To all students and families of the Bethany Home tour 2019

Please join us for a time of sharing and appreciation:

Tuesday 26th November

5.30-6.30pm

Library Duncraig Campus (near Community Room)

Light refreshments will be provided

Due to some concerns about the forthcoming exams for Year 11s, the Bethany Home tour family wind-up has been postponed until Tuesday 26 November 5.30-6.30 in the Community Room Duncraig Campus. We apologise for this change and we hope to see all students and their families at the wind-up on 26 November.

Dear Bethany Girls & Families,

You are invited to the Bethany Family Wind-up for 2019.

When: Tuesday, 5th November 2019

Where: Community Room, Duncraig Campus

From: 5:30 – 6:30 pm

RSVP: By Thursday, 31st October (to Miss Prosser or Mr Torquato)

Light refreshments will be provided

This is our opportunity to get together and reflect on our time away together.

As discussed on the tour, we are asking each of you to write/type a reflection of your time at Bethany Home for us to send back to the staff and students. Include pictures and use colour. If you could finish and bring them to the Wind-up, it would be much appreciated.

There are also a few additional roles on the evening:

• We would like a few of you to speak about your experiences on the tour (i.e. best part, what you’ve learned about yourselves and the world, how the experience may shape you in the future, etc).
• We would also like to be able to show some photos and video from our time away. (I know that this has already been started by Bree, but if it is finished then we would love to be able to show it!) Keep putting photos/video in the OneDrive folder so everyone has access.

Feel free to email Miss P, Mr T or Mr Roberts if you have any questions.

Dear Bethany Girls of 2019,

It did not seem right that you had to write every single entry on this blog, and that we would end this trip without giving us a chance to have our say.

Yesterday when we did our final reflection and de-brief it was so lovely to hear you speak so warmly and fondly of your time at Bethany Home, and the thoughtful gifts you bought for us were so appreciated – not because Mr T could always use a new hat – but what they represented. We have thoroughly enjoyed spending the last two weeks getting to know you as people and being witness to your incredible journey.

Warning: Miss P wrote this, so it is going to get a bit soppy.

Asher – You have the sweetest heart, which melted one particular boy so much he made you a crown. It was well-deserved, and is testament to how kind you are, and the way you always consider the feelings of others. The way you genuinely connect with those you come in contact with is a reflection of the kind and friendly young lady that you are. I hope that you continue to see yourself as a leader who is thoughtful in her words and uses them to empower others. You wear your heart on your sleeve, and know even in a short time frame that you made a difference to those students in the physio room. I know that you will find ways to permeate this through your life back at home, at school, and wherever life takes you.

Bree – You may be the loudest in any conversation, but it is the way you use your voice to speak to and with those who may not be able to, which is truly a gift. Your ease with all the students, ability to make them feel comfortable so that they light up when you are talking to them, is something I enjoyed so much. Whether it is the students at Bethany Home or Reverend Eliezer’s son, you are unafraid of getting to know people for who they are. Thank you for keeping us laughing, for “the bants” and endless source of entertainment. Please never lose your unbridled enthusiasm for life, and I know you will channel this passion into ways to continue to be of service to others.

Caitlin – Your patience is a gift, and the way you used this to garner as much as you could out of every opportunity was a reflection on your character and the way you see every human interaction as important. You saw each student at Bethany as an individual who deserved your full attention. No job was too small and no task too menial, you saw the value in the experience and sought to get as much out of Bethany Home as you could. And even though you may not be there to see the long-term benefits, your help and time will cumulatively add to making each student you worked with a better person for having known you. Thank you for embracing every opportunity along the way, seeing the fun in the smallest of things, and procuring everything you could out of this trip, and our experience much more richer for having you be part of it.

Emma – You go about your day by making as little fuss as possible, but that does not mean you have less of an impact. Your moments are quieter and unassuming that they could go unnoticed, but they are still important. When you were working one-on-one with the students at Bethany they were captivated by you. And maybe it appeared that you took longer to warmer up to it all, you have created wonderful memories that you can hold on to and reflect on. You are a great advocate for getting done what needs to be done. Even when you are tired, or its early, you were always willing to show up and be involved. It is clear that you serve others so that they might reap the reward, not that you want to shout and make people notice what you have done. Continue to find ways to help others, and let people see the passion you have for making the world a better place. Enjoy the sleep in!

Emily – I adored seeing you in your element surrounded by gaggles of little kids. You were a natural with them; relaxed, comfortable, in control, and they genuinely enjoyed being in your company. You have a wonderful presence that the students willingly accept your help and want to be around you; whether that is in the classroom, at aerobics, or on the swings. Please continue to follow your passion for child care or primary teaching, as you will only develop more skills in this arena that will already harness the care you showed towards the students at Bethany Home.

Isobelle – You were an absolute bundle of joy and Mum to all. Thank you for always being up for anything and embracing every opportunity. But beyond just becoming familiar with the students at Bethany, you have a good heart for helping people. You have a warm smile which made the students light up. When you took their hand and guided them, they were comfortable with you and were happy to accept your help. Know that your encouragement made a difference. You were organised and reliable, and teachers know that if they set you with a student and a task that it will be done properly. I know you will walk away with some very special memories from this trip that will help guide your passions and future.

Jorja – You have such an open heart and so much love to give that it is no surprise that you had several favourite students within the first couple of days. You took the time to learn each ones name and story, and as much as you will remember them all fondly, they will also remember you. Thank you for your talents and being so willing to share them with everyone. You impressed me with the way you were open to every experience at Bethany and could also reflect on what each day meant and taught you. You think and care deeply about people, particularly those who may get ignored by everyone else. To have this core value of who you are, is a testament to your character and the potential you have to go out and make a difference on a personal level.

Meetal – You fit in so seamlessly with the whole team, that it’s like you were all friends all along. The tour would not have been the same without you. Your smile is infectious and the connections you made with the students were truly special. It was a joy to see you work with them, encourage them, guide them to make progress, even when they were finding things difficult. Take some time to reflect on this experience and what it means for your life and decisions moving forward. Continue to be open to the potential people have, and know that you have the capacity to make their lives better and more rich for being in it.

Sarah – Cool and quietly confident, thank you for being our go-to person when we didn’t know what was in the food. I still cannot understand why everyone always thought you were the Mafia, because you are so the opposite of that. You are so gentle and were always calm with the students, but were never a push-over. Your composure is a wonderful trait with the students always feeling comfortable around you, wanting to work with you, and I saw them always giving their best when they were with you. You show humility, never really making a fuss of the work you do, but that does not deplete its importance. You are reliable and that fills people with confidence, so when you go out into the world you will make your mark.

We hope you all can take your experiences from this trip to guide your future choices and the type of young adults you are growing up to be. You are kind, empathetic and ambassadors of the value of service. And the world is a bit short on all of these qualities right now.

You will get back to school and into your regular life, and pretty quickly this whole tour and Bethany Home will seem like a distant memory. But be assured that the relationships you made in those quiet moments of classrooms or in morning walks were real. That even though you were speaking a language that they may not have understood, by holding a hand or giving a reassuring smile or a thumbs up or encouraging high five, this made a difference and meant something to those individual students. They understood that you cared about them and were there to help.

Continue to smile at people who look different or have challenges to overcome, try to remember the patience you used and the understanding you showed when the days were long and you were feeling tired, and know that you have the capacity to make a difference.

Thank you for making our first Bethany Tour so memorable and special. It was so awesome to spend this time with you, and know that even though we won’t all be together like this again in the same way, it was so worth it and we would do it all again with you all in a heartbeat.

Get some rest, and we will catch up soon,

Jenny P & Jordy T

(aka Miss Prosser & Mr Torquato)

Hey all,

We all woke up this morning with a slight sleep in, weary-eyed and ready for our last full day in Malaysia.

We started the morning off with a buffet breakfast – which had hash browns! Yay! After breakfast we made our way down to the Lobby to get our nerd on, ready for our long awaited tour of KL.

Arriving at the National Museum with bright eyes and glasses (see: Bree, ready to read the museum captions) we were showed around the museum and told many interesting facts.

Fact #1: If you want to buy a kris (a dagger which is held by the people in power) then you need to make sure you ask if it has been cleansed.

Fact #2: One of the Kings “went for a medical” but actually married a Russian woman so got denounced from his position

During our tour we also visited the War Memorial, King’s Palace, Petronas Twin Towers, the River of Life, and Merdeka Square where Malaysia gained their independence (the flagpole where the Union Jack was taken down and the Malaysian flag raised). We also got way too excited about an orange juice machine that played music as it freshly squeezed the oranges. The tour ended with a lovely bus ride home listening to some long awaited bops from the Mamma Mia soundtrack.

With the guards at the King’s Palace

National Monument showing those who helped protect Malaysia during World War II

Petronas Twin Towers

Arriving back at the Melia Hotel we walked over to the Times Square shopping centre with hungry bellies ready for a big lunch. After lunch we shopped until we dropped, buying t-shirts with the incorrect spelling of Louis Vuitton (aka “Luis Vuttion” – this has been Jorja’s goal the entire trip), fake Gucci, Starbucks hydro flask (VSCO girl much?) and getting our nails painted the wrong colour.

Upon our return to the hotel we changed into something a little more comfortable for dinner and the light show at the Petronas Towers … which turned out to be lightning instead. So we had to forgo the light show as there was a massive thunderstorm, so we ended up soaked as we ran from the shelter of shop fronts to the train station.

We are all now sitting together writing this blog on a Word document because the blog won’t open – but we have been very lucky with both weather and the internet the entire trip, so it was bound to happen eventually.

Sorry, got to go play an intense game of Mafia and Uno, for one last time.

Thank you all so much for reading our blog these last 2 weeks and supporting us on this once in a lifetime adventure filled with opportunities to grow and learn about the world around us.

Until we arrive in Perth, yours sincerely,

The Bethany Gals of 2019 xoxo

Bree and Izzy

Our final blog back at the hotel – Ignore the “drowned rat” look after escaping the thunderstorm

Hey All –

Prepare the tissues folks, today was our last day at Bethany Home and boy did it get emotional…

We began our day the usual way for the final time – breakfast was rationed and the devotion was led by Emma and Meetal. The two of us were hastily rushing to finish our mural before we went on our walk to have the buses pointed out to us every lap and leaves pulled from trees, for the last time.

Last morning walk

Then came the time for our final aerobics sessions led by Jorja, Izzy and Meetal where Mr Roberts caved to the idea that dabbing was adequate exercise (You’re welcome, Bree).

For Bree

After our aerobics, we exchanged gifts and cards with the staff and students while Reverend Eliezer thanked us for our time there. Shout-out to Asher who gave a moving thank you speech that brought tears to our eyes; followed by an impromptu goodbye song from the students that really opened the flood gates. After receiving thank you cards from every classroom (many of which we had helped craft), we reluctantly boarded the bus and waved goodbye to Bethany one last time.

I’m not crying, you are

Posing with our masterpiece

On the way to KL we visited a small fishing town by the name of Sungai Besar, that houses many of the families of the children who attend Bethany Home. We visited the homes of two ex-Bethany students; the first who left Bethany five years ago but is looking to return next year to regain his confidence in his language, and the second of which whom now has a job working with his father breeding crickets (more successfully than Miss Prosser’s uni project, might I add). The town is committed to fundraising for Bethany and were very proud to show us their homes. We were hosted a fabulous lunch of pizza, KFC, locally caught fish and traditional desserts.

Sungai Besar

Back on the bus to KL, we arrived back at our hotel (experienced a bit of deja vu) and this is when the weight of the day truly sunk in. It’s been a privilege to have been surrounded by the amazing people of Bethany Home and even though we wish we could have stayed longer, the memories and friendships we’ve made together will stay with us forever.

We ended the day with Nando’s and the Chinese night markets (where we tested our bargaining skills and Jorja was tempted by a very authentic looking “Conrad Kleinia” fanny pack – Calvin Klein’s cousin?).

We now are enjoying our comfy beds, awesome showers and lack of bug spray. Looking forward to our sightseeing tour tomorrow.

Thank you for tuning into the second last instalment of Keeping Up With the Bethany Gals. See you tomorrow for the finale.

Lots of love,

Jorja and Caitlin

xoxo

Heya,

Today started off at 7 am with the light being switched on and our sleepy heads slowly coming to terms with the hennas that had transferred to our faces through the night.

The Bethany routine is second-nature to us now, as we went to devotion which was presented by Meetal and Bree speaking on sacrifices, followed by our daily walk with the students, then boogied our way through aerobics.

We split up into classrooms, with Jorja, Caitlin and Emily working in the Physio room, Sarah in Level 1 where she went to the snooze room and soft play room (so jealous!), and Izzy, Emma and Miss Prosser joined a class for PE, which included some stretching and races that involved stepping through hoops and matching coloured balls to bowls.

PE Games

Not getting lost, some of us (Izzy, Asher and Emma) headed to the Lighthouse after morning recess.

This afternoon, Jorja and Caitlin were kicking a ball around with some of the students from Work Skills, whilst Bree, Asher, Sarah, Emma and Miss Prosser were roped in to help with Boccia training. Boccia is the indoor version of the Bocce game we were introduced to last week. But this time, all players are physically handicapped, and so we had to remain seated in chairs the whole time. The young boy who was playing with us is training for a big competition, and is hoping to represent Malaysia in the future. His team – made up of Emma and Asher – won, of course!

After we left our classes for the last time we went to our mural to add the finishing touches to the wall. We almost have the whole thing done, so will just need a couple of minutes in the morning to put the final text and names.

When there’s a smile in your heart, there is no better time to start

This evening we were invited to Reverend Eliezer’s house for dinner, and of course, his entertaining young son, who was watching Mr Bean, telling us he was an “X-Boy” and doing cartwheels.

Following dinner we made our way onto the bus to drive to the town of Bagan Datuk for some sight-seeing and to watch the sun set over the ocean. We saw our lives flash before our eyes as the bus driver had a very different interpretation of the rule of staying a car’s length distance between himself and the vehicle in front of us (especially when he was driving at 100 km/hr).

Jeti Bagan Datuk

Now we are all tired and getting a little bit testy so we think it’s a good idea to head to bed now so our last day at Bethany home will be an unforgettable one, and a remarkable memory which will be engrained into our hearts forever.

From your 2 cute gals,

(Bree and Emily) on the Bethany tour 😉

BYEEEEEEE! xoxo

P.S. We have just received a surprise gift from Mr Roberts of a mug that has a photo of our mural on it as a keep-sake of the tour. We will need to make sure we pack these carefully for the flight home. So incredibly thoughtful!

Hi all!

Today was our first full day back at Bethany after our relaxing and fun weekend in Penang. We started the day off with our usual walk with the students around the grass patch out the front, followed by aerobics led by Izzy, Meetal and Mr Roberts; which was followed by a celebration of one of the students birthdays with a cake.

Caitlin, Jorja, Meetal and Miss Prosser went to the Lighthouse where they made beautiful Thank You cards and got lost along the way (due to Mr T’s bad directions). Emma and Asher were in the physio room, Sarah was in the Level 4 room, Bree and Mr T next door in Level 3 and Emily and Izzy were with the joined class of Level 1 & 2 students.

Working on hand-eye coordination

Untying tiny knots

Working on some maths skills with money (Miss Prosser is thrilled)

Getting our craft on – Making Thank You cards at the Lighthouse

I came, I see’d, I saw’d.

After classes finished we all headed over to the mural to get as much done as we could, as we are starting to rush to finish it off. Jorja had finished drawing the Darling children, Caitlin managed to finish half of the quote and everyone else painted the city scape on the other wall before we left for dinner.  At around 4 o’clock we started to get our Henna done by Phillamina.

To finish off the day we went to one of the Bethany Group Homes for dinner. The Group Homes accommodate the students who are more mature and independent. We played a riveting game of musical chairs and pass the ball behind our heads (in two teams). They served us a delicious spread for dinner which included fried noodles, rice and mysterious jelly (that tasted like jasmine rice apparently).

Before dinner fun and games 🙂

A big crowd at dinner tonight!

Currently we are sitting in headquarters playing our favourite game, Empire, after a busy day. We are upset that we only have one more full day left here at Bethany and praying that we all have a good nights sleep.

Love from,

Sarah & Izzy

xoxo

Hey y’all,

It’s ya gals and bocce champions, Emily and Asher. We have taken time out of our busy schedules to write this blog so… you’re welcome.

We started off our day with breakie at the buffet (we ate a very nutritious variety of food: chocolate pudding, cereal, donuts and pastries) and successfully ‘borrowed’ multiple cakes and donuts to take on our bus ride. Then, we hopped on the bus and in no more than 5 minutes in we were all napping – except for Caitlin who is afraid of having her photo taken while she’s sleeping (Caitlin if you’re reading this – we will get that photo).

After a few hours we stopped at everyone’s favourite calorie-packed restaurant – Maccas. We ate some nuggets + chips and got back on the bus.

We arrived back at Bethany in the afternoon and resumed painting our mural. We painted the last wall (the blending between colours to make an ombre effect was questionable but we’re working on it) and Jorja started drawing the outlines of Peter Pan and the children.

We then went to church which was hosted by Mr Roberts who talked about fathering (shout out to Brucey, love you)… we also sung a lovely rendition of the school song acapella style which the people at the church throughly enjoyed (I think). We then ate some dinner at the Bethany Cafe and were entertained by the Reverend’s son who we think is 5 years old, but he told us he was 15 (see photo below). He thought Emily was 100 (I mean, pretty close) and thought Emma was 1000 (don’t worry Emma, you don’t look a day over 999). He also told us a fascinating story about how alien sharks stole his brain but Jesus gave them back to him (Sharknado 7 movie idea?).

We then came back to HQ, hung out and now we are off to bed because we are all so exhausted from sitting in a bus for 5 hours (it’s hard work ok?).

Nighty night,

Asher & Emily.

Aggressively trying to blend the paint

Jorja being a bit ‘sketchy’ (*ba dum tish*)

Din dins

The gals at dinner

The Reverend’s entertaining son/child genius

Hey all!

This morning we all had a little sleep in and decided to have breakfast a little later at 8.30am instead of 7am, which was refreshing!

Today was a relaxing day at the hotel where all we did was swim at the pool and beach, and had time to ourselves before having to return to Bethany Home tomorrow.

We ordered chips and wedges as well as mocktails to have by the pool. By the afternoon, us girls were very excited and nervous as Mr Roberts was planning a surprise for us at dinner time.

We all got ready together putting on our nicest clothes that we had. Our surprise was Mr Roberts treating us to a very delicious dinner at a fancy restaurant called Ferringhi Garden. But the surprises didn’t stop there! The very hospitable waiter, Simon, showed us a few impressive magic tricks which left us all in awe, especially at his shuffling techniques. Meetal received a surprise birthday dessert of ice cream and brownie to celebrate her birthday which happened at the start of the tour.

This three day break was a chance to refresh ourselves and prepare for returning to Bethany. We are all well rested and ready to reunite with the students and finish off the mural.

This first week has gone by so fast! We have all enjoyed it and can’t wait to get stuck into week two!

Love from,

Emma and Sarah

xoxo