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.

Saints For Nepal

In May 2015, 'Saints For Nepal' was organized by the 6th Saints Advocate in collaboration with Mercy Relief, not only to raise funds for the pressing needs of the survivors, but also raise awareness on their situation and the help that they need.

Both students and teachers visited our booth to make donations, and also enquired about the situation and how they could help in other ways. It was touching to see many Saints who have the heart for the community and the willingness to help even though it was a community overseas.

The information board provided by the Geography Department further raised awareness of the devastating effects of the earthquake. Photos taken by an Ex-teacher on ground zero helped us to better understand the victims' situation and to empathize with them.

'Saints For Nepal' raised a total of $2493.70. We would like to thank our CCA teachers for their guidance, Geography Department for the Information Board, Mercy Relief for allowing us to raise funds, and last but not least Saints for their generous donations.

We hope that the Saints family will continue to play an active role in making the community a better place.

By: Chanasak M.

The 6th Saints Advocate Inauguration

The 6th Saints Advocate taking their pledge

The inauguration ceremony marked the official beginning of our journey as the 6th batch of Saints Advocate. It was an honour to have received the badge from our previous President of Saints Advocate, Jingxuan, in front of the JC1 cohort. The badge I now don signifies my responsibilities as a servant leader and a role model to the rest of the student population. As a Saints Advocate, it is now my duty to show my care and concern to the community and to be a link between the school and the rest of the community.

I will definitely try my best to render my services to those in need and to reach out to the society as much as I can. Apart from our monthly volunteering activities organised by the Metropolitan Young Men's Christian Association, I, along with the rest of the Sixth, would be embarking on self- initiated projects to extend my services even further. With the support of our peers, I hope to be able to make a change, eventually making Singapore a better place for everyone. As our motto goes, 'Advocating Changes, Inspiring Lives', we aim to evoke positive changes for the society as well as to inspire our peers and the people around us to join us in our journey of service learning. I look forward to working with the rest of the 6th to serve the school as well as the community.

'A noble leader answers not to the trumpet calls of self promotion, but to the hushed whispers of necessity.' -Mollie Marti

By: Shajiah Begum (15S12)