Topic Decided

Hey guys,

so we had already decided our topic - Education and helping children & preteen suffering from poverty.

So our next meeting - Wednesday Morning? WX and Joseph already say can. Not sure bout Shaun and Mr sng, checking with them later.

Ok so what we gonna do now:

email related organsiation and schedule a visit -- Shaun

Create Workplan (template will do) -- Joseph

Write proposal -- me, shaun and WX

Related Organisations:

http://www.hopewwsea.org/about.php

Child Poverty Organisations:

World Vision Singapore

Brief Description:

A Christian organization mostly dedicated to child poverty, but did not mention what kind of child poverty. It’s a very generic organization.

TOUCH Community Services

Brief Description:

Again, a very generic non-profit organization, it targets people from many age groups, which includes children in poverty. If I am not wrong, we should be able to do SL there in their children service group.

Singapore Children’s Society

Brief Description:

“At Singapore Children's Society, we help protect and nurture children and youth of all races and religions, especially those who are abused, neglected, and/or from dysfunctional families. Each year we reach out to about 45,000 children, youth and families in need.”

Allows for many forms of volunteer work – Academic Coaching, Activity Facilitator, Administrative Help, Befriending.

*recommended

National Council of Social Service

Brief Description:

Acts as a unifying body for charitable and VWO organizations in Singapore.

The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund

Brief Description:

Aim is to alleviate the financial burden faced by parents in providing for their children's education. At the same time the funds will help children who are already facing difficulties in remaining in school to stay on. It’s an organization/fund that we can work with if we are doing child poverty.

Directions for the Week

hey guys,

after our discussion, here is our direction for the weeks:

1. Confirm on our topic (Really!)

2. Seek permission from related organisation to visit premise for better understanding = email to inform them of our SL project

3. Have meeting

tentatively next week Tuesday Afternoon

4. Write out proposal

ya thats all.

and btw this blog will be sort of the place for all our reflectiosn and diary so yea...

online discussion with Mentor

ok guys,

Shaun and me just meet online with our mentor and discussed quite a few things.

cause im rather lazy now, so i copy paste the conversation here for u guys to refer:

Blue = me, black = mentor, green = shaun:

so what d ou think? we can't really make a choice between the 2

the 2 ideas are the education and muscular dystrophy?

we plan to work with the related organisations

but not sure if we can organise our own activities

as their websites the volunteering seem rather fixed

if working with organisations, u have to take their needs into consideration

and not push for what u want to do

the orgs should be open to discussion

of the 2
which one does the team think would pose to be a greater issue in the future?
and what are the identified problems in the area of muscular dystrophy in singapore?
the lack of awareness perhaps is one
although seem like lots of effort placed to spread
but still little ppl, espeically students i tink dun understand
as well as their integration in society; e.g. transport
and the only organisation only related is MDAS
but seem like MDAS have been placing lots of effort
ok on the other hand
relating to helping children who are in proverty
realized only 1 organsiation, the Children society of Singapore, is related
but i tink that it may be further improved, some of these programmes
which one do you think needs more help in terms of raising awareness, having new ideas, etc?
is the straits times pocket money fund going towards children in poverty?
hmm but other than funds?
as in can we provide other things? like toys etc
since funds is more of for basic neccessity
and moreover currently the economic isn;t doing well
which one would the team be more keen to work on, be it in raising awareness and interacting with the students?
ok personally i perfer working with children
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090824-162915.html
and maybe not just primary sch and sec sch
but pre-sch also
hmm we thinking offering other types of service
we look through the service that Children scoiety and some other such venues is offering
perhaps we can offer other types
hmm actually i realized
we dun really have very indepth understanding of the organisation
other than sending emails
we can also pay a visit to the related centres right?
but we tried to see which one is more neccesary and contact the relavent personnel by this or next week
children one seem more interesting to me

2nd brainstorming

Our findings:

LOL!

2nd Stage of Brainstorming:

INTERNET SAFETY

Link: http://www.mda.gov.sg/wms.file/mobj/mobj.1025.niacreport2006_final.pdf

Solutions to Internet Safety Problems:

1. Spreading awareness to make Internet a better place
2. Organise activities to let children know of the potential danger

SOLVING COMPUTER POLLUTION & RECYCLING

Till date, there are many organizations that help in collecting and recycling old products. Examples are: Cash converters, Salvation Army, and other second-hand shops that involve the buying and selling of second-handed goods. In addition, there are already second hand-shops where people are able to purchase items and slashed prices.

Under such circumstances, it is pointless to start a project on collecting old and used computers and sending them to recycling factories or donating them to other the needy ones. In addition, if considering simply promoting recycling to the community (which is less common), would not satisfy a service learning project since the thing is to serve the community. Anyway campaigning for people to recycle is just plain useless.

If redefining to a project that campaign to people to cut down the usage of computers since it wastes electricity, it is once again futile since we are not doing anything that actually benefits the community. Large scale campaigns like saving Gaia may have met its intended its target audience, but as an unknown group, who will listen to us?

Possible Issues: http://projectsday.hci.edu.sg/2009/05-Categories/8-Finals.pdf

There is no reflections, no growth, no beneficiaries, no impact on community, no sustainability, no long-term. It may not be able to work out.

HELPING CHILDREN (In Poverty or Neglected) IN EDUCATION

It is actually a myth that Singapore is a rich country and its citizens are well-taken care of. In fact many households earn so little that they cannot afford to give their children pocket-money for school, resulting in the students going hungry for the day.

In 1999, nearly 2,000 children did not attend school because their parents could not afford it. Mohammad Hirwan is one such child. His parents earn about US $600 a month, hardly sufficient for a family in Singapore. As a result the boy's parents had to take him out of school when he was nine. His siblings did not fare any better. All of them dropped out of school because of poverty. A technician lost his job and had no income for about half a year had to watch his two young children live on biscuits for days. A young divorcee cannot find enough money to buy schoolbooks and food for her children.

Other Case Studies: http://www.childrensociety.org.sg/our_stories/story2.htm

Related Organisations: Singapore Children’s Society: http://www.childrensociety.org.sg/

Related Information:

“Sunbeam Place

Sunbeam Place is gazetted as a Place of Safety for abused and neglected children in need of protection or whose parents are unable to provide proper care. At Sunbeam Place, we provide a caring and loving environment for children aged between 2 to 18 years old. At the Home, we conduct enrichment classes, character building education and counselling for the children.

Student Care Centre (Henderson)

This Student Care Centre provides before-and-after-school care for children aged between 7 to 12 years old. The children are from low income, distressed or single-parent families, and are sometimes left at home without adult supervision.

Under our care, we nurture them with the skills and positive family values to see them through their mid-childhood years. We also provide the necessary supervision in a conducive environment to enhance their physical, intellectual, emotional and social development.”

Possible Solutions:

1. Provide help as facilitators
2. Raise awareness; Fund-raising / involved in SCS Fund raising activities
3. Courses or Activities to enhance their development

RAISING AWARENESS & HELPING IN MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY

Muscular dystrophy (abbreviated MD) refers to a group of genetic, hereditary muscle diseases that weaken the muscles that move the human body. Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cells and tissue.

Related Organisations:

1. Muscular Dystrophy Association of Singapore

How can we help?

http://www.mdas.org.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=36

MDAS needs volunteers in the following areas:

Organise activities and programmes

· Be involved in planning and executing social and educational outings

· Conduct workshops / talks on topics such as character building, job preparedness, skills training communication, music, art and craft

· Conduct learning programmes for various age groups, e.g. art workshops, reading & writing classes

· Conduct vocational training on IT related skills such as graphic and web designs

· Assist in our sports programmes e.g. swimming, Boccia and Power Soccer

Organise Public Awareness & Fund raising projects

· By helping us create awareness on Muscular Dystrophy

· Collaborating and participating in public awareness campaigns

· Supporting our fund raising efforts

· Planning and executing fund-raising projects

Volunteers are also needed in other areas such as

· Be a photographer at our events

· Write articles for our newsletter

· Provide logistics and admin support

Be a befriender to people with Muscular Dystrophy

Ya so after our discussion we decided on 2 topics / cut down to 2 topics:

Muscular Dystrohpy & Education

US!

Ok hi guys, essentially this first post is to establish who we are!

Our members:
1 Joseph Lim Wei Sheng
2 Chu Wei Xiang
3 Shaun Png Ren Jie
4 Tan Zhi Rong

And brainstormed YESTERDAY: here is wad we initially brainstormed and eventually selected 4 ideas to be furthered discussed.

1. Students In Wheelchair
2. Awareness of Nutrition
3. First Aid Awareness
4. Internet Safety
5. Solving Computer Pollution & Recycling
6. Spreading Environmental Awareness Through Community
7. Helping Children in Poverty through Education
8. Raising Awareness and Helping in Muscular Dystrophy

ya to be further discussed in next post.