Dear friends, Although they had met online twice previously, 2 mothers only realised that they both hail from the same county in Hainan China before making Singapore home. Excitedly, both began conversing in Hainanese in the midst of others during a virtual meeting. After a minute or so, they caught themselves and agreed to connect on WeChat after the meeting to discuss a recipe for braised duck. No one at the meeting was offended by this spontaneous side dialogue. Instead, everyone found the spontaneity rather amusing and a pleasure to witness. These 7 Chinese speaking caregivers have been coming together as a mutual …
Another Week Beyond – 2143
Dear friends, A Principal of a primary school told me that “home-based learning” has been a learning experience for her in different ways. She could no longer walk around the school to observe the teachers but had to request to be invited into virtual classrooms. Of course, she could insist and simply demanded to be present, but she was mindful that many were already finding it challenging managing a virtual classroom, and her presence would only add to their stress. As a leader and supervisor, she would normally check on her subordinates when they are attempting something new. However, the pandemic has brought …
Another Week Beyond – 2142
Dear friends, Since May, we have been hosting conversations for youth pursuing their studies in an institution for higher learning. For many young people we engage, tertiary or post-secondary education remains an improbability, and for those who have secured a course of study, dropping out is not uncommon. Hence, we have been inviting tertiary students in our membership to come together as a mutual support group to share resources, encourage each other, and serve as role models for children in their neighbourhoods. My colleagues have named the endeavour IGNITE! and as I watched a recording of their latest conversation, I thought …
Another Week Beyond – 2141
Dear friends, During our weekly team check-ins, a colleague who teaches at our Healthy Start Child Development Centre commented that she probably needs to be livelier and more energetic to grab the attention of the children in her class. She also felt that her lessons may not have been interesting enough. I have not observed her at work but somehow it sounded like she was rating herself rather harshly. As I listened further, I gathered that she had a class of lively 3-year-olds and maintaining a supportive classroom environment for their learning was an ongoing challenge. Other teachers who were …
Another Week Beyond – 2140
Dear friends, In January last year (AWB -2002), we embarked on a project to train residents of a public rental neighbourhood to discover the health challenges and aspirations of their community. These residents were to speak with their neighbours and to gather information about the health-related needs of their community. Following which, the findings were to be shared with the community to encourage residents to generate action or programmes to improve their collective health. “Let’s talk health!” was a virtual session we conducted twice to share the findings from this endeavour, and it attracted 20 residents. We told participants that 4 in 10 of …
Another Week Beyond – 2139
Dear friends, After 2 weeks of being dutifully at work and keeping to his curfew, an 18-year-old we shall call Ron, quit his job, and was intoxicated a large part of the day. Those who cared for him were heart-broken and angry that their efforts at supporting him to show the Court that he is worthy of being placed on probation appears to have come to nought. Ron has an outstanding bill of $1614 for the subsided legal representation his family had applied for him but his family and friends are thinking of calling off the arrangement. “Just let him go in …
Another Week Beyond – 2138
Dear friends, We were much heartened that more than 640 persons viewed our online presentation on Food Insecurity and Food Aid in a Public Rental Neighbourhood. Even if one is hunger-free, one can be food insecure as food insecurity is defined as “the inability to acquire an adequate quality or quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so”. In Singapore, those affected experience “intermittent food insecurity and hunger, rather than abject poverty and starvation”. Hence, food insecurity in Singapore can be described as situations where a person: has just about …
Another Week Beyond – 2137
Dear friends, “Look around this room. What memories come to mind?” We posed this question to a group of youth assisting an artist to create a mural that adorns our premises at Whampoa. Spontaneously, one uttered, “Standing around this table like what we are doing now.” He elaborated that he was curious why his friends were gathered at the table and when he joined them, he realised that they were trying to solve an algebra problem. No one could do it and he remembers being very frustrated but it was still a good memory that comes to mind. Another pointed …
Another Week Beyond – 2136
Dear friends, 3 interns have been supporting 5 children to participate in an online reading programme at home. These children live in the same housing block and a significant part of this endeavour has been troubleshooting whenever the digital tools and access we provided were not working optimally. Our interns realised that often, it was not faulty equipment but the lack of confidence navigating the digital space. Nonetheless, they are much heartened by the efforts our members are making to explore and embrace this space. A father who was not digitally literate, humbly welcomed our interns to show his 7-year-old son how to log …
Another Week Beyond – 2135
Dear friends, While we support and facilitate food distribution exercises, we do not regard ourselves as a food aid agency. However, because of the pandemic, we distributed 96,117 cooked meals and $818,740 worth of supermarket vouchers last year. Spread across 20 different neighborhoods, our members received a cooked meal at least once a week and up to 5 times when it was really needed. It was not much and whenever we could provide a little more, it was always welcome. The situation was disturbing and so we embarked on a study to better understand the nature of food insecurity and food aid …