CIP Work Attachment in Tzu Chi, Indonesia

Tzu Chi Foundation, whose name meas compassionate relief, is an international humanitarian organization and the largest NGO yet found in the Chinese-speaking world.

The organization was founded by Dharma Master Cheng Yen, a Buddhist nun, on May 14, 1966 in Hua Lien, Taiwan, Republic of China with her belief to "work for Buddhism and for all sentient beings." The organization first started up with only 30 household wives. From these minute beginning, the group has grown to become a major civil society actor, with approximately 10 million members, and chapters in 47 countries.

Because of the huge support from people, Tzu Chi has successfully built many hospitals, schools, university, recycling industries, Medical Association and ever her own TV Channel to spread words of kindness to the world.

I am very fond of this organization for a very long time because of the amazing relief effort that this organization has done so far. They are always directed towards the most needy people in the society at the most perfect timing. This organization is a real deal in helping others with compassion and love. Although it is indeed a Buddhist organization, it does not see religion or race factor in helping others.

My point of view did not differ much after I have joined this organization for 2 weeks starting from 28^th of November till 9^th December 2011. I join the recycling sector in Medan’s Tzu Chi.

The main aim of this work is obviously to reuse paper n plastic and sell this reusable product to earn money that will be used to help others in time of need. There is only 4 official staff in my hometown’s Tzu Chi, others being full time or part time volunteers. This is amazing as the recycling centre is very big and the amount of paper and plastic that have to be recycled is huge. However, with the help of volunteers, this amount of work can be finished quickly.

Usually the number of volunteers are ranging from 6 to more than 20 in a day. The people I met there also differ in their background. However, all of them are very cheerful and kind hearted people. When they knew I was a newbie there, they treat me very carefully to ensure my safety and I do not go hungry. They teach me very patiently from scratch. Actually at first I really feel shy to ask because there are so many things to sort and I did not know where I should categorize them. However, when one of the aunty there see me looking rather confuse, she help me immediately. After that I feel less shy to ask her and other people for help. I feel very fortunate to be able to work with wonderful people like them. To add on my wonderful experience here, every day, without fail there will always be at least one volunteer who came with massive amount of food to be given to everyone in the recycling centre. This caring and loving action is very rare nowadays. However, I can feel it so deeply when I am working with the Tzu Ching(Tzu Chi’s member) ^.^

The foundation actually operates over 4,500 recycling stations. One of the foundation's projects is the recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles for textiles. The project, which was started in 2006, collects PET plastic bottles, rinses and shreds them, and then converts the shredding into polyester resin, which is spun into yarn and woven into cloth.

Other items made with the recycled resins include thermal underwear, t-shirts, hospital bed sheets, medical gowns and uniforms for Tzu Chi volunteers. The item shown below too are made from recycled plastic.

As of September 2008, some 11,856,000 bottles were used to make more than 152,000 polyester blankets, many of which have been distributed as part of Tzu Chi's disaster relief programs.

The effort this organization has put in to reduce poverty and suffering in the world is tremendous. For your information, Singapore has Tzu Chi too. ^_^

For more information regarding the organization, you can go to http://www.tzuchi.org/

Work attachment at CWA :)

I had my two week work attachment programme at this voluntary welfare organization - Caregiving Welfare Association - located at Buona Vista.

Caregiving Welfare Association, otherwise known as CWA, is a voluntary welfare organization focused on eldercare work. CWA has expanded its scope and emphasis on direct eldercare services to help seniors age better, while continuing to focus on support and inculcating responsible and knowledgeable caregivers.

CWA provides 3 main services. They are namely Elderly Healthcare Assistance, Welfare and social support, as well as Education and Awareness.

My part of the work attachment programme was quite simple. As part of the welfare and social support programme, a day care centre was set up for seniors to engage in meaningful social activities including therapeutic programmes and recreational sessions, handicraft-making sessions and so on. All I had to do was to make the elderly at the day care centre feel welcomed, as well as to lead some of the handicraft sessions.

This was the very first handicraft I learnt at the centre! Handmade swiss rolls using simply towels, ribbons and tape.

This was also the very first time I had to lead in a handicraft session. Honestly, I was very nervous and worried at the start. What if the elderly cannot understand what I am trying to teach? What if the elderly are not interested in what I am teaching? However to my surprise, the elderly were very interested in the making of the swiss rolls and they picked up the skill very fast! In the end, we had to end the session early as we ran out of materials to make the swiss rolls due to their overwhelming response :)

Next up was the making of earrings! This was one of the handicraft sessions I enjoyed the most. Even though it was quite difficult bending the wire, getting the crystals in place and piecing the whole earrings together, the sense of achievement and accomplishment at the end was awesome!

Can you believe that these flowers were actually handmade by the elderly at the centre? All they used were scrap plastic bags and copper wires!

This is how the flowers will look like at the end :)

This bear is also hand sewn by the elderly at the centre!

So..... where do all these handicrafts go?

They are finally put on sale at street sale events held by CWA themselves! :)

Eventually, all these money earned would go back to the elderly at the centre through social and welfare programmes such as food rationing!

Overall, I have learnt a lot through this work attachment programme. If given a chance, I would definitely go back to CWA to help again :)

-Yun Lu

Work Attachment with Compassion International, Indonesia

Compassion International is a world-wide Christian organisation aiming to combat poverty, especially among children in villages. It was pioneered by a US Missionary in South Korea, Everett Swanson in 1952.

Now, they have already had 27 country offices and 12 partner countries, mainly in Asia, Africa, Central America and The Caribbean, and South America.

In Indonesia, they have worked together with 347 church partners, benefiting approximately 57493 children by 2010.

I was deeply impressed by their 4 main values which are strongly embraced in their way of blessing the community:
1. Christ centered
2. Child focused
3. Church based
4. Commit to integrity

To know more about this organisation and how you can contribute, please visit www.compassion.com



The picture above was shown right in front of the office. The sentence "Membangun Anak untuk Membangun Bangsa" translated to English means "Nurture a child to build a nation". It has already shown their focus on children. Through further interviews with one of the Head Department, they have a holistic programmes for children from 0-22 years old.

They have 3 main programmes, focusing in spiritual, intellectual, physical, and socio-emotional growth of the beneficiaries.
1. CSP ( Child Survival Programme) for 0-3 years old infants.
2.CDSP (Child Development Sponsorship Programme) for 3-22 years old child.

3. LDP (Leadership Development Programme) only for talented individuals to go to top universities in Indonesia.

My job throughout this work attachment was simple.

In Compassion International, every child from recipient countries (Developing countries) will have one family in sponsoring countries (developed countries) to sponsor them by giving them money every month, prices during their birthday, or cards and letters during special occasions. Since now is Christmas period, many of the sponsors write a lot of letters for their sponsored children and give different varieties of gifts, such as, stickers, cards, books, bookmarks, photos and many more.


I have to separate the letters to be translated and the gifts, put it in a special letter, and write the different code for every child in the envelope. There are 4 big boxes of letters that i need to finish with two of my other colleagues. Although it sound simple and easy, doing the same thing for 8 hours continuously for 6 days are tiring. I have to continuously remind myself that i am doing this for the children who will be very happy to receive these letters. That thought was the only driving force that keeps me going.

The picture below was the letters from 2 out of the 4 boxes that i need to separate.
The picture below is some of the letters that have been neatly separated based on sizes
This is my working space.


Here are some pictures of the gifts and letters that i took.
Overall, the biggest lesson i learnt was not from the people i worked with, but the beautiful letters i read, the gifts i saw when i separated them. They really show strong and big hearts of the sponsors who really regard these children as their own. They have taught me to always consider things from others' perspectives as some of the sponsors really think through about the presents they give and not just buy any gifts to give.

For example, one sponsor bought soccer players bookmarks and football related stickers for her child who loves soccer.
Another one bought a huge book about Moses as the child loves story of Moses.
From the stories i heard, last year one of the sponsor postponed her surgery as she wanted to spend the money to visit her child in Indonesia.

Their hearts for the poor and the lost are amazing. They willingly share their life, their family stories, and pictures, showing care and writing letters consistently. It shows what the true meaning of compassion is. Compassion is showing love and not merely love. Compassion is an action of loving.

I used to think that monetary support is more important than social and emotional support. However, as i opened those letters one by one, i imagined myself to be the children receiving them, knowing that someone on the other side of the world is loving them, i felt something that is so priceless. A feeling that cannot be bought by money. Now i realize, monetary and non-monetary supports are equally important.

At the end of the day, I am more motivated to do more for the community. When i shared some of Saints Advocate's projects with them, they are so grateful that the young people in Singapore, unlike in Indonesia, are rising up for the community. They fully support us to continue our works and be "the Ambassador of the lost".

Work attachment at Ren Ci

I honestly did not know what to expect from the work attachment programme that I had signed up for, as I had never done volunteer work for such a prolonged time before.

After meeting Xie Xiao Yun, the volunteer coordinator for Ren Ci, I had a clearer picture of what my duties were. My tasks for the 1-week attachment programme were chosen by Xiao Yun for me. My main duty was to assist the occupational therapist in the morning therapy sessions.

Again, I still had no idea what to expect as I had no idea what an occupational therapist was. Upon meeting the two occupation therapists at the centre on the first day, it took any misconception of what a therapist did away.

As most of the people staying in Ren Ci are WheelChair ridden, the amount of day to day interaction with their surroundings is extremely little and without external help, they would eventually lose the ability to carry out the simplest tasks, like taking a cup of water. So occupational therapists have to step in to ensure that all the residents at Ren Ci receive a minimal amount of exercise to essentially allow them to be operational.

My duties were very similar throughout every day of my time there. At 9, we would bring out the designated residents on their wheelchairs to the Activity room, which is an air conditioned room away from the main building. Here, residents would perform a variety of activities like simple interactive games, puzzles and even leg exercises, all under the guidance of the therapists. The therapists also ensure that the residents are not bored or tired of the activities by rotating a different activity everyday of the week. For example, some days there would be a screening of “Liang PoPo”, another day there would be morning exercise or even a cooking exercise. They even have a Wii set for them to try out sports like bowling and tennis safely.

To sum my experience up, it was nothing like I expected from assisting a therapist. There was no medicine, no consultations, just the warmth of human interaction between the therapist and residents.

-Jin Wee

Work attachment at Lam Soon CC

During the two weeks of my cip attachment at lam soon CC, we helped out with planning a camp proposal for a group of JC students who were going to Laos for their OCIP trip.  

Initially, Cindy, the person in-charge of us, told us that the camp was to help bond the students and the volunteers who were going to Laos and also so that they would be better prepared to have more initiative in helping the people there. 

But I was quite impressed when we met the students on one of the days where we had lunch with two of the students, when I asked them why their OCIP trip wasn’t organised by the school. They said that they wanted to work with a beneficiary in laos so they decided to organise one on their own. I was impressed that they actually took the initiative to plan their own trip. Hence I felt it was meaningful for us to plan a camp for them so that they are better prepared for the OCIP.

During the attachment, we also help design a poster meant for the low-income children to join a Christmas celebration organised by the CC. It was fun doing it together with Jasmine although it was also very tedious. 

During the last day of the attachment, we went to the houses in Choa Chu Kang area to distribute the posters. For me, it was the most enjoyable part of the trip as we got to navigate through the blocks to find the way to the next house. It was also interesting as it has been awhile since I have seen the old lifts in HDB flats. It was also fun walking through the different units while finding the correct one.

We visited a house where the Malay family had 10 children, ranging from kindergarden to secondary school kids.  When we rang the house bell, we coud hear a boy placing a stool behind the door so that he could look through the pinhole that was too high for him to peek through. It was very heartening to see them enjoying each other’s company at home.

To sum up, the attachment was a good experience where we got to experience something new.

-Tan Li

Work Attachment

My attachment was quite unique. Instead of being attached to an organization, I was attached to a specific individual. Still, I did not feel disadvantaged in any way, for she helped me gained a different perspective on the community.

For my 2 weeks, I did quite a variety of activities, planning stuff at the CC, sitting in for a meet-the-people (MTP) session, a house visit and finally ending off with volunteering at a night cycling event. From these experiences, I learnt about the needs of our community, the flaws of the welfare system and the solutions in place to alleviate the problems.

1. MTP

It was quite an eye-opening experience. One leading misconception about MTP is that only those with financial aid attend the session. However, it was more that that. To put it simply, it was more of an information centre.

Those that attended ranged from those requiring financial aid, those that faced family problems, and those with neighborly dispute. The general procedure is that, after hearing the various problems, the volunteer would then asses the problem, offer some assistance and subsequently send a letter to the most appropriate authority. The individual would them head on home and await reply from the respective authority themselves. Only a handful of the problems will be directed to the MP himself, for counsel on the matter. These MPs are well versed in the country’s laws and policies and could recommend the most suitable action to take.

After the whole session, I realized the importance of such sessions. Many citizens are not that knowledgeable about the country's policies and such are unsure of the actions to undertake, when faced with problem. Thus these sessions are a one-stop avenue for the people to acquire advice on their situation.

2. House visit

I visited a family who was faced with financial difficulty due to medical problem, yet found it difficult to get aid due to their housing situation. This made me realise the flaw of the system in place. Though there are many organizations and policies in place to offer aid to those in need, these policies are only helpful to a certain extent. These organizations are established with various policies to maximise aid to the needy individuals. Yet, it is the same policies, which results in the neglect of the outliners (special cases). The estate that I helped out at was generally not considered financially in need due to most of the units being classified as 4 or 5-room flats. Nevertheless, there are those exceptions, which include medical conditions or a major change in family income. These conditions may affect the financial state of the family, however the fact that they live in 4 or 5 room units, affects their eligibility for aid. Due to the limited resources of the various organizations, it is also impractical for the organizations to pay house visits to these families to assess their situation one by one.

This is where the volunteers play an important part. Youth Executive Community (YEC) is the committee who manages the different youth groups in the various CCs. They are made of individual who are passionate about helping out with the community and comes up with various initiatives of offer aid to their estate. As there is a limit as to what the government and policies can do, many grants are set up. These grant assist the groups and individuals in their initiatives to help the community, which lessens the burden on the government.

3. Night Cycling

Staying awake from 8pm to next morning 8am was no easy feat for a volunteer like me, not to mention the cyclists who managed to complete the 60km ride. When the activity began at 9pm, everybody was full of vigor, ready to conquer the task ahead. Participants ranged from all ages from kids of about 10 to elderly maybe up to the age of 70+. The first stretch, from Changi to Marina was quite relaxing amidst the glorious skyline of Singapore. After the break at Marina Barrage, we set off again, as the night went on, we could see cyclists dropping out, some out of fatigue, injury or lack of determination. By dusk, many cyclists were still pushing on bent on finishing what they had started. Nearing 8am, they were nearing the last stretch of the race. The slight shower did little to deter them of their goal. They had done too much to just drop out when the finishing line was just ahead. Though tired and damp, many of them completed the ride with smiles on their faces, proud of what they had accomplished.

And with that, I concluded my 2 weeks of attachment. Though it was short, the lessons I brought away were worth much more than the time I had forked out. If given the chance I would want to go through such an experience again.

:)

YFC: Hospice Care Association (HCA)

Organization: 
HCA Hospice Care

In 2011, a team was sent to participate in the Citi-YMCA Youth for Causes programme, supporting the beneficiary HCA-Hospice Care. It is an organisation that provides day care hospice services for patients with life-limiting illnesses. 

Our goal was to raise awareness of HCA Hospice Care, so HCA can gain more support and donations from the community. Funds raised will go to the day care centre, and programmes that give the patients morale and monetary support.  

What we did?

Working with SAJC photographic society, a notebook entitled "Happy Memories" was specially created  for the organisation. 

Students from Saint Advocates along with SAJC photographic society, went down to HCA and spent time interacting with the patients there. 

SAJC students interacting and having fun with HCA-Hospice Care patients

Though the sharing session with the patients, interesting stories were compiled. Relevant photographs of patients were also taken and added in, portraying the patients in their best moments. This allowed the patients to leave a legacy through their stories, passing on their knowledge.

An excerpt from the notebook

Poster used for publicity by YFC-HCA Hospice Care team

SAJC students introducing cup stacking to the local community as part of a fundraising event.

Through the sales, we raised about 2.2k. More importantly though the notebook helped raise awareness about HCA throughout the school and to the public. 

YFC: Caregivers Welfare Association (CWA)

Organization: Caregiver Welfare Association (CWA).

The aim of CWA is to improve the quality of life of elderly through dependable direct care services, and to create a generation of responsible and knowledgeable caregivers.

Who is the target audience of help?

There are two groups of target audience, the elderly and their caregivers.

What we have done?

We conducted sales in our school where we set up booth and sell handmade items of the Caregiver Welfare Association. We also distributed some pledge cards to some of our schoolmates. 

On Sundays, we also conducted street sales at churches and town areas like Orchard road. 

Lastly, it was our main event conducted at NEX event plaza. It was a three-day roadshow where we had sales of handmade items, exhibitions and interactive games with the public. We conducted beads-making lesson, balloon scruputuring session and health quiz as well. Not only did we raised funds for the CWA, we also achieved another important objective and that is to raise awareness about the organization.

Our publicity poster for our roadshow

Highlight of our roadshow – Garden of Love.

How much money we have raised?

We exceed our initial targeted amount of $2500 and had a total profit of $5543.59.

Brought to you by:

TEAM CWA 2011 - Nguyen Nguyet Anh, Teh Wen Shun, Sheena Tan, Gina Hiu.

Cultivating a Grateful and Gracious Society

Organization: Mercy relief

Mercy Relief was one of the major NGOs that provided aid during the Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004 and Japan Earthquake 2011.

Like the hand extending help in the logo, Mercy Relief provides assistance to disaster stricken communities in Asia.

Mercy Relief also focus on long term development projects for the impoverished and locally aims to develop a caring and socially-conscience society.

What does Mercy Relief do?

Internationally:

•  Disaster relief by providing first hand relief, rehabilitating victims and reconstructing affected areas.
• Contributing to sustainable development through education, healthcare, shelter, water and sanitation and teaching people skills for people to have sustainable livelihood.

Distributing rations during the 2011 Bangkok Floods

Locally:

•  School outreach to encourage students to appreciate and take action for humanitarian causes.
• Cultivating a Gracious and Grateful Society, Cultivating a Gracious and Grateful Society
• MOVE: Mercy Relief Volunteer Expeditions for volunteers to participate in projects complementing Mercy Relief’s current projects in Asia

Students on the MOVE expedition conducting English lessons for children

 Let’s play!

What we did:  

In 2011, Saints Advocate collaborated with Mercy Relief to organize the second Cultivating a Grateful and Gracious Spirit(CGGS) exhibition in school. Through CGGS, Mercy Relief aims to make Singapore a more gracious society and for people to appreciate and treasure more what they currently have.

Located at netball court, the CGGS tent showcased photo exhibitions of past projects by mercy relief in various disaster zones.  The exhibit included the amazing water purifying bicycle! This amazing bicycle could purify water as long as someone was peddling on it!

Saints Advocates teacher Mr Ho riding on the magical bike for CCA day!

As part of the exhibit, pledge booklets were also distributed to encourage people to pledge to become a more gracious member of society.