Dear friends, A common aspiration among those in our Family Circles is home ownership. Currently, they live in a 1 or 2 roomed flat rented from the government at a highly subsided rate but they aspire to have a place they can call their own. 2 mothers. I shall call Jean and Joan have 4 and 3 children respectively. They have come to realize that without a job where their employers contribute to their Central Provident Fund (CPF) account monthly, they are unlikely to have enough savings to purchase a flat. CPF is a mandatory social security savings scheme funded by contributions …
Another Week Beyond – 2221
Dear friends, 6 community fellows chosen by their neighbourhood came together last Saturday to think more deeply about their projects. Between them, they are working on 5 projects which addresses concerns that have received the support of their neighbours. These include enhancing voluntarism among neighbours, helping families overwhelmed with debt, facilitating community access to health and healthcare, sexual safety for youth, and caring for the elderly who are feeling isolated. As the conversation progressed, the value of simply being curious become evident. Fellows realised that by asking each other relevant questions, they gained a clearer picture of what working on their project meant. …
Another Week Beyond – 2220
Dear friends, A colleague’s curiosity was piqued when a mother posted a photograph on the neighbourhood’s WhatsApp group. She saw 3 children who did not usually hang out with each other sitting together. Moreover, one of them was a boy who was overtly shy and was not known to show up at community events. So, she visited Wahiddah, the mother who posted the photo to find out more. Wahiddah told her that it all started with her 11- year-old daughter asking her a question. “When you were a kid mommy, how did you celebrate Raya?” Wahiddah recalled that together with friends, she …
Another Week Beyond – 2219
Dear friends, Last year, with the help of 7 volunteers, we engaged the caregivers of children enrolled in our early childhood centre to better appreciate why some children are frequently not at school. 15 agreed to meet on a virtual call and while it was explained to them that we were gathering views on absenteeism and our work, the main purpose of the exercise was relationship building or what we call a Home-School Partnership. We learnt that the lack of sleep was a significant reason why parents or other caregivers could not bring their children to school. Many caregivers as well …
Another Week Beyond – 2218
Dear friends, Firstly, Selamat Hari Raya Adil Fitri to all our Muslim friends. Trust that the long weekend was joyous and blessed. The children were busy. They were taking turns to be “packed” into a cardboard box that would be sent to a destination of their choice. “Home” was the most popular destination and they had imagined themselves jumping out of the box to surprise mommy when she opened it. As their mothers laid out the food and got ready to break their fast, these 7 children kept themselves entertained with an empty box that originally contained tiered tiffin carriers …
Another Week Beyond – 2217
Dear friends, 9 youth showed up for a screening of the movie “Inside Out” even though they have all seen it before. Some of them have seen it several times too. The movie was our way of continuing a conversation on mental health and inviting more youth to join HeadStrong, a safe and brave space for learning strategies to improve psychological and emotional wellbeing. Before the movie began, we asked what emotions they experienced regularly and while happiness and hopefulness were mentioned, so were sadness, fear, disappointment, and tiredness. One revealed that the moments he felt good did not last long and he …
Another Week Beyond – 2216
Dear friends, Over the past couple of weeks, we have been distributing Care Packs provided by T-PRIDE and the Temasek Foundation to our members in different neighbourhoods. T-PRIDE was established in November 2020 to enhance community resilience during a pandemic. The Care Packs contained face masks, sanitisers, mouth gargle and a digital blood pressure monitor. When Ferlynn who lives at the Yishun neighbourhood learnt that she and her neighbours will be receiving the care packs, she felt strongly that the gift distribution exercise presented an opportunity for neighbours to learn or be reminded about the dangers of hypertension. Many in her …
Another Week Beyond – 2215
Dear friends, Over the past 2 Sunday mornings, we had the privilege of sitting with a group of neighbours who have come together because they want to make their neighbourhood a better place for all who who live there. Their neighbourhood comprises 2 blocks of flats with a total of 322 units where approximately 44% house families with young people below 18 years old. The other units house older persons and working adults. It has been a privilege because on both occasions when the meeting ended, we walked away moved by the generosity of care these people extended to each other …
Another Week Beyond – 2214
Dear friends, Early last month, after hearing her 3 children grumble that we have not invited them on an outing for a long time, the mother told her children to contact us to see what they could do for their community. She told them to gather their friends as well. So, 3 weeks ago, 4 youths showed up at our office to explore if they could meet regularly to organise activities for themselves and their community. After some discussions, they decided to meet weekly, and their first project will be to organise a breaking of fast meal happening later this evening. 7 …
Another Week Beyond – 2213
Dear friends, On Sunday evening at 8 pm, a colleague received a text from a mother of 3, I will refer to as Donna. Donna wrote that she was in pain, feeling extremely anxious and frightened. She was texting from the hospital and requested for my colleague to meet her there. A few minutes later, a nurse from the hospital called my colleague to inform that Donna was at the A & E department and had identified her as the person to call in the event of an emergency. When my colleague arrived at the hospital slightly after 9 pm, she …