A Trip to the East

Assalamualaikum WRT WBT

Ok, lets take a deep breath. *breathe in *breathe out.

How should I start this? I guess the truth is always the best solution.

If you noticed a few posts back, I posted a flyer about a trip to Kelantan. Alhamdulillah, it went well -- not exactly as planned, but it was ok considering what we had to deal with.

The trip was alright. Tiring! But Alhamdulillah no 'casualties". I dont have the strength to write all that happened. Lets just say that we had a pretty rough time handling our bus drivers. And even though Rasulullah teaches us to always forgive, what happened between us (the organisers) with the bus drivers will forever be lodged in my head. And my heart. Just thinking about what they put us thru still makes my heart burn. A couple of drivers from hell.

The overall trip was exciting since it was the first successful trip for us from Jawatankuasa Pemuda Remaja Belia IKRAM Johor Bahru Tengah. The trip was a collaboration between us JKPRB IKRAM JBT with Biro Rakan Muda Masjid Tan Sri Ainuddin Wahid, Taman Universiti. Oh man, thats too long to retype. In the future, I'll refer to our 'group' of volunteers as RnB ok. Just so you guys dont get confused with the abbreviations I use. Anyhow, each month, RnB will organise a small programme named STYLE (Smart Youth Leaders) for the children around Masjid Taman Universiti. We've done qiam for a couple of times, and this trip was sort of a treat for the consistent participants of our programme.

This trip to Kelantan was organised during the school holidays. Here's a picture of the participants just before starting off to Kelantan.

Below: Me counting heads before starting off.

Throughout the trip, we taught the kids about the importance of prayer, how to pray during musafir. Among other things, we taught them the importance of Ma'thurat and the practice of reading Al-Quran where ever they are.

One of the objectives of the jaulah was that we'd be able to khatam the Quran by the time we arrived back in Johor. So each person was given one juz to finish. I was so moved by how dedicated the participants were.

When we arrived in Kelantan, alhamdulillah with the help of IKRAM Kelantan, we were brought to various places and brought to eat Kelantanees delicacies.They also organised some games for us. I wasnt able to follow the whole programme bcos I had to go back to my grandparents house to prepare for the BBQ dinner.

For dinner, we had a BBQ at my grandparents house. My grandparents are awesome! I love them both so much. Tok Ayah Su and Nenek Su too! :) And not forgetting Ayah for sponsoring the event. Love you all so much!

For Subuh, the group went to Masjid Tok Guru =)

Regardless of the trouble we had with the bus drivers, I hope everyone had a blast. I guess only the three of us (me, kak anie and ct) were the ones handling all the heat, containing our sadness and tears. We couldnt show our emotion to the participants. That would ruin the whole mood.

Before starting back to Johor on Sunday evening, we had the chance to do a lot of shopping at Pasar Siti Khadijah and Rantau Panjang. I think this was the best 'slot' for everyone. The participants were given RM5 to buy gifts for their parents, so they were so excited. RM5! You can buy a bunch of things at Rantau Panjang! Eventhough it rained, everyone had a swell time.

There's still so much to tell, but I think I'll leave it at that. A huge shout of gratitude to my good friends Kak Anie and CT who played a very big role in the success of this jaulah. I appreciate both of their friendship so much. Without each other's support, we'd all have broken down right at the beginning. So thank you and may Allah bless us all.

 The three musketeers!