Wheeling gOOd Fun-Tampines GRC Racial Harmony 2007

hi guys, last Sunday, 29 July, some of our volunteers Meng Kwee, Carolyn, Kee Teck, Jane and I went back to ASHome to help wheeled some of the old folks to participate in the closing ceremony for Tampines GRC Racial Harmony 2007. We reached ASHome at around 4 30pm and helped the nurses to get the old folks to board the bus.

We then arrived at the Tampines park (cant remember the name of the park, the one near the bus interchange) for dinner and some light warm-up exercises as the public participants and us had to walk from the park to Tampines sport stadium. For us, our task is to wheel the old folks to the stadium. The walk is about 1.5km from the park to the stadium and took us about half an hour to get there. Lucky for us, the weather is not very hot and it’s a nice stroll for the old folks I guess.

Meng Kwee and Jane helping out with feeding...

Once we reached the stadium, the old folks get a goodie bag each with a bottle of NEWater, a few packs of tibits and a small towel inside it. And of cause, the old folks get the most expensive seats, it’s the FIRST ROW!!!

CHEERIOS...

The main stage...

The next couple of the year after Carolyn and… u guys know who ar…

Very soon, the programme kicks off with special guest MP Mah Bow Tan cycling into the stadium. Some of the highlights for that night were performances from various community clubs and schools like Harley Davidson motorbike club, line dancing, Malay dancing, Chinese dancing, Japanese drum,…

For the finale, there was a little firework display.

Carolyn, Jane, nurses and our dear old folks...

By then, its late and the old folks are getting tired. ...HOME SWEET HOME…

PS: Those who have any more pics on their hp or any more comments... feel free to add on... and SORRY for some very bur pics... ANYWAY ...

THE END =)

An afterthought to the Dumpling festival

As depicted by the pictures taken by Edmund in the previous post, the Dumpling festival was a resounding success. In fact, I was thoroughly held in awe by the scale of this event that took place last Saturday. Bearing in mind that many of the old folks in All Saints Home are unable to have dumplings for snacks during the celebration, Michelle has thoughtfully subsituted the dumplings with the utterly divine yam cakes prepared by her mother. Although yam cakes may be a simple fare to many, the snack definitely brings nostalgic memories to the old folks and as evident from the absence of any remanents of yam cakes on their plates, the old folks utterly savored the delicious snack.

Probably half of the entire Dunman Secondary School (an exaggerated number of course), singers from City Harvest and volunteers from SIA were invited to stage performances during the entertainment segment of this event. They were without a doubt, a stellar performance. From the songs belted out by City Harvest's performers, the SIA volunteers and the choir from Dunman Secondary School, to Dunman Secondary School's orchestra and Malay dance, the performance completely captivated the audiences. However, the activity for the day that really got the audiences all fired up was 'Bingo' (a game that made regular appearances on the special events in ASH). With prizes up for grabs, the audiences fervently waited for the their numbers to be announced in anticipation of winning the prizes.

Although I scarcely celebrated the Dumpling festival in the recent years (except probably to gorge myself silly on the dumplings my grandmother prepared), I do understand the significance of dumplings in this festival. It is afterall the essence and symbol of this festival. Hence, I did feel weird that the old folks celebrated this festival in the absence of the ubiquitous dumplings that can be easily found during this festival. However, when I saw the elated expression of the old folks when they won themselves a prize during the games, overheard them heaping praises on the yam cake and catching a glimpse of their relaxed gaze when they were enjoying the performance, the celebration of this festival in the absence of dumplings suddenly seems trivial. I had learnt on that day that what mattered most is that we had made the most of what we could during this celebration, and through a concerted effort, entertained the old folks on the pretext of this festivity.

Dumpling Festival on 16 June 2007

Dear fellow volunteers,

As what Carolyn applauses in her email to our ASH Group! Big THANK YOU to everyone who helped out in this year's Dumpling festival.

IT WAS A SUCCESS! Applause for you all!

The photos of moments... Enjoy viewing...

Our group photo

Army of wonderful Yam cakes, thanks to Michelle's mum

Great Singers from City Harvest Church

Thanks to my dear friend, Katherine and her SIA Welfare Committee

The Malay dance group from Dunman Secondary

The wonderful choir group from Dunman, enchanting performance!

The String Ensemble, the art pieces

Our BINGO Game, and great prizes for our lucky 20 elderly

Mother's Day on 12 May 07

A different Sunday

It has been quite a while since I woke up at 7 am on a Sunday morning. Indeed, ever since my Industrial Attachment began earlier this year, I could only afford to sleep to my heart's content during weekends. The reason for this abrupt disruption to an otherwise blissful slumber last Sunday was a simple one: I had signed up for a workshop on volunteering organized by ESN (Elderly Sector Network). I must admit, I did have some reservations on signing up for the workshop when Carolyn told me about it. Afterall, I have always believed that volunteering requires little more than an individual to possess a healthy level of commitment and perhaps altruism. Therefore, how could a workshop possibly impart these qualities (which probably take a life time to cultivate) to anyone in a mere span of 6 hours?

Alas, I soon discovered that I had underestimated the significance of this workshop on a volunteer (especially to a newbie like me). Unlike the misconceptions I had on this workshop, it has already taken into account that when any individual signed up for this course, he or she has already possessed the qualities mentioned above. What this workshop aimed to achieve was to aid the participants in maximizing these qualities, and eventually, these volunteers will be adequately equipped to deal with contingency scenarios during the course of volunteering. This workshop is conducted by volunteers for volunteers, as such, the lessons contained invaluable experiences from these veteran volunteers. From the correct techniques of handling a wheel chair to dispelling myths on unorthodox first aid methods, the workshop had concisely summarized what are some of the most basic skills a volunteer should possess. Without these skills, there is very little a volunteer can hope to offer even if he is brimming with commitment and altruism.

The workshop was brought to an eventful end by Edmund's narration on his volunteering experiences, which further reinforced my admiration to these senior batch of volunteers. Although I left the workshop thoroughly exhausted, I am quite certain that the lessons from the workshop will enable me to contribute in a more effective manner to All Saint's Home. Will I sign up for the intermediate workshop should the opportunity arises? I believe the answer could not be more obvious.