Malaysia club takes kids on a green adventure
A grant helps the Kiwanis Club of Klang plant seeds for future climate leaders.
By Erin Chandler
Click “play” on the Kiwanis Club of Klang’s five-minute video recap of Green Generation Adventure Camp 2025, and you’ll see kids’ curiosity and creativity ignite as they encounter new ideas, new challenges and even new animals in a beautiful region of Malaysia.
The Kiwanis Club of Klang has organized camps for underprivileged children for nearly a decade. In 2024, however, the club merged its signature project with 2023-24 Kiwanis Asia-Pacific Chairman Sujan Kumar Shrestha’s campaign to empower youth toward environmental stewardship and sustainability. That’s when the first Green Generation Adventure Camp was born.
“The name ‘Green Generation’ reflects both urgency and hope: a call to action and a celebration of young changemakers,” says club president Eric Chin. “It’s not just a camp. It’s a living classroom, a playground for purpose and a reminder that even the smallest hands can plant the biggest seeds.”
Glimpsing a wider world
The club was surprised by the first camp’s popularity in 2024 — and they resolved to build on that success. The 2025 camp took place in September at Mantin Farmstay, a resort and farm in the heart of Malaysia’s tropical rainforests. Farmers there grow jackfruit, durian and rambutan through sustainable agricultural practices. The farm also runs a mini-zoo.
Over three days, the 150 Green Generation Adventure campers took part in forest hikes, leadership development training, interactive workshops on climate action and immersive, farm-based activities focused on sustainable agriculture. The hands-on nature of the activities was especially important for children from urban areas who don’t interact with wildlife and agriculture in their everyday lives.
“For some of these children, especially those who’ve never stepped beyond the walls of their shelter homes, this camp is their first glimpse of a wider world,” Chin says. “A world where nature speaks, where friendships form around campfires and where they are seen not just as recipients but as changemakers.”
Clearly, the Kiwanis Club of Klang has big ambitions for its camp. The art of balancing those ambitions with available resources has been one of the project’s biggest challenges.
When seeking sponsorships and funding, Chin says, “asking becomes an art form of equal parts courage, empathy and timing. We’re not just seeking funds, we’re inviting belief. And that’s a vulnerable thing to do.”
An act of stewardship
One productive “ask” was a grant application to the Kiwanis Children’s Fund. Green Generation Adventure Camp was awarded a club grant in August 2025 to help cover participation and transportation costs for kids whose families couldn’t otherwise afford the camp.
And the camp still has room to grow. That fact can tempt the club to say yes to everyone, Chin says, but they resist — as difficult as that can be.
“Sustainability demands discernment,” he adds. “Drawing the line by saying, ‘not this time’ or, ‘not yet’ can feel like a betrayal of our own ideals. But it’s also an act of stewardship, ensuring that what we offer is meaningful, not just generous.”
Green Generation Adventure Camp has proved meaningful for campers and Kiwanians alike. For the Kiwanis Club of Klang, the annual event has become an opportunity to rediscover their values and reasons to serve — and to have a real impact on the lives of children.
Seeds planted in young hearts
Chin likes to tell campers to “be a sponge, not a rock. Every moment, every interaction, every challenge is a lesson waiting to be absorbed.”
Among his favorite moments from this year’s camp: watching a shy child gain confidence and leadership skills, seeing volunteers become friends, and the sense of togetherness that came with a marshmallow roast under the stars.
“These bonds are the invisible scaffolding of community,” Chin explains. The 2024 and 2025 Green Generation Adventure Camps “aren’t just events — they’re seeds planted in young hearts, watered by experience and left to bloom in ways we may never fully see.
“That’s the beauty of service: you give, not knowing what will grow. But you give anyway.”
