New Steps Everyday: Empowering Communities through Play
Did you know that a child’s overall physical, emotional, cognitive and social development actually depends on play?
‘Play’ is a medium for children to explore and experience the world. As children learn through play, their experience of reality is reflected through play. At Pusat Sumber Komuniti CARE (PSKC) Setapak, we provide children with resources to learn through play, and more importantly, we provide a safe place for children to grow.
From the words of Isaiah 43:19, “See, I am doing a new thing!”, what ‘new thing’ have we seen thus far? First that came to mind was the new relationship that has been established.
The playgroup connects us to children and parents we have not met before. We are either building new relationships or strengthening existing relationships. Gradually, we observed that trust between the parents, children and volunteers had strengthened, the atmosphere grew warmer, and parents formed their own support group.
We also observed some growth in the children’s self-esteem, self-confidence and various improvements in their developmental skills from experiencing new concepts, new toys and unfamiliar faces through the playgroup. Such contributing factors helped them to develop and explore their ‘undiscovered-selves’. The inclusiveness of the playgroup also enables children to learn to interact and accept differences of other children coming from diverse backgrounds such as special needs and developmental delay. Parents and caregivers also benefited from the playgroup as they have learnt how to interact with their own children better.
Although presently for the parents, children and even the staff, the outcomes or changes may not be substantial, we believe our work is not in vain. Such a journey takes time and we need to courageously step out in faith, knowing there are new steps every day, and most importantly, God is doing a new thing!
Story written by Jodie Lim, Community Organiser (Children).