomedical Science and Astrophysics.

Waiting for their arrival

Throughout those two weeks, the Mawhiba students were isolated from the other Quad P students and had their very own schedule. The Arabians arrived late Saturday afternoon, exhausted. They were led to their air-conditioned rooms before moving on to registration. The Site Instructor, Susana Holmes, was really nice and comical. She was in charge of the community meetings. Yes, the students had to attend meetings every day so each of them were aware of the progress of this camp.

And this camp wouldn't be a success without the presence of those delightful instructors, three of which are Quad P's own teachers. The total of 29 students were subdivided into 4 RA groups and each night they had hall meetings with the allocated groups.

Cultural exchange was what this program was really about. Not so much the in-class education, but more of an outside-of-class learning. The girls claim to have gained a lot of experience learning each other's cultures. There were certainly lots to laugh about. The Arabians finally knew that Malaysia was not a piece of jungle and it does not rain every day. And the Malaysians learnt that Saudi Arabia was not just a stretch of desert. There had also been hilarious occurrences between the girls and the students of QuadP (that I guess should stay between the girls only)

"If you speak that kind of Arabic (the kind that Malaysians learn in school), you would sound like Shakespeare," says one of the Arabians 

Cultural performance night - Malaysian round

During the afternoon, the girls have active and passive activities, ranging from arts and crafts to sports. Every evening after Maghrib, they gather in a circle to discuss a moral value. There has also been a debate in the second week. Meals were 3 times a day, mostly consisting of western cuisine (not to mention bizarre ones).

"What kind of bread is this?"

"I.. don't.. know.."

 Weekends were the time of relaxation and... field trip! "Finally, out of campus!". They visited KLCC and went on a night cruise for a luxurious dinner. There had also been cultural performances from Malaysians, Arabians, Indonesians and (best of all) Americans. The best activity (I guess) was futsal because the girls seemed to be having fun, not bothering whether they could actually kick the ball or not.

Dinner on Putrajaya cruise!

Hogwarts' Students??

As the camp was finally coming to an end, the communitree that has been set up at the very beginning of the camp is full of notes from the fellow participants. On Thursday afternoon, they were set to leave. To get back to their old lives. Normal. It was pouring at that time. It was as if nature understood the sorrow.

A bit feast during the last night

Okay, I don't think I'll be able to cram those 3 weeks of activity in one teeny post. From class to afternoon activities to laundry to meals to field trips. From one cultural night to the next cultural night. From the day we first met to the day it all ended.. It has been a remarkable chapter in each of the girls' life. Being there for one another, learning to tolerate and most importantly, creating a bond between nations.

p/s: not many pictures can be shown