PkM HIMSI 2024: WHIMSICAL
Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat or PKM is one of the annual programs that is done by Himpunan Mahasiswa Sastra Inggris (HIMSI). This event was held for 5 days (20,21,24,25,26 June 2024) at SOS Children’s Villages Jakarta, Cibubur, East Jakarta. The title for this year PKM was WHIMSICAL or Where Heroes In Magical Stories Inspire Children’s Language Acquisition And Learning. This year PKM was themed around Storytelling and how we can be creative & imaginative through language. The main goal for this event is to educate the children about the English language through stories and performances that can enhance their language skills. WHIMSICAL was divided into 2 sessions, formal and informal sessions. The focus of the formal session was the presentation of the main idea, which consisted of storytelling, writing, reading and performing in English. The informal session consisted more of the fun stuff which is games, ice breaking and bonding.
On the first day of this event the formal session that we did was a presentation titled “Writing & Reading in English” which briefly explained of how to write a proper English stories. The event continued with an informal session; in this informal session we performed a puppet show of the fairytale “The Three Little Pigs” for the children in the SOS Children’s Villages.
The second day was as exciting as the first day, on this day we also did 2 sessions. The formal session still titled the same “Writing & Reading in English” but explained more in-depth step by step how to make a story in English. The informal session of this day is consisted of games, the games was “Complete the Story” in which the children was tasked to complete an incomplete children fairytale story.
In the third day we have a new theme for our formal session which is “Make Your Own Story” which explained how to expand the plot and the characters in a story. Our event continued with an informal session in which we determined the story (Malin Kundang, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, The Tortoise and The Hare, and Goldilocks & The Three Bear) that the children will act on our last day of this event.
On the second to last day, we focused more for the last day performance, but we do still have a formal session “Storytelling Presentation & Performance!” which we used to help the children prepare for their performance. Day four continues with arts and crafts as the children and their group make properties for their final day’s performance.
The last day was performance day, the day when the children and their groups performed their selected fairytale (Malin Kundang, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, The Tortoise and The Hare, and Goldilocks & The Three Bears). The event ended with a closing ceremony that consisted of award to the children for their performances, plaque for the administrator of SOS Children’s Villages and a closing speech from our head organizer and HIMSI’s president. WHIMSICAL successfully engaged children in learning English through storytelling and performances, encourage creativity and language skills in an enjoyable and supportive environment.
