Dear friends, 15 years ago, a 3-year-old girl we shall call Nina was a student at our Healthy Start Child Development Centre. Her mother was a foreigner, and she was born before her parents were officially married. We remember her because while she had a Singapore birth certificate, she did not have citizenship. When her father was incarcerated, Nina moved in with her grandmother and Nina’s mother moved on to start life anew. We also remember that soon after, Nina withdrew from our Centre, and we lost contact. In February 2020, an intern reported that during a visit to a …
Another Week Beyond – 2246
Dear friends, Last month we featured Ela her on our Facebook page. She shared her story with us as she wanted to acknowledge how being a part of Family Circles had benefitted her. When her circle met this week, she appeared rather upbeat, and others present complimented her for coming a long way. They recalled how they were deeply concerned when Ela contemplated having a knife near her for self-defence. While they appreciated Ela’s fears, they were glad that she took their advice not to do so because any chance of a better life would diminish if she ended up …
Another Week Beyond – 2245
Dear friends, Global Handwashing Day took place on 15 October, and it was a day to highlight the value of washing our hands with soap and water to ward off disease. To honour the spirit of the day, Soap Cycling Singapore in collaboration with Purely Fragrances, hosted several complimentary soap making workshops for us this past month. The soap bars produced were then distributed to various social and community organisations. Here with You, a social service for migrant workers was one of them and this week, 2 workers who are recovering from an injury at work joined us in a soap making session. The teens listened carefully as their mother …
Another Week Beyond – 2244
Dear friends, Weng Lum and Qayyim were seated at a stone table usually used for chess games. They were not having a game of chess but pouring over Qayyim’s school work in preparation for the upcoming year-end examinations. They were also oblivious to a male stranger in his 60s who was observing them while seated at a similar table some distance away. So, they were a little startled when this man came over to speak to them. He asked Weng Lum if she was a volunteer helping Qayyim with his schoolwork. When he confirmed that Weng Lum was not a …
Jeramy, on Helping Agencies
“People may think that in order for volunteering to be valuable, they must give in a very direct and physical manner and that the act of “raising awareness” is minor and insignificant. It may feel trivial to just click share or ‘like’ a post. It may seem small to perform an instant act of simple engagement that amplifies our work, but the cumulative impact can be immense for us. While it’s not a numbers game, making more people aware of our organisation and how they can volunteer with us strengthens the depth of the work. Every month I mass-email our Volunteer …