A Report from Curtin Sarawak

Curtin Volunteers! reaches out to longhouses for John Curtin Weekend

Approximately 89 students volunteered for the annual John Curtin Weekend as part of their rural outreach community project in four longhouses in the Miri District.

The students gathered at the Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus at 6am to depart to their respective longhouses in the Curtin shuttle bus and a hired public bus.

All four longhouses; Rumah Lagan ak Dingat/ Rumah Insin ak Pak, Rumah Busang ak Braoh/ Rumah Sampang, Rumah Duat ak Kalom/ Jeli ak Naga, Rumah Ampik ak Jempu were identified by the Miri Welfare Department where students helped the chosen communities with general cleaning, landscaping, repair work and painting of the longhouses and schools.

The students were given a warm welcome from each longhouse with the traditional 'Ngajat' dance. "I felt very privileged to have the entire village to greet us and it made our presence felt important and appreciated," exclaimed Marshall Broadbent, one of the exchange students from Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia who is studying in Curtin Sarawak for one semester.

"This weekend has been an eye opener for us because within 2 days, we feel a strong bond with the family who adopted us for the weekend where they really treat us like their own family by taking good care of us and teaching us all their customs and traditions," said Evangeline Stanley, the Organising Chairperson for Rumah Busang (Busang Longhouse).

"I do believe that the John Curtin Weekend has been a great success and the students have learnt a lot from this experience. I do hope that this has inspired and motivated more people to volunteer for more community work in the future," she added further.