Dear friends, For 2 hours, 5 youth spoke animatedly about their experience of school. They would not come across as the most studious of students, but they were certainly not indifferent to their studies and had much to say about how their experience in school could be improved. When students make good progress at school, the assumption is that they worked harder and perhaps were blessed with the appropriate intelligence. Hence, those who do not do as well, tend to be regarded as less academically inclined or less motivated. Talent and industry are important factors for one’s success at school …
Another Week Beyond – 2123
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 …
Another Week Beyond – 2122
Dear friends, We gave out 35 laptops this week to support home-based learning mainly for children taking their Primary School Leaving Examinations later this year. The laptops have been available for some time but with this current “heightened alert,” families are requesting for them urgently. These children and their caregivers acknowledge that online learning is now a reality, but it will be a while before it is second nature to them. During a zoom call with a group of volunteers, caregivers shared that they found it difficult assisting their children to navigate online learning platforms and requested for the volunteers to return when …
Another Week Beyond – 2121
Dear friends, With the “Heightened Alert” beginning this week, attendance at our child development centre has dropped to an average of 17 children a day. Children with household members who are ill were not permitted to be present. Preschools remain open to support parents who need to work and so children who have a caregiver at home during the day, were encouraged to remain at home. Out of sight was not out of mind though as we continued to keep in touch with caregivers especially those whose children were not present. Apart from checking in on the health of all at home, …
Another Week Beyond – 2120
Dear friends, In the service of people’s efforts, a colleague joined Mariam, a mother of 2 grown up children as she prepared to distribute 120 packets of food to her neighbours. Mariam has been living in her 2-room public rental flat the past 10 years and she revealed that she has not exactly been socialising with neighbours and had preferred very much to keep to herself. This Ramadan though, she had been reaching out to her neighbours by providing a packed meal every Saturday. There was a queue 15 minutes before the stated distribution time and the event was over in 15 minutes …
Another Week Beyond – 2119
Dear friends, Returning to Phase 2 measures for a few weeks tomorrow is necessary and understandable. Nonetheless, it is dampening news. Although not preferred, most of our children and youth have been able to meet their volunteer tutors online when face to face learning programmes were stopped. One programme that did not stop though was our child development centre for those aged 6 years-old and below. However, for an age group that learns best through play and interaction with others, their learning experience has not been optimal. Obviously watching videos of animals is not quite the same as a visit to …
Another Week Beyond – 2118
Dear friends, We have been speaking to residents in two different neighbourhoods to better understand how they are caring for their health. This effort is done with a view of encouraging residents to act on improving their neighbourhood’s collective health outcomes. A Singhealth study has shown that public rental housing was an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality and we are in touch with health care providers to explore how we may eliminate gaps in health outcomes between different social groups. One’s social and financial circumstances are closely linked with one’s health. The father we were engaging told us that he needed …
Another Week Beyond – 2117
Dear friends, After receiving a pre-loved basketball, a 10-year boy began bouncing it enthusiastically. A volunteer who was nearby said hello and learnt that he was waiting for a friend. When he offered to hang out with him till his friend came by, the boy threw him the ball. As he caught it, he dribbled a little before passing it back. The boy was impressed and asked him if he could show him how to do a “wraparound.” He obliged and showed him a few other dribbling moves too. The boy was thrilled, and the volunteer would like to think that …
Another Week Beyond – 2116
Dear friends, A group of 4 mothers were delighted when they learnt that we would like to revive the savings programme toward their children’s development account (CDA) where their deposits are matched by the government. They told us that because the programme was not held last year, there is hardly any money remaining in their children’s accounts. They have found the CDA very useful for medical and educational expenses and were wondering if the programme we call the Community Tabung would resume. When we noted that there was nothing to stop them from saving even though we did not operate the programme, we …
Another Week Beyond – 2115
Dear friends, We marked one year since our circuit-breaker on 7 April 2019 and working from home is no longer our default practice. 75% of our workforce is now allowed backed into their offices and while COVID-19 is still a serious threat, we must count ourselves fortunate relative to others elsewhere. Hannah (not her real name), tells us that she has always been an anxious person and even more so after becoming a single mom when her marriage ended. This time last year, she was overwhelmed by fear. Her ex-husband stopped sending alimony and she was afraid that her children would …