Report Activity No. 1

Program: ESCAPE: End Sexual Abuse of Children with Awareness Via Public Education

Date: 07/03/2020

Venue: Seminar Room Al-Dinawari, T02 Faculty of Science

Organizer: UTM Student Affairs

1. Communication skills
2. Thinking skills
3. Leadership and Teamworking skills

I was a participant of the program.

     The End Sexual Abuse of Children with Awareness Via Public Education (ESCAPE) Program is to raise public awareness on child sexual abuse. Therefore, in order to support and have more information regarding the issue, I decide to join in the program as a participant. There are two main activities conducted during the program such as talk on child sexual abuse and explorace games. I gain many useful information shared in the child sexual abuse talk by Mrs. Aqilah Kamarudin, she’s not only shared her knowledge but also experiences in handling the situation involving the victims.

     ESCAPE Explorace Games helps me more to fully understand the sexual abuse of children because for each checkpoint, there are many quizzes and games related to it. We have to use a lot of thinking skills in brainstorming the ideas to solve the quiz based on the clues given. For example, there is a checkpoint that challenges my knowledge about child sexual abuse cases that happen in Malaysia. We have to remember carefully when the case happened in the past, who are the victims, what kind of treatment or abuse they received and many more.

     Working in a group helps me to polish leadership and teamworking skills. Each member of the group has their own strength and capability, therefore, by combining the strengths altogether, we can make a strong group. The collaboration and commitment given can boost the spirit and motivation to achieve the goals. Meanwhile, being a leader is not an easy task for some people, because they need to guide and encourage the members. This activity will help them to learn the skills through experience and hands on.

     An effective communication is also essential in a team. It will help us to understand people and situations better. Besides, working as a team has already creates an effective communication as we have built the sense of trust, mutual understanding, and also have fun throughout the games.

     The program has benefits me in many areas. Previously, I was not very familiar with other class members since we were not in the same class. However, we were required to create groups randomly through voting, and group members consisted of different classes. This activity indirectly strengthens relationships not only as group members but as friends. We share ideas and existing knowledge together, and even laugh together. Those relationships really polished my communication skills because without those skills, I might not be able to interact well. We help and support each other well during hard times to solve a tricky activity.

     I am also aware of the importance of knowing the things that are going on around us. As a student majoring in psychology, I need to improve my thinking skills to a higher level. I use a lot of this skills in processing the clues given during the Explorace games, and make decisions together with my team members. I can also blend well in a group and communicate with others without any problem. Listening to other opinions also help the group to make decisions creatively. There is a saying, two heads are better than one, which means it is easier for two people who help each other to solve a problem than it is for one person.