Mercy Relief Exhibition and Dialogue Sessions with MP Denise Phua and Mr. Andrew Ang
Mercy Relief-Extending hands, connecting hearts
Mercy Relief is an independent, non-governmental humanitarian charity that has reached out to 18 countries and more, since its inauguration by then Deputy Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong in 2003. It is an independent non-governmental humanitarian charity that is secular and multi-racial, extending its services regardless of country, culture or creed in responses to tragedies in Asia.
Lauded for its significant contributions in rendering aid to crisis-stricken areas surrounding Asia, Mercy Relief had always been able to respond to any call for aid within 72 hours, thereby being among the most effective organisations in offering timely assistance to countries in need.
Mercy Relief had offered assistance in the form of distributing food and medical supplies, long term developmental projects such as reconstruction efforts to education programmes to improve the lives of impoverished and disadvantaged communities, despite its limited resources of only 15 full-time workers and a modest HDB void deck apartment as its main headquarters.
As part of Saints Advocate’s advocacy [task force: Kenneth [IC],Daniel [A/IC] Edlyn, Wendy and Jessica] , we paid Mercy Relief a visit on the 21st July 2010 to learn more about the organization, and shared ideas as to how we could create an innovative exhibition to the school.
After which, we worked with Mercy Relief to advocate its works to the SAJC cohort through an innovative photo exhibition on strings launched from 2nd to 6th August 2010.
The photo exhibition was an interactive one that contained speech bubbles to allow students to pen down their thoughts and notes of encouragement to the volunteers and beneficiaries of Mercy Relief, as seen by active participation of the students when writing encouragement written on the photo-exhibition.
As Mercy Relief is an organization that requires a fair number of willing and long-term volunteers, we had hoped to inspire Saints to come forth and volunteer for Mercy Relief’s future humanitarian efforts through the interactive photo exhibition. Additionally, a small fund-raising event was carried out for a week, selling merchandise from Mercy Relief to support their operations.
In addition to our advocacy work, there were also three dialogue sessions were held in 2010 to members of Student Council, Saints Advocate, Saints Activists and House Council. These dialogue sessions were conducted within the months of June to October, to which Saints Advocate organized a dialogue session on Servant Leadership on the 11th of August, guest starring MP Mrs Denise Phua and Mr. Andrew Ang.
All of these dialogue sessions were engaging and meaningful, with each guest speaker sharing with us interesting anecdotes of their personal experiences.
Particularly memorable were the words of MP Denise Phua and Mr. Andrew Ang, whose efforts in community service [Community Sector: Children, Autism and other mental and physical disabilities] and humanitarian work [Community Sector: Local and Overseas, specialize in disaster relief and helping disadvantaged communities] respectively strike a chord in us all and allowed us to learn a lot of valuable life lessons about community involvement and servant leadership.
We learn that service is not as simplistic as most of us perceive. It is not just about giving and receiving, it is just not about donating and nor is it just about helping others out of their debilitating circumstances.
Mr. Andrew Ang from Mercy Relief shared with us that service requires a person’s head, heart, honour and humility. He stated that Service encompasses learning from both parties. Often; it is these people who you are offering help to in times of adversity that teaches you what is truly important in life.
According to Mrs Denise Phua, service is a life-long commitment and as with all commitments, it can be a long and tiring process. Many a times, we may feel that helping others is wearing us out as it demands a lot of our energy, time and resources. However, as the saying goes, others before self, so even during the most tiring moments, don’t give up.
Quoting Mrs. Denise Phua, “What is worth doing is worth doing well. So, do what is right even when no one (important) is watching.”
Together with Saints Advocate, make service a part of your life.
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