Another Week Beyond – 2123

June 7, 2021

Dear friends,

We were invited to be on a panel at an inaugural conference by PRISM, the social enterprise club of Saint Joseph’s Institution. In light of the current climate, the conference on 1 June was moved online and attended by about 200 students from different schools.

For the past 6 years or so, we have been facilitating income-generation projects for women who were unable to hold full-time jobs mainly because of care-giving responsibilities at home. Baking has been the main activity and last year sewing took centre-stage when safety measures disallowed it. The sewing of reusable face masks proved viable and now our members have the option of participating in baking and sewing projects.

I guess we demonstrated some enterprise all this while, but we would not go as far to call ourselves entrepreneurs. While our members appreciate the modest seasonal income, our focus has very much been on their personal development, their continued ability to fulfil their care-giving responsibilities and the mutual help and cooperation among them. So, the biggest takeaway for our members is not money but the satisfaction of getting a job done well and the sense of belonging to a community where one gives and receive support.

The experience of participating in our projects has added another dimension to their identity. Like many of us they would identify themselves as a parent, a son or daughter or sibling but unlike many of us, they are also identified as welfare recipients, low-wage earners, and members of a segment of our population that is disproportionately affected by health and social challenges. These latter identities are not life-giving and when the cause of their disadvantage is understood to stem from a deficiency within people, their hope for a better life dim.

Hence, we are glad for the 30 minutes in which 2 of our members fielded questions on their efforts to generate income for their families. They were not there to pitch for support but to pass on the message that no matter the setbacks, one must keep trying. The opportunity to deliver this message at a conference was a first for them but I guess in character, they had to give it a try.

Wishing you good health and peace of mind.

Sincerely,

Gerard

Identity in not what we were but what we have become, what we are at this moment. – Nick Joaquin

PAST AWB POSTS

Another Week Beyond – 2413

March 29, 2024 No Comments

Yesterday, I had a discussion with some colleagues about how we may get residents in the neighbourhoods we engage to present themselves “better” to volunteers especially those from corporations who provide funds and other resources. This discussion was triggered by feedback that these residents do not brief the volunteers well enough on their tasks or explain to them how their time and efforts add value to their neighbourhood. The goodwill from corporations is important for the sustainability of our work and obviously, we want to create a positive experience for these corporate volunteers lest we lose their support. However, this

Another Week Beyond – 2412

March 22, 2024 No Comments

Ignite! Is a group of youth studying in institutions of higher learning who share resources,encourage each other and serve as role models for children in their neighbourhoods. It has been in existence for about 2.5 years and at its peak there were 25 members. 2 weeks ago, when a meeting was called, 3 members showed up and they were concerned that the group would no longer exist if there were no new members. Quickly, they discussed what a recruitment drive could look like and they drew up a collective list of friends they could invite to attend an introductory meeting.

Another Week Beyond – 2411

March 15, 2024 No Comments

An elderly person contacted us and told us that he would avoid engaging with a colleague I shall call Jane. He told us that Jane had a demon within her. The message via WhatsApp to a few of us left us perplexed. We thought that keeping the conversation going on the phone would only lead to more confusion and so we told him that we will chat over coffee. As I sat with him together with another colleague, this elderly person spoke in an agitated fashion, and we sensed his fear. He related his experiences of how friends have been

Another Week Beyond – 2410

March 8, 2024 No Comments

Children roaming the neighbourhood on their own was a concern identified by 2 Community Fellows in October last year. They had observed that some children were unkempt and still in their school uniform at a time when most children would have had their dinner and preparing for bed. These fellows were worried for the children, and they found themselves questioning if their parents cared. They also looked for programmes in the community which they could refer the children to and thought that if there were none suitable, they would create one. During the school holidays last year, they reached out

Another Week Beyond – 2409

March 1, 2024 No Comments

Community offers the promise of belonging and calls for us to acknowledge our interdependence. To belong is to act as an investor, owner, and creator of this place. – Peter Block Yesterday, lunch for 22 neighbours was prepared by our members of our community, at our premises with the harvest from our very own vegetable garden. While it was not quite a harvest festival celebration, it was nonetheless a joyous occasion. We were commemorating the end of an 8-session programme-cum-pilot study to explore the positive effects of urban farming on the physical and mental well-being of those aged 50 and

Another Week Beyond – 2123