Beyond the Classroom: Volunteering Opportunities with TCK Learning Centre

Experience of volunteering at TCK Learning Centre.
From English lessons for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders to storytelling with members of the refugee and asylum-seeker community, the Chatteris Educational Foundation provides their English tutors with various chances to volunteer in the local community.

One such service opportunity comes from Chatteris’ partnership with TCK Learning Centre for Migrant Workers. Located in Tin Hau near Victoria Park, migrant domestic workers primarily from Indonesia attend volunteer-run classes on Sundays, their sole day off, in English, Mandarin, book-keeping, sewing and dress-making and beyond.

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Hearty congratulations to TCKLC member Suci Resmiyati! Her poem To the Swaying Grass has just been published in Exploring Multicultural Poetry, a teaching resource to help make poetry accessible to all, augment understanding and appreciation of poetry and inspire students to write their own poems. In many ways a love poem, and very atmospheric, To the Swaying Grass conveys an evocative message of hope against the backdrop of a sombre tone built up with vivid imagery of the forces of nature. To quote Vaughan Rapatahana, the compiler and author of this book, which contains a collection of poems from around the world and thought-provoking exercises based on them, "Poetry is the air we breathe; we keep going back for more".

To the Swaying Grass
The sky which usually shows its cheerfulness
        with light clouds floating around,
                  suddenly turns dark
as if knowing about this heart’s anxiety.
                  I want to ask
                  the swaying grass,
                  the waving leaves,
                  the strong winds
that blow my hair as I walk in Victoria Park,
                  the sad rhythmic rain
                  that drenches me,
                  the cruel sound of thunder,
                  and lightning strike,
how long will it be until this aching anxiety passes?
                  I wish for a wisp of hope,
                  a letter of fate
from the one that I have been waiting for
        that I may touch my dreams.
                  This tormenting anxiety,
        like waves that keep on sizzling.
        Hopefully everything will pass.
              I lie down now.
              I cannot control the grass.
– Suci Resmiyati

Exploring Multicultural Poetry - Book 1 is published by Essential Resources Educational Publishers Limited and available at https://www.essentialresources.co.nz/Store/Product/Detail/51125