Big Sweep with MYMCA & Chinese New Year Concert for the Elderly

With Chinese New Year fast approaching, the 6th Saints’ Advocate decided to spread some festive cheer among our elderly beneficiaries. Along with our monthly “Big Sweep” event, we collaborated with schools such as Raffles Institution, Catholic Junior College and St. Joseph’s Institution to put on a CNY themed concert for the old folk.

In addition to our usual Big Sweep activities of simple cleaning and decluttering of the homes of our assigned elderly and fostering interaction with them, we also spent that Saturday morning making CNY related handicraft with the use of ang paos to be displayed around the elderly folks’ homes. Such decorations included handmade lanterns and fish, which symbolise good fortune in the Chinese culture. Seeing the childlike grin on our uncle’s face when he saw the final products hanging on his doorway gave me a sense of fulfilment knowing that my team’s simple crafts had brought him a great deal of joy.

The CNY concert, held at Tembusu Seniors’ Activity Centre (SAC), had the elderly being treated to lunch while watching performances and playing games organised through the combined efforts of the students from the various schools. It was extremely heartening to see the elderly folk enthusiastically singing along to CNY songs with the students and participating actively in the BINGO games. I think seeing the old folk laughing, singing and enjoying themselves made me realise how collaborative effort and a willingness to make someone’s day is enough to create a deep sense of happiness for these elderly and how I too ought to appreciate the simple joys in my life. 

The Sixth Playing Bingo with the elderly

Operation VO50

Here are various Operation VO50 experiences:

What's even better than spreading love to the community is inspiring others to do likewise. One group of advocates achieved this through encouraging customers of Potong Pasir neighbourhood food stalls to write short messages of appreciation and motivation to shop owners. Rallying the support of busy customers was not an easy task, but with perseverance and a strong passion for their cause, these dedicated Saints managed to collect a number of encouragement notes from children to elderly customers alike. The notes were then pasted onto attractively decorated boards which were given as tokens of appreciation to stall owners. This activity not only reminded Tau Huey Auntie and Chicken Rice Stall Uncle about awesome they are, but more importantly, it reminded everyone to always be appreciative to the people around them. What better way to exemplify the VO motto 'advocating changes, inspiring lives' than to spread the culture of thanksgiving and encouragement in the community?

- Tiffany

We gave out paper heart badges to people to remind them that kindness starts from them and that we should encourage each other to do things that will make others (even strangers) happy. During the process, it was rather difficult to approach the strangers. Many of them thought we were asking for donations and were doubtful of our intentions but as we explained our course, they were understanding and happy to receive their little gift. Even though we only manage to give out a few hearts, it felt as though our little reminder went a long way to remind them about spreading kindness to others.

- Qi Shuang

In the afternoon heat, the construction workers still work hard to renovate and bring a new image to Potong Pasir. Thus, we decided to give them cold drink to express our appreciation. Along with each drink can is a note filled with our thanks to the workers. Despite the short interaction, we managed to convey our gratitude and light up a smile to their faces. Seeing them brighten up after much hard work certainly brought us joy too. We hope these workers can continue receiving more recognition for their contributions. 

-Trang

Volunteering at Willing Hearts during SLRP 2015

Willing Hearts in a secular, non-denominational and non-affiliated charity. They operate a soup kitchen that prepares, cooks and distributes about 4,500 meals to the needy every single day. 

As part of our residential stay, we headed down to their soup kitchen located at the Kembangan - Chai Chee Community Hub at 5.30 am in the morning. Despite being early in the morning, the kitchen was already running, and at a very fast - paced, leaving us at a loss to what we were supposed to do. The volunteers who are already there started assigning us with various tasks such as preparing the frozen food, stirring the curry, lining the pratas for baking etc. Since it was our first time there, many of us were unsure of our tasks, and started off quite clumsily. However, as the time pass by, we got more familiarise with our tasks and we could complete them in a shorter amount of time. By 7.30 am, there were more volunteers streaming in. The kitchen was filled with many different types of volunteers, such as undergraduates, working adults and aunties and uncles. It is heartening for me to see different types of volunteers coming together in the soup kitchen to help out and this also encouraged me to go back to Willing Hearts to help out again. For me, this was a very tiring experience but at the same time, very meaningful as I've learned that every single one of us plays a very important role in helping and giving back to the community. 

- Denise

Service Learning Residential Programme 2015!

From the 11 – 21 November 2015, the Sixth Saints Advocate stayed in SA Hall for an enriching 10-day programme, engaging in various leadership workshops and activities. Through their stay, The Sixth had taken away many beneficial skills and had definitely grown both individually and as a team. Here is an outline of the residential stay:

We started the stay with checking into the cosy hostel rooms, settling into our homes for the next coupe of days.

During the duration of the stay, we had various activities lined up for us. Some of these included 

• 2016 Task Force Meetings:

• Operation VO50 Planning and event
• Leadership workshop by Positive Intentions and Intercultural Workshop by Mr Jason Ong 

•  Walking Trail at Mount Faber 

• Last but definitely not the least, we volunteered at Willing hearts, packing over thousands of packets of food for the needy! 

Not only did we have to start by cooking the food,

We had to prepare the food prior to cooking them,

Followed by continuous stirring of the pots, where the food was finally being cooked.

Ultimately, the experience was indeed eye opening, and it also tested out resilience as we pushed forward packing seemingly endless amounts of food into Styrofoam boxes.

Through the Service Learning Residential Programme,  The Sixth not only got to experience living in the SA Hall, but they also got to evaluate their Saints Advocate journey, plan for what’s to come in 2016 and bond as a CCA even more outside the school time.

Late night CCA Frisbee bonding

The residential stay is definitively something that The Sixth will always hold fond memories with as it is one that fostered closer relationships and also bonded the CCA as a whole.