Five representatives from Volunteer@UTM Club, Muhammad Najmie Aduka Mutmin (President), Huda Najihah Ahmad Asri (Deputy President), Mohamad Ikmal Zulhakkim Mohaini (Grand Treasurer), Rasyidah Mohd Rasdan (Honorary Secretary) and Nurul Anis Syafiqa Mohd Khanafiah (Technical Unit) had embarked on a new challenge in this year’s Volunteer Leadership Development Programme (VLDP) 2021 on the 2nd until 4th December 2021.
The annual programme was conducted by the Yayasan Sukarelawan Siswa (YSS) and Majlis Sukarelawan Universiti – Universiti Malaysia (MASKUM) under the close monitoring of the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). Contrary to the previous year, VLDP 2021 was held physically at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur Residency following the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) with their theme “Ideate Your Impact”.
The programme strives to provide the best platform packed with extensive training and continuous monitoring for students from 19 different universities across Malaysia to organize their own unique volunteerism projects to fill the community’s needs in the long run. The 19 projects will be carried out simultaneously, starting January until September 2022. The programme also celebrated YSS 10th year anniversary together with the International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2021 on the 5th December.
VLDP 2021 kick-off with an Onboarding briefing session by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of YSS, Mr. Wong Kin Lun, followed by the First training session given by the Board Director of YSS, Ms. Sherene Azli related to the right method for project planning, proposal writing and pitching skills.
The sessions evinced a sense of healthy competition between different universities as it provided students with a chance to have a one to one discussion with one another regarding the input, output and outcome of a project for the pitching session. The students were given the opportunity to expand their social circles through Networking sessions with the prominent alumnus of YSS about the pinnacle story of their mission under YSS across Malaysia and ASEAN countries.
The three days programme also unveiled the icon of volunteerism, Datuk Munirah Abdul Hamid, regarding the impact that her and immediate family members have created toward the homeless community over the years through PERTIWI Soup Kitchen.
The last day had featured the Rapidfire Pitching Session, where each representative from every university presented the project that they had brainstormed over the training and sharing session to the judges. Mohamad Ikmal Zulhakkim Mohaini and Huda Najihah Ahmad Asri had the honor to deliver the pitch representing UTM.
The crew aims to manifest the Agribio and Environment Cluster of YSS with their project ‘Good to Grow’ (GTG) #yoknandur (Jom Berkebun in Javanese). The project ought to implement the Fertigation system for at least 15 low-income families of Kampung Mohd Noor, Batu Pahat, Johor community towards smart gardening, structured plantation including accessible groceries.
The crew received positive remarks from the CEO of YSS, Mr. Wong Kin Lun himself regarding the clear objectives that the project wants to achieve within the given timeline. The project serves its purpose to solve an actual problem that occurred in the community aside from plastering ideas that the perceived community wants. The judges also added constructive feedback about the budget, number of families involved, and university expertise and specialization towards technology needed on the project.
The program ended with the closing remark from the CEO and then continued with the announcement of the seed funding for 18 public universities and one private university. Volunteer@UTM was granted with the seed funding worth RM2,500 to execute the project by January 2022. The representatives delighted with the news and thanked everyone who was directly or indirectly involved with the planning of the project.
Congratulations and all the best!