Unforgettable birthday present from God

At the beginning of my story, I would like say that true friendship will be proven in hard times. Hanny, my friend has a mother who was sick from July 2008. Hanny was the only child in her family. Her 71-year-old mother lied in the bed of Panti Waluya Hospital, Malang because of hepatitis. On August 20, 2008 she got better so she could leave hospital. Suddenly, on Wednesday morning, October 27, 2008 her condition got worst even more than before. As such, she had to be sent to the hospital again at 4.00 am in Panti Nirmala Hospital.

At the same day, I had a meeting at 6.30 p.m with my friends at Rayner bookstore on Raya Tidar street number 15. In the middle of our meeting, Hanny sent an text message to Grego. Hanny told us that her mother was in a critical condition. Of course, all of us got panic and shocked because of that sudden news.

We still continued our meeting for a few minutes, and then some of us decided to go to the hospital right away. Aven, Amelia, Daniel, Grego, Michael were my friends who left for the hospital at that time. Actually, I was very worried because deep inside my heart I felt that her mother would not survive this time.

We arrived at Panti Nirmala Hospital at 9.30 p.m. I was shocked because Hanny mother’s condition was very bad. She was unconscious, and she got internal bleeding. The blood came out from her mouth. We talked to Hanny for a while then all of us prayed together for Hanny’s mother. During the prayer, I felt very calm and peaceful. I believed God always gave His mercy and loved Hanny and her family. At 10.30 p.m. Amelia and Mike went home because of their business.

Daniel, Grego, Aven, and I still stayed there until Hanny’s mother passed the critical condition. At 02.00 a.m. the next day, her condition got better and she became more calm so we decided to go home.

Thursday, August 28, 2007 at 7.00 a.m. all of us got the news that Hanny’s mother had passed away at 2.15 a.m. I was very shocked. Thanks God it was holiday so I went to Gotong Royong as soon as possible. At 9.00 a.m. I and Cicil, my friend arrived there. I really believe that God works in His way to help us.I believe God sent people around her to help Hanny during the preparation for her mother funeral.

The next day, I helped Hanny to prepare everything because most of her relatives went back to their hometown for a while. They went back to Surabaya and came to Malang again on Saturday, August 30, 2008. At 7.00 p.m., there was a service for Hanny’s mother . All of us prayed together at Gotong Royong.

Saturday, August 30 was my birthday. When I was thinking of what had happened lately, I realized how God had taught us to become more compassionate. Through this, God taught me not to become a selfish person. Honestly, I have learnt a lot from what I underwent for the last a few days. I realized that a birthday was not always about happiness, party, hanging out with friends. However, it was is more importantly about maturity, about the changes of our heart to become a better person.

A Room for Children’s Learning Activities

Since July 2008, I have been teaching in my friend’s private course called Little Club. It is located at Bukit Dieng Street number C-7. That is a home where my friend and her family live. This course offers tutorial activities for students to learn all school subjects except Chinese. In fact, many of the participants are Bina Bangsa Christian School students.

When I first came there and saw the classes, I said to myself, “Wow, what a nice and comfortable room for children to study!”

Children are fun to study there. There are some reasons why I think that way. My first reason has something to do with the interior and the exterior building concepts. Let me explain it. The interior is very attractive for children to study because the walls inside are nicely decorated with children’s works, paintings and arts. The interior is also fabulous. The wall outside the room is painted colorfully. Flowers, rabbits and other cartoon are among the interesting characters for children to see.

Second reason is because the room is suitable for learning. The room we use is 14 m2. I think it is quite big and proportional for course activities. It is neither too big nor too small. There are seven small desks with small chairs neatly arranged, of course. The third reason is because of a nice view of the room. There are two doors in the room. One is the main door connecting to the garden, and the other to the office. We can get a proper view in this room. The windows there are quite big for the students to look the road through. We can also look through the door because part of which is made from glasses. The main point is the children do not feel be enclosed in that room.

The third reason is because of facilities. The room is equipped with air –conditioning which is always on during the learning activities. You can find a book shelf made from wood. My friend puts many children books, so children can take their favorite books during the break time and read it on the carpet. On the other side of the room, you can find a shelf for toys. The children can play using the toys there while waiting for their parents or during the break time.

Well, my friend has a nice concept in creating a comfortable learning atmosphere by designing the interior and the exterior of the room, and also providing many facilities. The children surely like it!