Another Week Beyond – 2344

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Community, Volunteers

Dear friends, “What are the most important values to hold in being a local volunteer?” This was a question on a Kahoot quiz put forth to 72 volunteers who also reside in the public rental neighbourhoods we engage.  Last Saturday, these volunteers were attending a Neighbourhood Volunteers Appreciation Event which was also an opportunity for volunteers from different neighbourhoods to collectively reflect on their experiences. Apart from appreciating their efforts, we facilitated activities that encouraged everyone to clarify if they really understood the purpose of our presence in their neighbourhood. The answers to the above question that participants could choose from were: A. …

Another Week Beyond – 2343

Comms Team ABCD, Another Week Beyond, Community

Dear Friends, Of late, we have been requested to speak about our work to different audiences. These past 2 weeks we have shared how Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) is practiced in our work on 3 occasions and we have another 2 engagements in the next fortnight. ABCD believes that people have talents and can organise themselves to achieve their aspirations, address their concerns and basically to create a world they want to see. People would also include children and young people. Since August, 18 young people aged from 6 to 14 years old have been meeting regularly with a …

Another Week Beyond – 2341

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth, Community

Dear Friends, The Lengkok Bahru September Babies Celebration impressed on 13 children that they were loved by family and friends. A mother baked a 4kg vanilla cake adorned with chocolate sprinkles and youth living in the neighbourhood kept the party going with games, good cheer, and gentle banter. The celebration took place at the rooftop garden of the Leng Kee Community Club and the parents and youth who organised the event were determined to get the next one going after their Member of Parliament assured them that they could continue using the facility for this purpose without charge. Mr Eric …

Another Week Beyond – 2339

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Community, Employment

Dear Friends, Marlina, who has been living in a public rental neighbourhood for more than 12 years has recently joined us as a colleague responsible for coordinating programmes where she lives. She told me that securing a full-time job with employment benefits was not something she thought was possible after being a full-time caregiver for many years. Blessed with an outgoing personality, she succeeded in securing contract work, but she revealed that the job seeking process has always shaken her self-confidence.  “I completely understand when other mothers in the neighbourhood are unable to secure work. Interviews can really be intimidating,” …

Another Week Beyond – 2333

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Community

Dear Friends, We run a fathers’ support group on Sunday mornings at the Yishun neighbourhood.  Sundays because it is the only time the fathers can spare from their busy work schedule. This week, 3 fathers came by and as one was new, we recapped the goal of the group that had been collectively decided previously. The 3 goals were i. To have children’s best interests at heart, ii. To be a better father & iii. To learn from one another. The newest member commented that they sounded reasonable and added. “Yes, I certainly want to do my best as a father …

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 – 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 – 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 …