The 2018 BNEC Social Event “Shaping Our Diamonds” Visiting Day

The gifted children, those who have an extra chromosome. It is neither a limitation, nor a gap that separate them from society. Children with Down syndrome also have the rights to have a proper education and receive equal treatment in their social life. Unfortunately, they are not getting enough attention and being underestimated by the society. According to World Health Organization, there are 8.3 million children with Down syndrome in Indonesia, who still need a lot of help from the community, especially the government. Based on these facts, BNEC realized that they would need our helping hand.

This year’s social event focused on helping children with Down syndrome in the form of free therapy, English fun learning, and campaign. Since March 2018, the committees had been preparing the event with enthusiasm, hoping that they could make a better life for them.
After months of preparation, BNEC finally conducted the visiting day. It consisted of five days, located at SLB-C Wimar Asih on June 2, 3, 23, 24, and 30, 2018. In every visiting day, BNEC provided free therapy collaborating with YCHI (Yayasan Cinta Harapan Indonesia). Besides free therapy, we also contributed to increase their English proficiency by providing English fun learning.

We also opened this event for Binusian who wanted to contribute to actualize our vision, which is providing children with Down syndrome a better education and breaking the stereotypes about them. There were 20 volunteers who joined our mission. Hellen Chintya Devi, one of our volunteers was having a good time helping us. “People think that child with Down syndrome can’t develop themselves because they have a limitation in socializing with others. Everyone needs to know that they can develop themselves if we help and guide them with the right treatment,” said Hellen. Hellen also shared her experience during the visiting day, saying that this event taught her to become more patient. She once faced a child who pushed her away and didn’t want to interact with her. She learned how to handle the child by positioning herself as his friend and be there for him whenever he needs.

June 30, 2018 is the last visiting day in which we conduct an outing day for the children. The activities were colouring and hand-stamping using paint. The kids were having fun stamping their hand with yellow and blue paint to the “Wall of Dreams”. By doing this activity, we hope that it could encourage them to dream big.

This social event not only affects the life of children with Down syndrome, we also hope that the volunteers can feel the benefits of helping those in need. “Keep up the critical and creative thinking! Keep on making a creative social event which truly gives impact for society. Good job, BNEC!” said Hellen, our volunteer, thanking us for the unforgettable experience.