Yayasan Kasih Anak Kanker Indonesia

This visit was truly close to our hearts, for various reasons. Health-deficit children were the primary reason as to why Sincere Hearts started and we have been waiting for this specific yayasan to give us a call of invitation. Understandable, as the children all had different timings due to different medication requirements and so on. A little more about YKAKI. They are a foundation that helps children suffering from cancer. Besides the obvious, they help provide a home located near a hospital, schools, etc. They have a few subsidiaries and the one we visited was called Rumah Kita. Children with cancer are welcomed to live there, along with a parent if they are above 5, and both parents if they are below 5. The cost of living there is very minimum, at Rp. 5.000/day, to receive all amenities required for survival such as toiletries, 3 meals a day, transportations and everything they need for comfort. They also receive much help from their sponsors from industry biggies such as Taxi Express, Alfa Mart, Bakrie Group and more. What is commendable is that it is very apparent that the help received goes into the right places. the place is extremely hygienic and truly supportive to the needs of the citizens. We first started with an ice-breaking session by means of story-telling and then moved on with our primary activity of the day: bag-painting session. Each child was provided with a small canvas tote bag along with a set of brushes and watercolours kit. The children looked overjoyed before even getting started, when we first displayed interesting painting methods for them to try! The painting session took around an hour to complete and we were mesmerised by our talented new young friends. Some of them have exceptionally skilful hands at painting. Of course, we couldn't leave without a tour of the place. We then learned that the children's education was a priority and always will be. Some of them receive prestigious scholarships up to university level and each and every one of them go to school. As a small contributor to this lovely place, it gives us much pride in knowing that humanity is restored in this place. Children are not treated as merely sick or needy, but are given hopes that they will move forward in their lives. They are always encouraged to be curious and keep learning. They understand that their education is vital for their own benefit and do not use their physical disabilities to hinder from day-to-day activities. To think that sometimes, we complain over a headache. or period pain (yes,ladies?) :):):) If you want to visit YKAKI, feel free to visit www.ykaki.org or contact us for more direct information. we'd be happy to help. Much love, Sincere Hearts

Panti Asuhan Tunas Bangsa

Our much anticipate visit this time was a trip to Panti Asuhan Tunas Bangsa, an orphanage housing 65 children below 10 years old. The children had to temporarily stay in an old folks home in the same area, as their old place was going through some repairs (humanity exists! God is Great!). We had a 10am slot and left rather early due to the long drive anticipation, resulting in early arrival as well. Once everyone was gathered, we began our introduction, in preparation for the day's activities. Our initial plan was to play treasure hunt, using small plastic balls you normally find in swimming ball games. However, after seeing the children getting super duper excited and jumping all around, and the size of the temporary area, we changed the plan to playing passing the parcel instead. Funnily enough, we couldn't even finish the game as everyone was truly restless and hyped up to move on and see what more is in store for the day. We switched on some exciting music (Tarzan song-Aqua) and our lovely choreographer, Shiva Raichandani started doing what he does best-shake and groove! He led the children and us too-to since and dance along with the music. All of us had a good laugh in line with the funny song and smiled with glee, looking at the children having a fabulous time. Distributing goodie bags is always our favourite moment. They say, the art of giving is more heartfelt than receiving and we agree! We always look forward to see people rummaging through the goodie bags to see what treasures are inside. We moved around the place to distribute more goodie bags to those children who weren't able to join our get-together session. If you are interested to visit this place, please contact us for the details. The place truly needs help; children sleep in small rooms together, sharing mattresses. Also, if you wish to join us, feel free! The more, the merrier! Our next post is coming soon, as we have also just visited a cancer hospital for children. Cheers!

Panti Werdha Wisma Mulia

One way or another, we end up visiting old folks' home. a lot. i mean, rather often. Its either the warmth they exude or the feeling of being able to share love to people who once had them but lost them. 21st September was going to be a special day, we all thought whilst packing the day before. Our excitement was all in the air, knowing that the next day would be one to remember for a long time to come. We reached the place the next day, at around 2.15pm. As expected, we were welcomed with lovely senior ladies who seemed like they had waited for us for so long! Some of us realised that they once visited this place with their fellow university mates and were shocked to notice that some of the ladies there remembered them! They may be old, but their memories sure serve them well! A very charming young lady, referred to as "oma mini" by her friends were very prominent amongst the rest, as she was extremely friendly, gracious and sportive. Funnily, we all initially thought mini was her nickname as she was pleasantly tiny, but it turned out that her name is actually sumini. :):) The activity of the day was playing statue dance. I'm sure you all know the gist by now, dance when music's on and statue it up when music stops. I think, they were more excited for the dancing rather than the game itself. moreover, we played hindi/bollywood tunes, which we were sure they didnt hear much of otherwise. A truly vivacious scene was when a lady literally got too excited dancing, slipped due to her slippery sandals, regained herself and jolted back up to join the rest of her friends dancing! Gave us a bit of a scare, didnt she? :) Our always-favourite part was distributing goodie bags! Sometimes, they wait for us to leave to open the bags in order to remain polite.but, we actually feel happier to see them digging right in the moment we hand them their goodies. As always, a day at the old folks' makes you want to rush home and hug your elders at home, may they be your parents or for those of us lucky enough, our grandparents. We are truly fortunate to share a mutual love and to have each other, in happiness or otherwise. If you're reading this, go give a hug to someone at home and say i love you. I promise you, it will make their day. The ladies at the old folks barely have anyone to hug, let alone have anyone say I love you. but they show happiness in having each other. lets think twice before complaining about a little belly fat, lost wifi signal or never-ending paperwork. XX

Yayasan Kasih Emmanuel at Cilincing

Its been a while since our last visit and the review on the blog-forgive me!!! Our visit to YKE was one of our most interesting ones as this was our first time visiting a place so out of reach. we got lost, tired, and what-not on our way there, but after a hard hour, we finally reached the venue with heartfelt greetings from the residents. Our visit was especially special, because we were joined with the wonderful kids of Royal Buckingham International School, as part of their IPC unit. Due to much time spent on the journey, we reached late and had lesser time for our usual fun and games. nevertheless, we tried our best to utilise the best of our visit by introducing ourselves, as part of our routine and then moved on to a special performance by RBIS. The students entertained the orphans by a special Bollywood dance number. the spectators were too excited to simply sit and watch and got up and joined RBIS, turning the hall into a very noisy room!!! our highlight of the trip was the makan siang bersama, where sincere hearts' crew distributed the most delicious nasi campur to everyone. Seeing that this was "makan siang bersama", we all sat along with them whilst enjoying the lunch. that way, we got to learn more about them individually. some lost their parents in accidents, some sickness, some were abandoned as children and many more. what was heart-wrenching to hear was that, they all belong to different family backgrounds and cultures, and yet, they are able to sit in a circle without ay form of discrimination that we hear nowadays. we hear a lot of "jawa", "sunda", or any religious differences in our daily lives and we dont see that here. After the yummy lunch (just thinking about it makes my tummy roar!), we proceeded with some games and sing-alongs. We felt terrible leaving. partially, because because we did not spend as much time as we'd like to. and also because the place made us feel happy. it gave us a sense of belonging and familiarity. some of those kids were much younger than us, but we learnt a whole lot of things today. YKE will always have a special place in my heart. Call any of us for any info on YKE! :) We'd be glad to dhare you the contact information! much love

Panti Wierdha Usila St. Anna

As excited as I was for this next visit, I was busy as hell at work! It was my last week at work, and I had to take care of so many things! When Ekta reminded me about this visit, I was like "whoa!" because honestly, we did not prepare much. But I didn't want to delay any further. I loved going to "panti jompos's". The seniors there always make us feel blessed and loved in the comfort of our houses. On March 2nd, we found out that not many of us could make it, so basically it was three of us. Ekta, Farina and myself. The rest of em ladies will be back next month. It took us a good hour to reach the place and the driver just HAD to get lost:p we saw the venue and were pleasantly surprised. the place was so well-maintained and preserved. three floors, an elevator, cleaning staff, prayer room and mother mary's sculpture here and there. We then found out that the government provides funds for maintenance and care-taking, but not for supplies. So, food, clothes etc is relied upon on the public. As they were senior citizens, they were all over the place, some in rooms, some in the hall. no chance of us performing or anything, so all we did was go around to distribute gift bags to individual rooms. It took us quite some time as they had over 100 people in three floors. Their health conditions were good, it was just that some of them were so old, they were fragile. some had lost their hearing ability, some had gotten short-sighted and some had even lost their memory. An incident I felt touched over was, when I passed a gift bag to an old man, he asked, "isinya apa?" which meant "whats inside?". and so i explained that there were food stuffs inside and he asked me to unwrap one of them. I opened a bread bun and watched him eat in delight and gave me a thumbs-up. i teared up in the corner of my eye. He was so lonely, a bread bun gave him such happiness... as we three walked on around the premises, a very fresh-looking man pushing a lady in a wheelchair passed us by and greeted us with excellent english-and a Singaporean accent! we got to talking and we found out he studied in Singapore and now he lives here with his mom, who was on the wheelchair. she is 98. he must have been around 70, but he looked so fresh, we barely believed his age. Of course, we HAD to take a photo :) after goodbyes were done, some lovely ladies outside requested for a picture and they started dancing! (as dancing is often symbolic to indian women). Cuteness overload! The visit was over and we were exhausted. we discussed our exciting venture over a short croissant breakfast and i take this opportunity to give you an insight of our discussion: love your parents. take care of them in the comfort of your house, without them, we don't stand where we are today and will never get to see a day in the sun. Those who abandon their parents, luck has a lot in store for u. NOT. ok, to be back to being chirpy and jolly, we invite everyone to join us! contact myself (kirti) at 087877087820 or ekta, at 0816771807 for donations or anything else. thanks for reading!

Christmas Project

On 22nd December 2012, Sincere Hears had its very own first Xmas Charity Day! We did not plan any activity in the month of November, in the hope of saving our resources for our big December project. Ekta and I began planning early December, by dividing event jobs to our dear members, who very actively took part in the project. Another thing to be extremely excited about was the fact that we have our t-shirts now, custom made for our group. (anyone interested to purchase them please feel free to holler!). My house was filled with over 20 excited people who slowly made their way to the cars to visit the orphanage having over 200 children and senior citizens. The children and seniors greeted us politely as entered the premises and immediately sat obediently, waiting for us to kick-start the program. We started the festivities by our classic way of self-introduction, trademark of Sincere Hearts ;) Next up, our very talented Vt and Nunu (Diksha and Bhavna) headed a short skit about the importance of honesty. Not only the children and seniors, but we members also found their skit extremely entertaining! Next up, in order to keep in line with the christmas spirit, Ekta, Pooja and Sonam shared interesting stories about christmas, followed by a fun round of game by Ravina, Divya Maina and Priti. The "dar", "dir", "dur" game was played by several children amongst the crowd who were penalized for song and dance when they lose a round. Oh, and to add to the spirit, we had xmas carols playing in the background the whole time! We then reached the cherry on the cake, with our special guest, Santa Claus, who appeared suddenly and greeted everyone cheerily. Everyone was as excited as ever to see the unexpected guest as Santa strolled around the premises to say hello to everyone. The day ended with Santa distributing gift bags to everyone and "photo bersama" session. An extremely satisfying time was had by all and we sincerely thank our generous donators for their contributions. We cannot make all of these happen without you! God bless and Seasons' Greetings!

Panti Asuhan Wisma Ganda Palsigunung

Our third visit was definitely one to cherish for a long long time... A sad regret would be the fact that not too many members were able to join us due to other appointments. BUTTT we do have 2 new members this month so a big shout-out to Pooja and Sandhya! We were up and awake earlier that day due to the anticipation and the fact that we were up for a log drive that morning. A few hours and misdirections later, we reached Panti Asuhan Palsigunung which was an orphanage that takes care of mentally and physically disabled children. As we took a look around, I couldn't help feeling familiar with the place and at first i assumed it was a random deja vu but it was so strong that I asked Ekta Melwani (my best friend and SC cofounder) "have we been here before?" and she said "Yes with Sai Mandhir at least 10 years ago!" and it was such a happy moment for me to realize that I have met these children before. We did not do much that day (we actually prepared coloring tools and basic games) but their conditions were such that all we could do was look around and have a chat with some of them. It amazed us how some of them were so civilized and well-mannered. After distributing goodie bags, we left the orphanage with huge smiles on our faces, knowing we made some children's day. Now, all of you reading this, a humble request from Sincere Hearts, for anyone who finds the time or can spare time, kindly visit the children at Palsigunung. They are kind-hearted and very much in need of your support. You may always contact us for addresses and info and you can even join us! Kirti 087877087820 and Ekta 0816771807. We are off for November (pooling our resources for Christmas) and we are working on our Xmas charity project! *so excited*. Once again, THANK YOU to our donators! we love you!