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News Update: Financial assistance needed
Thursday, August 14, 2008
More residents going to CDCs for temporary financial help
SINGAPORE: More elderly are seeking help from the Community Development Councils or CDCs to cope with rising costs, said the Mayors who head these local government councils.
Mayor of Central CDC, Zainudin Nordin, said about 1,000 residents seek help every month. In the first half of this year, the CDC handled about 6,200 cases, some 300 more than the same period last year.
The number of residents asking for food rations in North West CDC, one of five such councils in Singapore, has also increased.
Mayor of North West CDC, Teo Ho Pin, said: "In December 2007, we had 170 cases of needy residents asking for food rations. That number has gone up to 520 in July."
Some three in 10 residents who attend the meet—the—people sessions in MP Denise Phua’s area, want financial assistance and help to get jobs.
Juliana Baba, a Kampong Glam resident, said: "They help me a lot especially food wise. I have three small kids. ... when I was down... and tight (with money) without my husband, this helped me a lot."
MP for Jalan Besar GRC, Denise Phua, said: "We are doing it together with many helping hands to distribute bread and so forth. And we hope to fill any cracks and be able to help any family that is not to be left behind."
Over at North East CDC, it is working with shipping company Neptune Orient Lines to launch a S$50,000 fund to help students from 10 primary schools and 12 secondary schools pay for their meals.
Meanwhile, at South East CDC, about 1,000 residents seek assistance every quarter.
Mayor of South East CDC, Matthias Yao, said: "The problem that they face is increasing household expenditure because of inflation, oil price hikes, commodity and food prices."
Apart from food bills, Mayors said those who seek help are likely to be needing long—term assistance — like the elderly, or those who are out of work.
Mr Zainudin Nordin, said: "People in the past could be more stable and could afford to pay for their mortgages. But they are now facing difficulty because they are caught in the structural and long—term unemployment."
While the CDCs have several schemes to help those who need assistance, at the end of the day the importance of being self sufficient is also emphasised. So for those who do not have a job, the first thing the CDC does is to help them find a job.
Mayors have also organised financial planning talks to help residents live within their means. — CNA/vm
Wei Jing
Group Reflections - Community
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Mirror:
Before we started on helping out the organization through community service (house-to-house distribution of food at Marsiling), we had not known much about the situation of poverty in Singapore. We hoped that our participation in the food distribution would make us more aware of the living conditions and needs of the poor, and thus be motivated to carry on this project. We also hoped that our actions would benefit the poor.
During the distribution, each of us carried around 2-4 bags of food and moved around the neighbourhood, finding the apartments in which the needy lived in and gave the food to them. We observed that most of the corridors in these blocks of flats were dimly lit and were sometimes quite dirty. The narrow corridors made it hard for us to pass through because we all carried bulky bags. Carrying the heavy bags in these places was extremely tiring. After only a few minutes of moving around the blocks, we were all sweating profusely. This was the condition volunteers have to endure all the time! Thinking about it made us all the more motivated. If the volunteers can do it, surely we (six healthy young men) can do it as well! I think we worked pretty well as a group. When someone needs help in carrying his bags, the stronger ones (or the ones with lesser bags to carry) will help him lighten his load.
We tried to be very sensitive towards the needy. On our first visit, our group was like strangers to the residents. It was important that we do not offend any of the needy. It was also important for us to be able to speak the dialect or language of certain families, so that there could be communication among all of us and we can get to understand the needy families more. While we need photographs for our project, we have to ask for permission from the people we are distributing food to. We were also careful not to take photographs of their living conditions unless we had the permission to do so.
After every distribution, we look forward to the next time we can interact with the beneficiaries and volunteers. We have managed to overcome the language barrier (because each of us knows English and Mandarin, along with different dialects) and chat with the beneficiaries. Although the beneficiaries are poor, they appear to be very happy and friendly. It was a real joy talking to the elderly and the other beneficiaries.
Microscope:
During food distribution, we noticed that all the apartments in this area were one-room. On the list which contains confidential information about the needy, we noticed that most of the needy were very poor. They earn very little income per month (sometimes even none), ad some of them suffer from chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis and heart problems. These conditions rendered them unable to work and earn money. Seeing this, we really felt sorry for the poor. When we got to their houses and they opened their doors to receive the food, we took a quick look at their living conditions. For some of the beneficiaries, their houses were rather empty. For some others, their houses consist of lots of things that appear to be old. Our group was pretty shocked by this but we have to be tactful and not probe too much. Because all of us come from relatively well-off families, we have not considered the plight of the poor much before. Through this activity, we have realized how fortunate we are. We have learnt to treasure what we have now – our cars, computers, air-conditioners etc.
The beneficiaries were very happy when they received the food from us, and thanked us repeatedly. Seeing their happiness at receiving these food items (which consist of only canned food, some rice, biscuits and noodles, but can last them for a month), we felt that all our efforts were worth it. Helping out in the house-to-house food distribution definitely has broadened our horizons and inspired us to help the poor in Singapore. A can of sardines is merely a can of sardines to you and me, but to the needy, it holds so much more meaning and value.
We believe that by taking part in the distribution of food, we have aided the volunteers and staff of Food From The Heart, reducing the need for them to find volunteers who may not be free all the time or may not be committed enough. At the same time, we help to get the food to the needy at a much faster pace. One way we can continue helping is to help out in food distributions more regularly. We can also help by going to more places where there are Food From The Heart Outreach Programmes to aid the volunteers there in distributing food.
We are very proud that we are volunteers of Food From The Heart.
Binoculars:
Our group believes that we have just helped out in a small way with regard to the poor families’ lives. Food distribution only helps relieve the poor of their burdens temporarily and does not solve the issue of poverty. It may also be possible that certain poor families depend too much on the food that has been donated by kind people from around Singapore and lose their determination to work and earn some money. Furthermore, with the rapid increase in prices of food, it may not be possible for many to only rely on the food that they receive with the help of Food From The Heart. It is imperative that we begin educating the poor (encouraging them to also seek a source of revenue) and the general public about the situation of poverty in Singapore (so that more donations can come in).
We believe that education should start from young, because that is the period where positive thoughts are ingrained into our minds. Therefore, much of our target audience would be the children. Of course, we cannot forget the adults too, because they are the ones who can contribute the most – whether financially or physically (as volunteer). We want to instill a certain “kampong” spirit back into Singaporeans. Instead of staying behind closed doors and leaving one another out during activities, we should open our doors, interact and help out one another, just like how villagers staying in “kampongs” in the past used to.
Community spirit all the way!
News update: Stagflation?
Saturday, August 2, 2008
I thought it would be nice if we could share some news (with regards to food, food prices, urban poor in Singapore) on this blog.
This is a recent piece of news from Channel News Asia, dated August 2 2008:
NTUC Chief Concerned Global Economy Headed Towards Stagflation
SINGAPORE: Labour chief Lim Swee Say has urged workers to work together to cope with a global economy which may be heading towards a state of stagflation — one sparked off by low growth and high inflation.
The NTUC secretary general made the call in his National Day message.
Singapore’s National Day is being celebrated amidst concerns about the slowing global economy and rising inflation, said Mr Lim.
And to tackle these concerns, the labour movement, the employers and the government are addressing two core priorities.
First, coping with the impact of inflation without being caught in a price—wage spiral.
"The worse thing that any country does at a time of high inflation would be for the unions and workers to push for wage inflation. Wage inflation is different from wage increment. Wage inflation means you are pushing up wages to fully offset the inflation," said the labour chief.
He added that companies in the unionised sector are currently in talks on their annual increment.
One key consideration that is being taken into account in these negotiations is the current state of inflation.
The labour movement noted that private sector companies in the unionised sector have been giving a higher percentage of built—in wage increases in the first half of this year compared to last year, with the figure in the range of 4.4 per cent against 3.8 percent in 2007.
Group Reflections: Food Drive at Nan Hua Primary School
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Besides increasing the amount of food items to be distributed to the beneficiaries of Food from the Heart, the purpose of carrying out food drives in primary schools is also to educate the primary school students about the poverty situation in Singapore and cultivate a spirit of giving into these students.
This is the first time we are conducting food drives and so we were a little unclear about the proper procedure. However, all we wanted to do was to achieve our aim of collecting food and alleviate the plight of the poor. Thus, we did our best and spent much time and efforts into ensuring a successful food drive at Nan Hua Primary School.
To begin with, we planned a presentation to the students at an assembly period and this was conducted in the form of a skit. We had hoped that it will appeal to the students more which will in turn effectively bring across our message. This was our group’s first attempt at presenting to primary school students and so before the skit started, we felt rather nervous. During the presentation, we were able to see that the students were amused by our interesting skit and they were very active and enthusiastic. They even came up with very creative suggestions to alleviate the poverty situation in Singapore. We felt very accomplished and had a great sense of achievement after the presentation. Judging from their participation, we knew that we have brought across our message. Following the presentation, we waited for the days of collection and hoped for positive response.
On the next week, only three members of our group were able to be present. This is because one of them went for a school camp; another went for the Beijing Satellite Campus Program and the last person went for a sabbatical which lasts the whole day. Therefore, with the remaining three of us, we encountered several problems with the packing and sorting of the collected food items. With only 3 pairs of hands, we struggled to pack the food items into Food from the Heart plastic bags within the limited time period that we had. Nonetheless, we did all we could and persevered with the process. No doubt it was tiring and the amount of food never seemed to get lesser, we constantly motivated one another and continued to do our best.
Although time wasn' t on our side, we managed to pack a substantial amount of food items in the limited space that we have. Seeing that the school was also a little upset over the fact that the office space was filled with food, we felt greatly pressurized too. With still about 10% of the food left unpacked, we felt really helpless. Therefore, we consulted our external mentor and he gladly volunteered to help us sort and pack the remaining food before they were transported back to the warehouse. The three of us felt relieved upon hearing that but we knew that this was a lesson to be learnt. We have to acquire the necessary knowledge and know the correct procedure when doing such exhausting tasks. Sorting and packing of food seemed easy in the first place to us, however, after our experience, we knew that we have to be organized and clear of what we have to do to ensure a successful food drive. At the end of the day, we collected a total of $3485.07 worth of food. We are very proud of our achievement and equipped with our lesson, we vowed to do better in the next food drive and not to commit similar mistakes again.
Bertram LimGroup Reflections: Library Talk
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Library Talk
By setting up exhibitions and posters at libraries, we hope to raise the awareness of the poverty situation in
Through the entire process, we have met quite a number of difficulties, but have faced these challenges relatively well.
Firstly, with the designing of the posters, we met a few road blocks when brainstorming for ideas. In order to reach out to the public audience and yet prevent too much information from overwhelming them, we put meticulous thought into our word choice, font size and font colour. Finally, we came to a common consensus on the details. Next, we sieved through our multitude of photos. We chose the more representative and symbolic pictures to signify each major event that took place.
In this planning process, we had some conflicts over the details, but we took turns to give in after all. We distributed the workload and allowed ease for finishing the poster in time. We printed it and prepared for the day of exhibiting it.
During the planning process, we met some obstacles. At first, we proposed for a library talk. We went through the trouble to draft out the action plan and proposed to a few libraries, Jurong East, Queenstown etc. In the end, we got rejected as it did not fit into the libraries’ programme and schedule. Yet, undaunted, we asked for suggestions on how improve. We then discussed thoroughly with the library personnel and came to a solidifying consensus to put up posters and exhibit them in various libraries. There is a substantial number of library users and observations have shown that a significant percentage of them read these attractive posters.
From this, we learnt about fortifying our perseverance and determination in bad times. With resilience, we push forth and managed to adapt to the situation and learn from our setbacks. Hence, I would confidently say that my group dealt with this obstacle well and made a comeback with renewed gusto.
Rock on Project Sunshine!
wenshan
Warehouse Challenge
Friday, June 20, 2008
Some photos taken during the warehouse challenge!
Helping out at the Ware House
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
It all started when we met up with Eon at Yio Chu Kang MRT Station. Anyway, I would like to thank him on behalf of the team because he paid for our taxi fare and offered to treat the entire group to a meal in the future. Thank you, Eon.
The warehouse is actually a terrace house at Jalan Jarak, if I did not remember wrongly. It is not very big, packed with little items at the start, and very, very old. We started to pack at roughly 2.15pm all the way till approximately 6.00pm. I must admit that the packing was extremely tiring. However, the sight of a full warehouse with so many food donations for the poor families made me forget all the hard work. We would quite please as there were really tons of food donations from sardines, to cereal, to Milo to many more, and the list continues. In fact, it is the kindness and compassion the donors showed made the day. I have learnt that a little donation does mean a lot to others. And all these little donations accumulate and serve their part to feed a family in need. The happy faces we saw previously at Marsiling monthly distribution acknowledge this.
Other than these work out for the heart and soul, we also did some physical work out. We learnt how to sort and pack the items more efficiently and hope to better next time during food drives. Although packing items may seems simple and easy, but we were really happy and felt that it was very meaningful.
In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it. As long as you are willing, you will be empowered to help and lift others up. I have learnt that hard work done for the community that may not be shown (like the packing of food items) is all worthwhile. And service to the society need not always be seen by others. It’s all about what you have really done, and whether you have done your part to help others.
I look forward to the next time when we help the community in any ways, or rather, I just cannot wait anymore. There will be more to learn from the next food drive.
Food Drive Collection at Nan Hua Primary School
Monday, June 9, 2008
Several busy weeks have passed and soon the mid year holidays will be over. As a group, our group has achieved certain goals but I believe we have the commitment and responsibility to strive for greater heights. On 9th May, the five of us went down to
Personally, I felt that the idea of using a skit to bring across our messages was a brilliant one as normal presentations may not be as appealing to the Primary school students. Therefore, we made use of an interesting power point slide with full of pictures to allow the primary schools students to have a very good understanding of our skit. I have to admit that our actors were marvelous in the way they interacted with the Primary schools students and I was also glad that the students were very enthusiastic about our initiative. I could see that when we displayed pictures of the beneficiaries of Food from the Heart, it did touched most of the students and even the teachers’ hearts.
After the interactive presentation, we went back to school to continue with our lessons. Although how successful we were at conveying our messages would largely determine on the amount of food items that we collect over the next three days, our team sincerely believes that we did make an impact and we were hopeful that the response would be overwhelming.
Following that week, the collection started at
After about 3 hours of packing and sorting, the amount of food items did not seem to be lesser. We were wondering that with our slow progress, how we would be able to complete the whole process in just less than one hour. Only then did I realize that such a job is not an easy feat. We packed all we could and asked our external mentor, Mr Eon Eng for help. We were grateful that he was very understanding and offered to help us pack it when he transports all the food items back to the Food from the Heart warehouse. We really appreciate what he did for us.
After that, we left the place to head back home. After going through just one food drive, we really learned a lot with regards to the amount of effort one has to contribute to conduct a successful food drive. With our experience, I am confident that future food drives will achieve greater success.
Reflections 3/5/2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
After which, we tried out our play without the power point slide first. It was rather awkward at first, as it was our first time at it. However, through honest feedback, hearty laughter and some embarrassing actions, we managed to pull through a good play which we were quite satisfied with. In conclusion, the play will be short and sweet, but packed with a message to be brought across to the primary school students: the situation of the needy and how they can help by donating to the food drive organised in their school.
Rock on Project Sunshine!
CSM Working Day
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Reflections 30/4/2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The purpose of having a food drive in primary schools is firstly because normally the amount of food collected from primary school students is a lot, and can be used to constantly supply Food from the Heart’s warehouse. With an increased amount of food, our group can then proceed with our final aim – setting up of a food distribution centre in Clementi to provide for the needy. The second purpose we have is to encourage primary school students to learn to care and share. What I always feel is that donation of money is not part of contributing to the public (ultimately we do not know where the money ends up in), but if we were able to donate things that were of real use, the needy would benefit a lot. Having a food drive along with an exhibition would serve the purpose of spreading awareness about Food from the Heart and the situation of poverty in Singapore.
On this trip I have learnt quite a lot of things. The CIP teachers-in-charge of both Keming Primary and Bukit View Primary supported our idea greatly. Despite hearing of our proposal only through our mouths, they were convinced that our project was for a good cause. Keming Primary School would be having the food drive in Term 3 Week 10, and our group would have to present during the students’ assembly time. The teacher of Bukit View was very supportive of our project, but because of time constraints, we would only be having the food drive sometime around National Day. Actually this was a good idea as now we can effectively fuse community service together with national education. She also suggested that the Bukit Batok Zone RC help us to organize a food drive to collect food from the residents. I really think that the teachers are very helpful and understanding. Even though our meeting with them was rather impromptu (there wasn’t any prior notice), they listened to us very carefully and actually agreed with us. I hope that through the food drives and exhibitions, we can help to inculcate the value of caring and sharing among the primary school kids. If they start from young, I am sure they will grow up to very generous people always extending a helping hand towards the needy.
However, I felt that our planning for the different meetings could be held at an earlier time. We should have tried contacting the CIP teachers-in-charge of each school first and fix an appointment before actually going down to the schools. The time between Projects’ Day prelims and now is rather long, and we could have done quite a lot of things during that time period. Though we had been rather busy with our tests and work, we could have just used a little bit of time to do something constructive for this project. Contacting a school at the eleventh hour seems very risky, and it might also cause the teachers to have a bad impression of our group. Nevertheless, I am glad that our meetings with the teachers had not gone to a waste and we achieved remarkable progress.
We would be going down to Nan Hua Primary School this Friday to present about our project to the students and next week we will be officially starting our first food drive in Nan Hua Primary School. We had stayed back in school on 3rd May (last Saturday) until 8pm to discuss what we were going to do before, during and after the food drives.
Another thing that amazes me is my group members’ determination and efficiency at completing tasks. Although Saturday was a tiring day (with Open House before that), they were able to focus and discuss about pertinent issues, while I dozed off accidentally. I really would like to learn how to prioritize my tasks so that I am able to work effectively, particularly when things are getting busier (I am the trainer of a sabbatical and I also need to plan for our unit camp held 3 weeks from now).
Hopefully, our efforts would not go down the drain, and we would be able to conduct a successful food drive and exhibition at Nan Hua Primary School.
Reflections 12/4/2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
I must, on the other hand, commend my team for being a responsible and active team and being serious about this project. They have been extremely supportive, turning up for events, meetings and cips, and regularly doing their reflections. On this issue, I feel that they have done extremely well. I hope that we will continue to keep this up.
Prelims is only the beginning, and our planning have basically ended. Now is the time to start the real action. We have begun our project activity with a CIP activity at Marsiling with Food from the Heart, and this is merely phase 1 of the project. We have learnt much from this activity, and learn how much it takes to help out just in distribution of food items to the poor and needy in one area. Moreover, we were encouraged and inspired by how much the needy needed our food items, and how much they required them.
Being much more inspired, we will boost our efforts in making this project a success and having a long term effect on the community and doing our best to help the needy.
Rock on Project Sunshine!
“A can of sardine is merely a can of sardine to you and me. But to the needy, it holds so much more meaning and value. What we are doing here is adding value to the food by giving the unwanted food to those who really NEED and CHERISH them. That’s what Food from the Heart is all about.” –Eon, Food from the Heart Programme Executive Outreach & Education.
Marsiling Trip
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Reflections 29/3/2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
According to Eon (the co-ordinator for this distribution of food), the person had earlier wanted to land himself in the hospital because he was in a sorrowful plight (having no money). He was at the top of the building waiting for the Civil Defence personnel to pump up the “cushion” for him to land safely. However, before the personnel had pumped up the “cushion” properly, the man jumped to his death. It was really pitiful because it shows us how desperate people can get when they get into a predicament (in this case, the victim did not have money). By witnessing and knowing about these kinds of incidents, I feel more motivated to help the poor in Singapore. By just doing simple deeds of kindness, we can prevent somebody from going to the extremes. In this case, the man would not have attempted suicide if he had received financial help and support.
Anyway, the main reason why we came to Marsiling was to experience first-hand the house-to-house distribution of the food items. Our group got to distribute the food items to the needy residents living at the neighbouring block. Despite the relatively small size of the plastic bag which contained the food items, the food items weighed quite a lot. I was really surprised at how the needy can survive on these rations for a month. After all, we are used to being well-fed and constantly have money to splurge on. We carried the food items to the neighbouring block and distributed the items. We had a list of the people who had registered with Food From The Heart with us, and thus we were able to find the households that needed these food items. I found out that many of Food From The Heart’s beneficiaries generally have very low or no income at all. Some of these beneficiaries were elderly or they had to take care of a handicapped family member. What struck me most was the fact that these beneficiaries waited eagerly for the food to be distributed to them. They were so poor that they could not afford to spend money on meals, and thus relied a lot on the food being distributed. When we gave out the food items to them, they were very grateful to us. It was really great to see smiles on their faces after we had given out the food items.
I remember I had a discussion with my sister one day about why she always liked to buy prepaid cards for her online games. One card costs $10.50 (not a small amount), and she bought a few cards just to “buy her gaming character some clothes online”. I have always believed that buying such cards is a waste of money. After witnessing how the needy in Marsiling treated their food, I really felt that the money being spent on these prepaid cards could actually be spent to buy food for the poor. Little as the donated food might be, it meant a lot to the beneficiaries of Food From The Heart.
I thus believe spreading the awareness of the existing problems faced by the poor in Singapore would be very helpful in our cause to help the poor. By encouraging people (especially teenagers) to save money on unnecessary items, and to use the money to buy useful items to help the poor, the beneficiaries of Food From The Heart (or even any other charity organization) can really benefit. What is lacking is the awareness of the situation of poverty in Singapore, and the lackadaisical attitude youngsters now have regarding these issues. Many teenagers I have seen are more concerned about spending money on their computer games and television programmes than about the community at large. I seriously hope that our project can succeed in encouraging more people to help the needy in Singapore.
Reflections 25/3/2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Our plans were quite ok but during the discussion with them many more ideas were generated. Such as to sustain the project, we might want to look at the long term effects instead of the short term effects. For example, we can set up a collection and distribution centre at Clementi as currently the only centre in the west is at Commonwealth, so it would be good to have a collection centre in the town itself and it would be a long term collaboration with Clementi RC as well as Food From The Heart. I personally feel that this is a good idea as it would allow sustainability of the project as well as improved the community on the whole. From the information of the RC, they also said that there are a number of people in Clementi who may be facing financial difficulties to have three proper meals a day so if we are able to have a centre at that area it would benefit those people a lot. Furthermore, the RC also seemed very supportive of this idea.
Our toy drive was sort of confirmed to be in the June holidays and it would be held for most likely two days at least and notice is to be given a few weeks in advance so that the residents would be able to know and understand who they are actually donating their toys to. It would also allow them to know that there are ways to help the poor and also educate them on the severity of the situation of poverty in Singapore. Therefore, all in all, I think that the meeting with the RC has opened my eyes regarding the issues pertaining to the generation of ideas as well as the planning of an event of exhibition.
Reflections 12/3/2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
We learned more about learning objectives from our mentor and commenced on the reflections and learning journal for this particular project. Once again, we have showed progress by reminding ourselves to ponder and record this wonderful learning journey ahead. We would also like to infuse into ourselves the notion of learning through serving. Thus, we have come up with a “Quote of the Week” feature. During each discussion session, one of the members would contribute a quote in relation to service learning. Then, through this approach, we will add in our thoughts and opinions about the quote in our reflections. In my view, this feature of our project will reap intangible benefits and the true essence of serving the community would be cultivated amongst us to a large extent.
Finally, some problems cropped up. The group has sent out requests to allow our project to advance with the drives and start on the practical work. However, maybe Mr Sarizan is too busy but we are hoping that we would be able to get his reply as soon as possible so that progress can be made.
Reflections 4/3/2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Before I embarked on this project with my group member, sadly, I did not know much about the poor in Singapore. Apart from certain minor community involvement work, I did not initiated or approached any needy to give my helping hand. Only after starting on this project, I managed to know more about the poor around us, and not forgetting the problems that surfaced in their lives. Actually, I believe that I have grown to be more empathetic, not only towards the less fortunate, but also to the people around me, especially my group members. After understanding more about the lives of the less privileged from the charity organization, I am clearer about their lives and the troubles they face daily, and most importantly, financially. In addition, I am able to understand my group members more. Everyone, in faced of a similar situation, will think and act differently.
Helping the poor to lead a better life was my original motive for the project. I thought that it will be sufficient if we just provide our maximum ability to help them by the various methods. However, slowly, I began to realize that that will only be the minimum. As the old saying goes, “Give a man a fish, he lives for a day. Teach a man to fish, he lives for a lifetime”, the project should not only be so simple, and we have to create a long term situation and a sustaining impact. For example, by the end of the project, the poor in some ways should be able to lead a better life on their own and not rely on others.
Since the start of out project, we faced many challenges that we have never expected at the start. For instance, some of our ideas were rejected by Food from the Heart causing us to change our original plan. One learning experience was the idea a setting up a café in school. The founder of Food from the Heart was supportive of the idea and we spent huge amount of time planning for the idea (looking for suitable location, doing surveys and more). However, the second time when we went to the organization, we realized that the café previously set up by them were closing soon and the in-charge for the café was also leaving the organization. This was a main setback for us as it meant that all the time spent have been “wasted” and we would have to come up with other ideas. However, we stood up again and brainstormed for new ideas.
Everyone will have their strengths and weaknesses, and our group is no different. I think that most of the group members lack the initiative and drive. We were unable to meet some deadlines and caused some delays with the project. I believe that to change a situation, everything has to start from a person which will be I. I will try my best to meet deadlines or even be earlier which can help in the project in many ways.
Logo
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Our Logo for our project is finally done. Nice isn't it? XD
Reflections Guidelines
Monday, February 25, 2008
I have classified these reflection guidelines (and added a few of my own) into 2 main categories: [A] reflections after meetings, [B] reflections after hands-on activities (for eg. the actual helping out at the organization)
Reflections after meetings
1. The Mirror (Reflection of Self):
A. What are my values before I attended the meeting?
B. How did I demonstrate these values during the meeting?
i. Have I participated enough during the meeting?
C. What have I learned about myself through this experience?
D. How have I matured in the area of empathy/ responsibility towards my group?
i. Have I demonstrated responsibility in dealing with deadlines set?
ii. Have I been paying attention during meetings, contributed a large percentage of my energy or ideas during the activity?
E. How has my sense of ‘community’ been altered by the viewpoints of my group members?
i. What is your original perception of things?
ii. How has your group member corrected mistakes in your perception of things?
F. Have my motivations for volunteering changed? How? Why?
G. What would I do differently if given the chance again?
H. How will my experience change the way I act or think in future?
I. Reflect on the things you have discussed in the meetings and that you are going to carry out in the future to help out with the organization.
i. What needs to be done to provide the service?
ii. What do I need to know to provide the service?
iii. What academic skills or information do I need to provide the service?
iv. What are my biggest challenges?
v. How can I make a difference?
vi. What can I learn from the service experience?
2. The Microscope (Making small experiences large)
A. What happened? How do I feel about it?
B. What would I change about my experience?
i. What can I improve on during the next meeting?
C. Describe a moment of failure/ success/ indecision/ doubt/ humour/ frustration/ happiness/ sadness/ any worthwhile or memorable experience etc.
i. How do I feel about it?
D. How do what I have learned apply in other areas of my life?
i. In what ways can I integrate these new ways of thinking or being into my classroom or professional relationships/work?
E. What are the settings or circumstances in which I learn best?
i. When others correct my mistakes/wrong personal beliefs?
ii. When there is an open and fruitful discussion?
F. What are the settings or circumstances in which I help others learn?
G. How has my group fared during the meeting?
i. Are discussions fruitful, or are they merely useless sessions?
ii. Are ideas generated useful?
iii. Do my group members work together to ensure deadlines are followed?
iv. Have my group members been proactive during the meeting?
v. What can I learn from them?
vi. Is work being split up equally? Or is it one guy tank everything?
3. The Binoculars (Bringing distance to the fore)
A. Identify an underlying issue that has contributed to the group’s failure or success.
B. What can be done to change the situation?
i. How do I change the attitude of group members towards a certain topic?
C. How did things go compared to what you initially thought would happen?
Reflections after hands-on activities
1. The Mirror (Reflection of Self)
A. What are my values before I participated in the activity?
B. How did I demonstrate these values when participating in the activity?
i. Am I committed to the cause of helping out the handicapped?
ii. What did I actually do during the activity?
C. What have I learned about myself through this experience?
D. How have I matured in the area of empathy/ responsibility towards society?
i. Have I contributed much during the activity?
E. How has my sense of ‘community’ been altered?
i. What have I learned about the way the people help one another?
ii. What can I learn from the way the charity organization/the volunteers/the people in need extend a helping hand?
F. What was my biggest challenge?
G. Do I have the necessary skills and knowledge in dealing with the people I am helping?
H. Did I manage to overcome personal barriers or fears?
i. Language/dialects, communication skills
ii. Inconveniences
iii. Fear of the sick and aged
I. What skills or information did I use?
J. Have my motivations for volunteering changed? How? Why?
K. Has my experience challenged my stereotypes/ prejudices towards the community of elderly, handicapped, team members?
L. How are the people responding to me?
i. How did I make a difference?
ii. Whom did I get to know?
M. What would I do differently if given the chance again?
i. How can I improve myself to suit the challenges faced during the activity?
ii. In what ways can I integrate these new ways of thinking or being into my classroom or professional relationships/work?
iii. How can the service rendered be made more meaningful?
N. How will my experience change the way I act or think in future?
2. The Microscope (Making small experiences large)
A. What happened? How do I feel about it?
B. What would I change about my experience?
C. What have I learned about the people who received my help?
D. Describe a moment of failure/ success/ indecision/ doubt/ humour/ frustration/ happiness/ sadness/ any worthwhile or memorable experience etc. How do I feel about it?
E. How do what I have learned apply in other areas of my life?
F. Which of my actions had an impact on the community?
G. What more can be done for these people, animals?
i. How could I have done better?
H. What are the settings or circumstances in which I learn best?
I. What are the settings or circumstances in which I help others learn?
J. What did I accomplish?
i. Which needs of the community have I been able to meet?
ii. What happened when I have taken certain action?
K. What advice can I pass on to others?
i. How can the quality of service be improved?
L. How has my group helped during the activity? May comment on the group as a whole or on an individual whom you think should be worth praising.
i. Has my group been able to work as one in order to ensure something is done? If so, what have we done? If not, what can we do?
ii. What has my group been doing to help slackers (if any) “unslack”?
(C) The Binoculars (Bringing distance to the fore)
A. Identify an underlying or overarching issue which has contributed to the particular community need addressed.
B. What can be done to change the situation?
C. Have we met the real needs of the community?
D. How does the larger political/ social sphere affect the beneficiaries of my service?
E. What does the future hold for these people? How do I feel about it?
F. How did things go compared to what you initially thought would happen?