31st March 2012
On the 31st of March 2012, the 3rd Saints Advocate helped organise and participated in a Community Involvement Project (CIP) with Metropolitan YMCA (MYMCA), in which the students visited various houses under the MYMCA’s food aid to gather the beneficiaries’ latest information for the updating of their profiles with the MYMCA.
This trip to MYMCA was our first CIP trip as a 3rd Saints Advocate, our first exposure to the community outside of school grounds and one that marks the beginning of our journey as servant leaders. In our two years to come as a Saints Advocate, there will be numerous CIP projects that we will embark on. However, our projects might not always be successful. The first time we carried out this CIP project earlier in March, it fell far short of MYMCA, our teachers’ and our expectations. Unclear about what we had to do, we left many crucial holes in our data collection that made it useless to MYMCA. After realising our mistakes, we contacted and apologised to Tracy, who had coordinated the project for us, and offered to redo the project. She kindly allowed us a second chance.
We didn’t want to disappoint Tracy and our teachers again, and most importantly, the many beneficiaries whom we were responsible for. I made a little promise to myself then that we were going to do this with our utmost effort - and indeed, we all did, and we were able to see the reward of our efforts. 
The experience of the home visits was a very impactful and inspiring one. Seeing the poor living conditions of these less fortunate people, it really saddened me to think of all the things we have
taken for granted in our lives. Going to their houses and going through our required list of information, scanning and making copies of their identifications, bills and bankbooks, it felt almost like they were laying their lives before our scrutiny, and although receiving help should not be a thing to be ashamed of, then it certainly felt without dignity. I wanted so much to able to do something to help, that none of them would have to live in such desperate holdings. Hearing stories from Tracy about hostile beneficiaries, it was rather hard to imagine. However, even with the more “forceful” beneficiaries removed by Tracy from all our visiting homes, my group did visit one elderly man that reacted quite violently toward us. He lived in a comparatively well furnished house, and when we stated our purpose, he hotly remarked that MYMCA cannot do much to help him and that we were wasting his time. It angered me slightly that he was so ungrateful of the aid he was receiving, when many others may need it more than him. However it is not for me to judge his case, so I just noted down my observations for MYMCA to review. Overall this CIP gave me some insight to what service work may be like. Engaging in helping others, we will be touched and inspired many times along the way, but good intent does not promise being appreciated, yet every setback can remind us and direct us back to our simple desire to love.
taken for granted in our lives. Going to their houses and going through our required list of information, scanning and making copies of their identifications, bills and bankbooks, it felt almost like they were laying their lives before our scrutiny, and although receiving help should not be a thing to be ashamed of, then it certainly felt without dignity. I wanted so much to able to do something to help, that none of them would have to live in such desperate holdings. Hearing stories from Tracy about hostile beneficiaries, it was rather hard to imagine. However, even with the more “forceful” beneficiaries removed by Tracy from all our visiting homes, my group did visit one elderly man that reacted quite violently toward us. He lived in a comparatively well furnished house, and when we stated our purpose, he hotly remarked that MYMCA cannot do much to help him and that we were wasting his time. It angered me slightly that he was so ungrateful of the aid he was receiving, when many others may need it more than him. However it is not for me to judge his case, so I just noted down my observations for MYMCA to review. Overall this CIP gave me some insight to what service work may be like. Engaging in helping others, we will be touched and inspired many times along the way, but good intent does not promise being appreciated, yet every setback can remind us and direct us back to our simple desire to love.
Lastly, I also want to share that the eagerness of the Advocates to do the CIP right the second time really surprised me. Freeing a Saturday morning and gathering punctually at the early hour of eight before heading out to all their respective houses, the compassion of every Saints advocate was evident, and their desire to serve the community unmistakable. Though in this CIP, we did not really do much to help the beneficiaries or MYMCA, but it is with this same passion and determination that we will strive make a difference in the lives of others, and for those we do touch, it is one more life inspired. I hope that we will keep this passion burning strong inside us throughout our journey as one Saints Advocate. Up and on!
-Pang Hui Jun
