Another Week Beyond – 2415

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth, Education

A 10-year-old girl we shall call Judith, was cared for by her grandmother. Judith’s mother works long hours and only returns home late at night and that was the reason, the family agreed that granny was better placed to care for Judith. Recently, she had to return to her mother who lives 15 kilometres away when granny took ill.  Judith attends a learning programme we run in her granny’s neighbourhood. When she moved, we suggested linking her to learning programmes in her mother’s neighbourhood. She was adamant that we should not do so and reasoned that she would still be …

Hazirah, on Learning Circles

Comms Team Education

The purpose of Learning Circles is to really try to re-define learning for the children, to empower the children and youth to take ownership of their learning goals, and to allow a more diverse set of topics and subjects to be explored to increase interest in learning for children and youths.  Last year we had a Theory of Change conversation where we shared some challenges we had in running the Learning Is Fun and Exciting (L.I.F.E) programmes. We wanted to direct ownership of the programme back to the community and build their capacity in running it. We brainstormed with community members on …

Another Week Beyond – 2036

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth, Education

Dear Friends, It is said that a school is a place with four walls that holds the future within.  For Azlinah, a mother of 3, it is also a place where people are always present for her children and her.   This week she presented our teachers with a fabric coin pouch as a token of appreciation for Teacher’s Day. Each gift also came with a home-made “thank you” card prepared by her children. As a long-term social visit pass holder, our Healthy Start Child Development Centre has been a familiar and comforting place for her, she tells us. Over the past 3 …

Another Week Beyond – 2031

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, digital literacy, digital literacy, Donations in kind, Education, youth

Dear Friends, We continued to learn from our interns. This time, from those who were helping us with our efforts at providing internet connectivity to our members.  They coordinated the distribution of donated pre-loved devices and often found themselves trouble shooting when members had difficulty connecting to wi-fi or were simply fumbling with an unfamiliar device. They made it clear to us that facilitating internet connectivity was not just a matter of providing a device or wi-fi connection but an ongoing promotion of digital literacy and this begins by removing barriers to learning and help seeking.  A parent approached us hesitantly …

Another Week Beyond – 2019

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth, Employment

Dear Friends, We continued to enable internet connectivity and have pushed out another 40 computers to students who needed them. Digital inclusion is social inclusion and especially now, when it facilitates the strong social connections that are so important for our wellbeing.  Internet connectivity among our members will be uneven for a while more, even as we work at resolving the issue for the near and longer term.   As we provide devices to meet immediate needs, we are also working closely with IMDA and MOE to get our members onto government digital inclusion programmes. Some members who had a head start with internet connectivity …

Another Week Beyond 2014

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth, Community, Volunteers

Dear Friends, 6 weeks ago, when we spoke to 200 of our members, most were jovial and about half indicated that they were coping well. As we collated our calls this week, we got a sense that the mood is now sombre. Many are experiencing difficulties with employment and are worried about meeting basic needs. Those with school going children were concerned with their lack of connectivity. We have been responding with food and financial aid, retraining and work opportunities as well as facilitating connectivity.  We requested for donations of pre-loved laptops last week and could certainly do with a lot more so please …

Another Week Beyond – 2012

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Employment

Dear Friends, In cooperation with the Central Singapore Community Development Council, the   Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), we organised a talk on skills upgrading and employment-related resources provided by the government.  26 breadwinners filled up  our  classroom and we had to stop registration early in the week because places were taken up quickly.  The enthusiasm and full attendance yesterday was great from a programme management point of view but sadly, it also indicated the sense of anxiety  during these trying times.   Over the past month, we have been engaging our members and getting a grasp of how COVID-19 is impacting …

Another Week Beyond 1936

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth, Volunteers

Dear Friends, Teachers in Singapore get a day-off today and enjoy a well-deserved long weekend.  It is Teachers’ Day and yesterday evening, our teachers enjoyed a good meal courtesy of volunteers serving on the Management Committee of our Child Development Centre. Earlier in the afternoon, some of these teachers also received a personalized video presentation from undergraduates in early childhood education at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences. These undergraduates had been in contact with our teachers over 12 weeks and sent the video as a documentation of their learning experience.  The videos also served as tokens of appreciation and it was …