Dear friends, Nancy, a young mother walked into our office and greeted us cheerfully. When instructed to acknowledge a colleague and me as “aunty” and “uncle”, her 2-year-old-child did so meekly and then started sniffling softly for mother’s attention. With her finger on her lip, Nancy gestured to the child to keep quiet and left her with us as she went to look for another colleague in different room. The child continued sniffling and my colleague instinctively looked around the office for something to comfort her. I then passed the child a toy bear dressed in a green trench coat …
Another Week Beyond – 2304
Dear friends, Hope you had many joyful moments with family and friends this Lunar New Year season. During a family circle discussion this week, we were reminded that family is also a commitment to care and friends are an important source of support. After sharing how they spent their holidays, and exchanging festive greetings, Zoe shared that her husband had been in hospital for some weeks now and she had been caring for her children on a reduced family income. It was clearly a very difficult situation, but Zoe communicated her challenge in a matter-of-fact way. It appeared that to fulfil her …
Another Week Beyond -2303
Dear friends, Tomorrow evening, many families marking the Chinese New Year will be having a reunion dinner. This is considered the most important family dinner of the year that honours the virtues of family togetherness and harmony, filial piety, and respect for the hierarchy in familial relationships. This was explained to our children at our child development centre as we introduced what red packets, oranges and some cookies symbolised. Importantly, we also impressed on the children not to open their red packets in the presence of the giver after receiving them. Festivals are enjoyable occasions to reflect on values and …
Another Week Beyond – 2302
Dear friends, “I was so worried when I could not reach her. Her phone battery was dead and so I went downstairs to see if I could find her. I was so relieved when I met her and learnt that she had been knocking on the doors of her neighbors and getting them to leave their homes,” recounted Hafizah who was trying to contact a friend when she noticed the fire from her home in the opposite block. The fire in the neighbourhood that happened a month ago on 8 December was still fresh on the minds of everyone when …
Another Week Beyond – 2301
Dear friends, Happy New Year. I wish you much kindness and calm as your year unfolds before you. My colleagues and I spent yesterday morning recalling experiences at work that we are grateful for and articulating milestones we aim to reach for the year ahead. Importantly, it was an occasion to honour each other’s efforts because it is so easy for such a “stock-taking” exercise to turn into a performance appraisal where presentations become a show of strength. As community workers, we are a commitment to journeying with those on the margins toward a meaningful and fulfilling life. This journey …
After almost 20 years.. and 912 posts…
https://youtu.be/Xo0wyEtEyMs While the team at Beyond takes a break to rest and recharge for 2023, our donation channels remain open throughout. As always, thank you for your continuous support. Wishing all much peace, love & joy this festive season, and a happy 2023 ahead. Warmest wishes,Gerard Ee Donate now
Another Week Beyond – 2251
Dear friends, I was in a meeting when I received a text from someone familiar. A woman we’ve known for a while. Let’s call her Felicity and she asked if I was at the office. When I answered “yes,” she replied that she was on her way, and I should wait for her. Felicity is a mother of 3 adult children who were once in an after-school care programme we ran for children. The children left the programme when they were institutionalised after it was discovered that they were being abused by Felicity’s partner. Back then, Felicity was in the midst …
Another Week Beyond – 2250
Dear friends, This past month, we have been enabling families to acknowledge the learning efforts that their children have made this year. Thanks to the generosity of GIC Pte Ltd, the young people, their caregivers and volunteers were given a budget to decide how they would like their Celebration of Learning to look like. Some decided to dedicate a regular session to celebrate how volunteers, students and parents cooperated and cared for each other during the year. These groups felt that a cosy event would serve to strengthen the relationships and connections that have enriched their lives. Tomorrow, there will be …
Kevin: A Portrait of Statelessness, Part 4
“I would say that my strength is endurance, because I endure in any kind of situation, this is what I’m doing. This is my strength, going to work tired and after that just going on, but I managed to do, even coming back to do cleaning and all. Sometimes I really envy my strength. I thank God for giving me the strength, every single day. Without strength, you really can’t do anything, especially the mentality, wah. It can be mentally challenging what I have to go through, but I always put good words on myself, I know that out there, …
Kevin: A Portrait of Statelessness, Part 3
Just a few months into lockdown, not long after Kevin’s second child was born, he received news that Nenek was unwell. “One day before she already knew she was going. And surprisingly I also felt like going to my grandma’s house to stay over for one day. On the day I wanted to stay, she got more sick and we had to call an ambulance so I didn’t get to stay with her since. She started complaining of feeling cold then when I covered her with the blanket, she took it off as she was feeling hot. I felt confused, …