Another Week Beyond – 2330

Comms Team Another Week Beyond

Dear Friends, 2 Mondays ago, we had the privilege of introducing our community development practices to a roomful of educators. We prepared a day-long programme where they experienced how we would go about addressing a neighbourhood conflict guided by a framework for non-violent communication. The goal of such work is to deescalate the conflict and to restore cordiality if not mutual respect and cooperation by attending to the needs of those involved. The process we introduced begins with an intentional effort to embody the quality of kindness before proceeding to analyze the situation. Kindness prepares us to empathise with unmet …

Another Week Beyond – 2329

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Community

Dear Friends, On Monday evening, we welcomed 13 cyclists and their volunteer safety crew with a home-cooked dinner, clean towels, and ice-cold drinks. Since 2014, the Epic Cyclist Group has been organising an annual endurance ride that covers at least 1000 kilometres to raise funds and awareness for charity. Over the years, they have raised some   S$4.4 million dollars for the Kidney Dialysis Foundation and HCA Hospice Care. This year, the Beyond Epic Ride which began on Friday, 14 July at Betong Thailand, raised some $40,000 for our work. The cyclists aged from 35 to 64 years covered 250 km a day …

Another Week Beyond – 2328

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, community spirit

Dear Friends, 3 months ago, when we asked 3 mothers what would bring neighbours together, their spontaneous answer was “Food!” One of them is a volunteer who organises the distribution of food drop-offs by the Jamiyah Food Bank, elaborated that food is a way to do good. Every fortnight when the truckful of groceries arrives, 4 to 6 neighbours will help her sort the items in a way that makes it easy for residents to collect. The lack of food is a strain on families that heightens during the school holidays because children ask for food when they are home. However, these …

Another Week Beyond – 2327

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth

Dear Friends, 2 Sundays ago, I was making my way to the office to prepare for our volunteer-run chiropractic clinic when the van in front of mine stopped. It was a one-way street and the driver got out and walked toward me. It was a courier van, and I was thinking that the guy was having difficulty locating an address and wanted directions. I certainly was not prepared for, “Hello Gerard. How are you? I miss you,” when he was standing next to my door. I felt a little awkward at first as I could not place him. Also, it was slightly after …

Another Week Beyond – 2326

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Community

Dear Friends, Last Sunday, we concluded the first run of our Community Fellowship Programme with a knowledge festival where 6 fellows from 3 neighbourhoods presented their efforts and their learnings to their neighbours as well as some service providers they had collaborated with. This programme received significant funding from the Bank of America for which we are thankful. It’s been 18 months since these 6 fellows secured the mandate of their neighbours to address needs in their respective neighbourhoods. It was most heartening to see them on stage confidently presenting their work.  These were initiatives that addressed neighbourhood health concerns, debt repayment, older persons …

Another Week Beyond – 2325

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Community

Dear Friends,  We had a meeting with the leaders of a group of neighbours who call themselves Strong Women. When we reached their neighbourhood, we found these 3 women waiting for us and learnt that they had just returned from an early dinner together. Strong Women is about 18 months old, and it was formed with the purpose of nurturing mutual support and care among its members which comprised caregivers and homemakers living in 2 blocks of rental flats. They also organised activities for themselves and their neighbourhood and listed a ‘strong women’ walk, a writing workshop, window shopping and …

Another Week Beyond – 2324

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth

Dear Friends,  An intern facilitated an exercise on creating a LinkedIn profile for 5 youths whose ages were not too different from hers. On a worksheet, the youth listed their work experiences, strengths/skills, and interests. As these youth were still in school, they were told that the category for work could include their volunteering and caregiving experiences. However, we soon realised that our instruction was not exactly necessary as everyone in the room had no trouble making a list of their work experiences. They began working when they were 14 or 15 years old, and they have had a variety …

Another Week Beyond – 2323

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Community

Dear Friends, These 2 weeks, we have been training 3 mothers as health ambassadors for their neighbourhood. Their homes are within 3 different housing blocks, and each was tasked to inform those who lived in their block about available medical resources and activities that promoted their wellbeing. Health in 5 or Hi-5! is how we have packaged 5 ways to live healthy and it covers Eating Healthy, Exercising Regularly, Having Friends, Mental Health as well as Health Check-ups and Jabs. Between them, these mothers have 16 children and for 2 of them with younger children, caregiving takes up most of …

Another Week Beyond – 2322

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Community, Family

Dear Friend, Many years ago, a mother with 3 very young children came to our door seeking assistance. An older colleague who used to work elsewhere took me aside and heaved a sigh. She told me that she was the caseworker for this woman’s mother at her previous place of employment and it pains her to see this woman in the same situation as her mother. She also told me that I should be prepared to deal with alcoholism, violence, child neglect and perpetual crises. What I heard sounded like stereotyping but as a young worker, I took it that this …

Another Week Beyond – 2321

Comms Team Another Week Beyond

Dear Friend, Conversations that matter tend to be difficult ones. Even when people come together, they do not know where to start. Then when a problem is raised, those listening may get defensive and meaningful dialogue is stifled before it begins. Hence, to kickstart conversations about difficult issues, we adopted forum theatre in 2014 to generate awareness of problems within communities. Our community theatre programme has generated awareness on teenage pregnancy, school truancy, addictions, challenging family relationships, and youth crime and last Saturday, it tackled the issue of sexual harassment. Facing an audience of 100 or so, 11 youths delivered …