OUR REFLECTIONS

Sye Yuet's reflections

2008-04-18T04:29:00.000-07:00

First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE FOR CHIPPING IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!

Secondly, THANK YOU ADELE AND HONG YU! for all the hard word, dedications and the meetings at the Land of Ideas.

I was honestly shocked when i saw the dark corridors and the railings at the side. Hong Yu told me about it but the shock only came when i saw it right before my eyes. Sort of opened my horizons on another aspect of Singapore.

On a lighter note, Hong Yu can carry very heavy stuff! (pun intended!)

I sort of realised how important it was to learn and use my dialect and malay. There will always be this fear that we are unable to answer their questions.

TO ALL: The folks really appreciate the goodies and it was heartening to know that our help together can bring a smile to their faces. Thank you all so much!

Seeing their faces and handling the food to them sort of enlightened me. There are people who need our help. We might falter when we are faced with challenges while trying to help them, but if we perservered. It is really all worth it.

CHHEERIOS!

yijie's reflection for the home visit and yell2sell

2008-04-16T03:36:00.000-07:00

The house visit was definitely an unforgettable experience for me. At first I was still quite excited about the home visits as it would allow us to mingle with the people there and get to know them better. However, when we reached the block, I was shocked. I did not know that such HDB flats actually existed with those dark and narrow corridors with railings on the side. It was just the same as it was on television.

Nonetheless, we started the challenge from the highest floor. For the very first household, we heard funny noise coming from the house before a man came to open the door. However, the woman that we were looking for was not in the house. So it was kind of scary and we came up with a “script” before moving on to other households. The rest was quite successful. All we need was more patience in knocking and waiting for them to open their doors. Most people were fine with anything that we were going to give them while the others just wanted more companionship.

And thanks to the MCS girls who helped us in approaching the Malay households.

Next, the fund raising project that we had in school was definitely a success. A big thank you to Adele, Hongyu and Sye Yuet in putting in so much time and effort in making this project a success.

All the fun raising went quite smoothly from Tuesday to Thursday. My most memorable part was on Friday, during the breaktime. I remembered there were still 3 hampers left and at first we didn’t thought we could complete all 3 hampers. Then, for some reasons, all our friends started coming by and the prices for the hampers started going down and wow, at the very last minute before the bell rang, we finished all the hampers. I really felt a sense of satisfaction and I am glad we did our part for the block 12 residents.

It was quite sad for me to miss out the buying of necessities for the households and delivering it them personally to the households that we actually visited at the very first. I think it would have been a totally different feeling and experience going back to block 12 for the second time.

I really enjoyed the whole cip. Thanks to Adele, Hongyu and Sye Yuet(:

OCIP CIP Feel

2008-04-15T04:30:00.000-07:00

Firstly, want to thank the 3 super girls namely adele, hong yu and sye yuet who have made this project possible and successful for all of us. I think they have been through a lot of hardwork to get everything laid out for all of us. So, thank you so much to adele, hong yu and sye yuet.

My thoughts... I feel that this ocip cip is a very different and wonderful experience for me. Personally, I have not done this type of cip before going house to house to conduct house visits before buying the necessities for the households. I feel that we were brought closer to the households when we exchanged conversations during the house visits. This has made me want to give my best to raise funds for them in order to buy the necessities asked by them.

The fundraising was a short one but all of us who have helped out have definitely put in their 100% throughout the 4 days. It was difficult to ask people for donations under LT1 because whenever people see "us" sitting under LT1, they knew that they have to dig their wallets for $$ if they were to walk pass. So a few make a detour when they saw us. Nevertheless, we did not give up. We went up to them with the slashboards and the money box and asked for their generous donations. I guessed many have no choice but to gave in to us eventually. I think that was the most fun part about fundraising and if we did not work together to spot potential donors, I think we would not be able to raise the funds within such a short period of time. so weel done guys!

The buying of items was long that day as we have to choose the many varity of brands of the same stuff from the shelf. we couldn't make up our mind what is the best for the households and even considered whether is is appropriate to place those items in the hamper. Although the process was very like "Arghhhh...!!!" But it was fun after all arguing with jia xiang and adele over the items we should puerchase. Remembered we walked into the office of NTUC twice before we got the deal. The 1st walk out was a bit "malu" cos we couldn't make up our mind what and how we wanted the goods to be collected or delivered. But before we walked the 2nd time, we ensured that all of us come to a consensus before walking in and talked to the person in-charge. Eventually, we managed to get NTUC to help us take out those items requested while we make another trip bakc to collect the items. Feel so WoW being able to step into the office dunno whether we'll get another of such chance... hahax!

It's a pity that I been through the eentire process of the cip except for the last part where we are suppossed to deliver the hampers to the households. "sob sob" So sad that I have a ceremony to attend to that day and couldn'y join you guys for the giving our of hampers... It's really a pity thinking back. How I wished I could split myself and go for both events... So will have to hear from you guys what are the interesting things that took place during the giving out of the hampers...

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Signing off,

Jacquelyn

Jacquelyn's reflection for House Visit

2008-03-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

Hmms... I came in later than the rest that day. Actually, I wanted to peep from downstairs to see at which floor the rest were at but what amazed mewas that I couldn't do so at all. There wasn't any corridor when I looked from downstairs. begin to wonder how does the individual floors lokked like... called pin qi: "just come up its all connected." "???" I thought.

Upon reaching the 3rd floor, looked across the level when i stepped out of the lift, i sort of got a scare... It is like some ghost movies scene that i am walking into. I saw 3 shadows on each far end of the level. I noticed pin qi's and jia xiang's shadow at one corner and decided to walk towards them. It feels kindof eerie when i walked past the door corridors feeling uneasy all over. Luckily, along the corridor there were some occasional human voices coming out from the house which helped to calm my nerves. haha good experience anyway.

The first household that I managed to interact with was an old lady who claimed that she worked at KFC before. Or in fact she did worked at KFC before. She was a retiree and heard from her she got quite a good retirement pay from KFC. The funny thing about her was that she actualy was like helping KFC to promote and say it is a good place to work at... For a moment was thinking: "How I wish I could do that..." The next moment... "PoP!" The dream bubble burst. hahas. She is very friendly and was telling us her work story and family story. It was the first and the most lovely household I went to.

It is quite experincing to go on such home visits and I feel that the elderlys are happy to see us there as they can have people to talk to... that's something that they enjoyed doing most. never mind we'll get to see them agian when we delivered the fundraised items. Yeah!

pinqi's home visit experience

2008-03-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

this shall be a short post(: a rather fulfilling trip down.triggered some thoughts!

this is not exactly my first trip to such hdb houses..so i sorta knew what to expect..it's like the show "just in singapore(一房半厅一水缸）" on channel 8...well..maybe i can say that the corridor looks even darker(bad lighting)..

however..i still felt jittery and somehow i was kinda paranoid when no one answered the doors and when i smell weird (not realli nice) smells..cos the old people living there may have fainted or sth bad has happened..

fast forward-ing to the 2 household we managed visit..the first was a highly jovial auntie...who kept smiling(too overwhelming though) and cos of the language barrier..it was a short convo..and the second household(which is the "susan" one mentioned by adele)...she's a very nice and welcoming auntie..spoke english...and so we started casual conversation with her..and she told us about her house(some bed bug problem)..her work last time at kfc..her mother(101 years old!!)..and their health...but when we asked her what she wanted/need..she refused our help immediately..this also happened at the previous household..rather surprisingly..

some issues and afterthought i had:

whether they are ALREADY self sufficient..or BLK 12 is actually getting alot of help already from various organisation including tj's leo club..and since they seem to be able to support themselves..and do not need our help..

living condition..bed bug problem..and because some of the residents pick up old and discarded items which may not be very clean..

lastly..it's the most important issue about the type of help that the people there really need...it seems that the old people enjoy company and financial well being is not their top priority..at least for me...i feel that they need/want care and concern..and any additional material welfare is deemed EXTRA..maybe instead of buying things for them...we can do house cleaning or some activities that has more engagment..(well..mr cheng says some residents ask if we can organise acitivities for them instead..though it sounds like a want, an entertainment and a luxury good..i think it'll be better than just giving them food aid cos it may brighten up their life more...alternatively..we can try finding another blk that really require the food/ neccessity aid!)

yep.that's abt it..paiseh for the incoherence..may do some editting when i have the time!

Adele's reflections for House Visits

2008-03-17T00:32:00.000-07:00

"There are ex-convicts, ex-drug addicts, people with mental illness in the block" I heard this from the person in charge. It isn't the most pleasant thing to hear when you know that you will be visiting the people in this block.. but the housevisits wasn't that bad after all.

When we stepped out of the lift, the sight is like what you see in movies. dark corridors, most doors are locked... i can't describe it, but it was quite scary. when we started the house visits(chinese households), we knocked on the door of the first household, waited--no response, second household,waited--no response, third household,waited--no response. I was quite dissapointed initially, because we wanted to help, but we cant even get to talk to them. then we saw the person in charge. she knocked the door of the resident real hard and called 'susan', 'susan', 'susan'. at first, there was no reply, but few minutes later, someone opened the door. and we learnt, knock louder, call their name and wait longer. it was difficult doing so, cause it felt weired to call for someone so loudly...

afterward, i joined the girls from MCS to visit the maly households. though i don't understand malay, i felt the sincere care and love that the MCS girls showed towards the malay households. they were so polite and gentle. in return, the malay households also showed hospitality by inviting us into their house. all three malay households we went to did the same. though they are poor, though they might not have much to offer their guest, they were so willing to invite us into their house. i was touched by this. How many people are willing to open their doors and welcome "strangers" into their house these days? they were so sincere...

a sickly old man stayed in the first malay household that we went to. there was another woman staying there too, i think it's his wife. According to the MCS girls, they said they would gladly accept anything that we were to give them, cause they are living as the day goes by and accepting fate as it is. the man was weak and frail...

we did not get a reply from the second household at first, but when we went back again, a women came to the door. she was seriously ill too. she was lying on the bed and could not go to the door when we visited her the first time. she did not ask for much too, just the daily neccessities...

the aunty from the third household was smiley. she chatted with us and i could feel her joy. she said her grandson is studying in pasir ris sec. she said it proudly and with a smile. who says that without material wealth, there is no joy? i believe that the aunty is much happier than many other singaporeans.

the housevisits was a great experience. talking to people whom we seldom or never interact with in our daily lives was enriching. i'm glad that we perservered in doing this project. the people, the interaction and the hospitality made my day! :D

Francis's Late Reflection

2008-02-24T22:56:00.000-08:00

OCIP Reflections

The 14 days spent in China was truly an experience for me. I was never really fully bent on the idea of service learning. I saw it as something noble. It was an idea which in the plane of thought of most people is grand but at the same time only persist as an idea when it reaches the plane of reality by most people save for the selected few willing to go the distance in the name of outreach. As for the average guy such as me, one can only go as far as local community service or CIP if ever the tingle of outreach was felt. Often it was enough to do CIP to give a person the feeling of satisfaction one usually gets when he/she helps one’s fellow man therefore giving that person a restricted view of service learning just being something too excessive from the norm. Hence when I became a part of this service learning programme, I wasn’t expecting much other than the view that it was just like a normal CIP but longer. I was wrong. Service learning was something more than an extended CIP. It enabled me to share and learn from the people around me. It opened my eyes to the wider picture of outreach and had taught me what it should really be like. I am truly grateful for such an opportunity.

It was kind of funny at the same time ironic that I was in a way able to learn more about the culture of not only Yunnan but as well as of Singapore through my interactions with my Singaporean friends. I was a foreigner in a foreign land arriving there with people from another foreign land. In more times than one, I found myself lost in the casual conversations between the locals or between the Singaporeans. However, in the end I was able to make friends with a lot of great people. They have taught me things I was never really able to thank them for and the memories shared on the trip would be hard to forget.

Tan Francis =]

Pickyee's FINAL reflections=)

2008-01-14T23:06:00.000-08:00

woaho Im so happy to know that Im actually not the last person to blog!!Im the 2nd last. (yea I know that's not much of a difference but still..haha) Wonder who is the last?? Anyway not that I don't want to blog but my stupid computer at home gave up on me, that's why Im now at TJC hub blogging. Oh well, anyway I shall start my reflections soon and since most people have already said what I want to say, I shall keep this reflections short and sweet=)

There are MANY MANY things that made this trip to Yunnan really enjoyable, enriching and certainly unforgetable but I shall pick 2 and share more about them.

1. The CHILDREN=)
First of all I must say that they are different from the kids in Singapore. Generally I mean. One BIG BIG difference would be their attitude towards studies! 9 out of 10 kids you ask would say that studying is the thing they enjoy most in school!!WOW. Even I don't say that. I really felt so guilty and embarrased since I am blessed with such conducive studying environment. Another thing that impressed me most is their giving and thoughtful heart. Sometimes when we go shopping in Singapore, you see kids whining and throwing a big tantrum just because their parents wouldn't buy them the sweets that they want. However in Yunnan, its totally different. There was this little girl who gave me a chewing gum on our way up to the mountain and when I gave her a mentos the next day, she actually rejected it and to the extent of running away (REALLY RUN!) from me. Another boy actually hid under the table because I insisted of giving him the sweet! My goodness. Its just a sweet. I was shocked and very very much TOUCHED by them. Not only that, the same girl who gave me the chewing gum helped me alot on the way up the mountain to collect dried woods. Despite her really minute size, she actually PULLED me and PUSHED my butt up the mountain when I got really tired. I really felt so ashamed. I mean she is so much younger than me so shouldn't I be the one helping her? Not only that, she knew that it was my first time going up the mountain to collect woods, so she just gave me a tiny bundle of wood to carry down the mountain whereas hers was a really really big bunch! On the way down when I saw her backview or rather part of her head and her feet (Because the bundle of woods practically covered her), my heart simply melts. She is just so sweet and thoughtful=)

2. TOILETS!!( or rather HOLES )
YES the toilets!! My goodness. You can never imagine how they look like till you see it for yourself. Before the trip, I had a look at the photo of the toilet there and I thought its just a toilet with no flushing system. But woaho! When I went into the toilet at the hospital, I almost puke. You can smell the stench 5 metres away. I am not exaggerating . And it was like there were no doors so you see each other's butts and everything else. It was so awkward. The one at the village was worse. There were no doors, no lights, no concrete cement, just PLANKS and FLIES!So you squat in between two planks and get rid of whatever you need to=) Initially I thought I was going to constipate and not survive, probably get kidney stones for holding my bladder for too long but surprisingly, I did not. From here, I learnt that sometimes you just adapt to the surrounding without realising it=) That's part of human's ability I guess, or rather this toilet experience had allowed me to discover another of my strength-rather good adaptability=)

Alright is it short enough? haha hmm I shall stop here since I think its not that short, in fact its rather long. And if I were given 10 or 20 pages to write down my experince in Yunnan I am sure they would all be fully filled. There are many other things I experience which just cannot be expressed in words but for all I know, what I have experienced will always be with me till the day i die or till I get senile 40-50 years down the road...

Adele's final reflections

2008-01-14T21:43:00.000-08:00

Well, our yunnan experience have marked an end officially. We’ve lived it and I’m sure we all loved it. After 9 months of preparation and also, the trip itself, I guess it time to think back of my first reasons to join the team. I joined because I want to serve, I’ve got a passion for community service, and I know that it will be a fantastic learning experience.

Before… After…
Before the pre-trip camps, I dreaded the meetings. I felt that it was so boring and we were so slow in deciding on minute details. After the trip and intensive camps, I want to have OCIP meetings and I want to see everyone in the team together.(I looked forward to the last meeting that we had!!!)

Before the trip, I thought that we will just be passers-by of the lives of the people that we will meet due to the short time that we will spend with them. After the trip, I realised that we did not just meet the locals, but we touched their lives. For me, the experience in Lu Cong was a very meaningful one. I realised that I can be an important person in the lives of the children as they learnt to say “thank you”, “sorry” and learn to queue up. These may be simple phrases to us, but to them, it is manners learnt.

Before the trip, I thought that the road building project(work at the project site) is going to be one of most important projects in Yunnan. After working at the project site, I realised that the manual labour that we provided was so insignificant. We were not needed to be there to help with the roads, the villagers can do a better job! BUT. The money that we contributed was the crucial contribution to the road project on our part.

Before the trip, I was on my way to Yunnan with 20 strangers (excluding those whom I knew before the project), after the trip, I forged great bonds with 27 people, got to make new friends and know the old ones better.

My Firsts
Upon reflection, I realised that though this is not my first overseas outreach, I experienced lots of other ‘first’s during the 14 days.

It was my first attempt to prepare a meal for 28. My first time to go into the mountains to gather firewood. My first time not bathing for three days. My first time doing business in toilets with such poor hygiene(esp the one in wan lv qing). The first time I really thought about the events that happened throughout my life and shared with 27 people(during LJ). The first time people actually asked for my autograph(at xiao jie).

The Memorable Parts
The visits to the schools was definitely the most memorable part of the trip. At Wan Lv Qing, i regretted that I wasn’t as proactive and did not build up close relations with the students there. However, the P6 class was definitely the best class in terms of discipline. At Yang Liu, I saw the poor conditions of the classrooms and it was an eye opener for me. At Xiao Jie, the kids there brought me the most joy and fun. I will never forget their enthusiasm and the chicken dance and songs that we sang together. At Lu Cong, I’ve learnt to interact with kids that were more rowdy and I would say that it was the most challenging class. However, it was the class which gave me a great sense of satisfaction.

The discussions that we had were memorable. I love the feeling of being able to share comfortably to the team my opinions and ideas.

The fateful night is one of the ‘highlights’ of the trip. Though we feared, though we were worried, I enjoyed the encouragements and love we showed for each other and I think that it was what pulled us through the night. That night really pulled our team closer together!

Dan shu was a source of entertainment too! At the expense of Miss Koh. But I really feel that he has brought us much joy on the trip…

Takebacks
I’ve learnt so much from the project…

Firstly, I’ve learnt that overseas outreach projects may create dependency and I should not show favourism towards any of the kids, even if I think that they are very cute!! I’ve learnt that sustainability of a project is very important too.

The life of a coordinator is tough, lonely and requires sacrifices, but they are very important and will make great impacts on the lives of people that they help. I really admire Zhao Bing and his passion to serve. His story motivated me!

Learning Journey was yet another event which I’ve learnt a lot from. I’ve learnt to listen to others and also to reflect on my own life.

I realised that we should not pity the people that we are helping because their living conditions are so bad, as compared to us. Because to them, their life is not hard. They grew up in such conditions and they have learnt things that we don’t. We should not pity them because I know our trip there to teach them will improve their lives, in one way or another.

In conclusion, I feel that the trip has impacted me, but not to the extent that it has a dramatic change in me I’ve learnt a great deal though… One thing for sure is that my attitude towards community service projects will never be the same, because I’m doing a service learning project, not a community involvement project!

Last but not least, I would like to say a big THANK YOU to the yell team! You guys made this trip a really memorable one for me! To the teachers: Thanks for taking me through this enriching learning experience!

Sye Yuet's Reflection in the mirror....

2008-01-13T21:23:00.000-08:00

I soaked in the sights of the hills and farmland, the sounds of children's innocent chatter, the chilly wind that blows and the starry nights.

Two weeks later, i was siting at Changi Airport waiting for Daddy to fetch me. I looked at the early morning sky ahead.

I came back humbled. Going out to the open and experiencing the lives of rural villages, i realised that i have been so ignorant of what i have been reading in textbooks. I never knew what "no proper sanitation" meant really, how "poor water quality" was. I thought i knew what they were, as an academic, yes. As a person, i was ignorant to what they truly meant until i saw it right in front of my eyes. I came back keener on what is written in textbooks, humbled that there are so much more things i dont know, and should know.

In case you were wondering, I was the girl who lapsed into a cold on one of the nights and was zipped to the hospital at night. Yes, its me....

In the midst of the cold night, i felt the warmth from my group mates as they tried their best to keep me warm with layers of clothing and packs of heat-pac. They were the sole motivation for me to get well as fast as i could.

I remembered that i was asked what my weakness was during the interview. I said i had little trust in others and maybe with this trip, i can build on having more confidence in friends. And indeed, that faithful night taught me that yes, there are people out there who care for me and will go out to help me in any and every way they could. They were the ones who gave me the confidence and taught me what unity is.

I enjoy the pre-trip preparations even thought it meant waking up early on a Saturday morning. It was during the trip that I met the team, got to know them better and discovered our strengths. I love the team as we are open to discussions and everyone participates actively in sharing our opinions. Everyone is comfortable with different ideas and keen to learn what others are thinking. I think a team can really work together when we can agree to disagree. And for that, i think our team accomplished it.

I will always remember this trip, the people and the days. Definitely.

Reflections (It's Raining-.-*)

2008-01-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

To me, this trip to Yunnan is really fun and meaningful.

Since young, I was fascinated by the sceneries and culture of Yunnan. I always dreamed of myself going “西双版纳” and dressing up like a girl from the minority group. When I heard about the overseas outreach program to Yunnan, I jumped at the chance and signed up. Luckily I got in, but the joy of being able to go to my dream place was soon replaced by the dreariness of having to go for an OCIP meeting every Thursday afternoon. I have to stay in school for a few extra hours every Thursday to discuss some issues again and again. This is something very different from what I expected and just like a few others: I thought the meetings were really boring and time-wasting. This feeling goes on until a Saturday meeting where we learned so much more about “Service Learning” and where we started to discuss about our projects. I never know that there are so many things behind the word “service” and we can actually maximize our learning experience simply by that. It is kind of amazing to me. Later that day, we went out to take photos on different topics. Through the photos taken, I understand more about other OCIP members’ perspectives on things and it was very meaningful. Discussing about our projects in some meetings later, I made friends with my group members and I started to like this whole thing. I did not regard it as time-wasting anymore.

The journey in Yunnan is the most exciting part to me. The conversations with the villagers and the school kids are invaluable. The life journeys are super cool! The road-building is tiring but fruitful somehow. Even eating the food we cooked is a pleasure. At the same, I’m sure my Bridge skills has improved a lot =_=#. The three days in Yunnan is fun too. “Stone Forest” is cool, with all those stones with different shapes and stories. 冰糖葫芦 are nice and the “我们是韩国人” joke is unforgettable. I really like my buddy, my teammates and the three teachers. During my November holidays in China, I wrote Chinese“日志” about my trip on my blog, all my friends read it and… They want to go there too! =v=

Now as I think back about the whole OCIP thing, I think it is fruitful and enriching. I learned a lot from the meetings and made friends with my fellow members. Through this trip, I fulfilled my dreams and achieved something I can never achieve if I go to Yunnan on a family trip. I felt that I have touched lives and I was touched too. In future, I would jump at other opportunities like this one without hesitation.

Xiayu

Yee Chuin's Reflections

2008-01-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hey there! This is yee chuin’s reflections and im sorry it’s kinda like the last one because my internet couldn’t work yesterday night but anyway, it’s been a really great journey and experience for me. Well what more could I say? I never had an experience that touched and impacted me so much, be it mentally, emotionally or physically, it has been WOW. I never expected myself to actually learn and grow so much, and one thing for sure, I would definitely participate in another ocip/service learning trip if I have the opportunity to. Although this might not be the greatest and most significant event that has happened to me, I am thankful for it because I know I have become a stronger and better person.

You might think that after 14 days of (mega) spicy food, cold weather, no parents/family, no yummy western food/pastries, I might just collapsed and die and not survive through (initially I thought so too) but hey I realised sometimes a change is good! And yeah after reading like nearly everyone’s reflections, I wouldn’t really want to repeat a lot of the things. I guess I’ll just start off with the one thing/event that I remembered the most and it’s always the first thing that I tell people. Haha, well yeah I have been to China and I totally understand how the toilets are so I seemed to be more prepared to deal with the toilets there. But what struck me more was not the toilet but my first experience using the toilet in the village. Guess what? Ohmygoodness, all the children were crowding at the entrance and staring at me, waiting for me the pee! I can still feel the eyes on me even now as I am typing this! But of course I couldn’t pee, somehow my urine had all disappeared! I mean imagine whole bunch of people looking and staring at you as you answer the nature’s call! It’s actually kind of cute when I think about it, though scary of course. While all those bigger events like cutting woods did impact me and they all formed part of the beautiful memories of this trip, for me, it’s a lot of the little little things that really impacted me a lot, like the way they(the children) talk to me, the small little actions they do, the little acts of kindess from team mates etc. Sometimes when you’re in ‘reality’, the pace of life is so fast that you seldom have the chance to really slow down or stop whatever you are doing and appreciate all the things around you. I just felt that I have taken so many things for granted that when I went there, I just somehow felt kind of ashamed of myself. For one, even a simple smile, a hand gesture, a warm greeting, can totally brighten your morning. A simple ‘thank you’ to show your appreciation can mean so so much. Ahaha, even just paying attention to the teacher in front of the classroom, can make him/her happy (I hope so :p)! It’s like, ive never thought about such things before! Apart from that, I have to admit, at home I’m always cooped up inside my room doing my work that sometimes I neglect my parents/family. When I went there, I see them so close-knitted, even though the parents are always out in the fields/at work and the children so filial, it made me feel like they’re so amazing. It has never dawned upon me that I actually need my family out there; ive never missed them so much in my entire life. It’s somehow like I am starting to realise that, family, really is important. I;ve managed to slow down the pace of my life and really find out what is important to me, which I thought made me feel really good because for once, I get to enjoy and really enjoy myself and whatever I am doing. And this is one of my biggest takeaway from the trip (: the skill of appreciating the things around me made this trip ever so important to me, it’s like a journey of self-discovery. Well, I could go on and on and on, but I guess I’ll write the most important thing ive learnt from this trip. I really do cherish the bonds formed and I really thank all of them out there who really have made such a significant impact in my life. I LOVE OCIP YUNNAN TEAM (:

hongyu's final reflection

2008-01-13T07:58:00.000-08:00

Pre-trip

Pre-trip activities were meaningful. Thank you teachers for spending time to plan them! You all have done a great job!

Though there were many meetings, looking back, I think it’s all worth it because the sessions made me clear of what to expect for the trip and as well as the purpose of the trip.
Before the S-L discussion, it never crossed my mind to think of the differences.

Trip

Travelling in China takes a long time, way longer than travelling from East to West in Singapore. We can spend 3-4 hours travelling on highway and that means 3-4 hours of sleep.

This trip somehow turned into an educational trip for me. Because of my stomachache, I have only been to the worksite once. And that time we were merely doing simple work. Therefore, most of the work that I have done is to teach and play with the students in the 4 primary schools. Their attitude towards learning makes it easier and fun to teach them! They are very enthusiastic students and are very willing to learn. Despite the harsh conditions such as no electricity at home for the Miao zhu students, they will finish their homework before the sky turns dark everyday. It makes me reflect on my attitude towards learning and also to appreciate my parents more. I am also inspired to be a teacher, probably a pre-school teacher. However, will Singapore students be as eager as them?

I enjoyed the firewood gathering session. It was my first time chopping branches using the chopper. It was really hard. You need to aim the same place and hit it with all your might before you actually chopped the firewood into half whereas the kids there seems to have no problem. It just seems so easy for them. Well, I am a noob compared to them. My two buddies were super thoughtful. We had a formation. I must be in the middle so that one leads the way and the other stay behind just in case I slipped and fell. They insisted carrying the firewood and chopper down the mountain. I really must thank them for doing so because I am sliding down the slope most of the time. They even made a walking stick! Of course, I didn’t use it. Instead I gave to someone else whom I think needs it more. HAHA.

I hoped that their lives would be better but after much thinking, maybe they are contented with their current lifestyle. Even if they are not, I realize it’s really up to the individuals whether they want to work hard and change their life. Other people can provide help in terms of building facilities, improving the school environment. But ultimately, there is a limit to what we can do and it takes time to change people’s lifestyle or habits.

Post-trip

I started off not knowing most of the team and the teachers, through the time that we’ve spent together, now I have more friends in TJ. Thank you everyone in YO! and other team members for making this trip a memorable one!

Stay in touch, okay!!

Jerene’s Reflections for 2007 TJ Yunnan OCIP Trip (131107 – 271107)

2008-01-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

Right now, as I attempt to trace back till the very first day Project YELL began, it felt like it has been such a long journey for me, and to some extent, a surprisingly rewarding one for me, especially during the trip itself, which posed as a turning point for me.

I will touch slightly on the pre-trip events, which I skipped like 50% of the meetings and activities due to my lack of commitment and high level of disinterest. Basically at that particular episode of the journey, because my mentality and attitude were poor, I couldn’t actually recall any meetings or activities which I felt were interesting or helpful. Yeah, quite bad but oh well, that really isn’t the main point.

Then time seemed to zoom by again, and before I knew it, we had already reached the Kunming Airport in Yunnan, China. In the beginning of the trip, it felt tremendously challenging for me to step out of my comfort zone and adapt to the communal living (in Wan Lv Qing Primary School), especially the ‘toilet’ there. I remembered myself nearly to tears when I first saw the state of the toilet there, not feeling sad for the people there, but immensely regretful that I actually signed on for this. But I was indeed surprised by myself, that after 1-2 days, I actually grew used to doing my business there! And amusing or what, the frequent toilet trips created many chances for me to interact with the other girls of the team, who mostly were strangers to me initially, and eventually, friendships were formed.

In fact, the visit to the Da Po Village was a meaningful eye-opener for a brat like me who doesn’t understand what hard life and poverty literally mean. The trip to the wet market, the visits to the villagers’ huts (and even helping them carry out daily chores of e.g., plucking off dried corns), gathering of firewood together with the children of Wan Lv Qing Primary School, and through the short conversations with them (that they had to take 3 hours to reach school by foot!), provided me with numerous new insights and broadened my perspectives about my life. Moreover, the very simple, yet sincere expressions the adults and children gave (esp. the letters the kids furiously, continuously wrote for us before we left), kind of changed the very skeptical mindset of mine originally.

Then came the ‘crisis’ which happened in the midst of the trip, where a handful of us became sickly, and when there was a particular night when we had to ‘evacuate’ the seemingly uninhabitable ‘hostel’ to a hotel (where I thought the facilities were really good). Throughout the entire frenzy, I was left in a mild state of shock as such a predicament never ever did come across my mind. But that particular night was unforgettable and the unique experience really got me thinking about how things flow can never be within our means and control, and we always have to be mentally-prepared, learn to be quick-thinking, spontaneous, and more essentially, composed and emotionally strong in moments of uncertainty and tension.

The few schools that we actually visited, regardless of them being one-stop, over a few days or involving naughty and disrespectful students, to me, generally there was a common point – that we had to do very minute and apparently effortless things to us to bring genuine smiles and laughter across the children faces. And because I could somehow share their happiness, it actually made me recollect past perceptions of myself being very insignificant and useless in the world (of smarty pants and realistic and competitive people), completely untrue. Because to the kids, I have become an important source of joy, so simple, yet so wholeheartedly, so touching.

Another important lessons gained is never to judge people by appearances, which I have an extremely high tendency to since eons ago. Undeniably, which seriously astounded me, there are people within the team who are genuine, giving and always putting-people-before-self, namely a few, whom till now, I am grateful for. And as I learnt to open up to the rest of the girls mainly, to befriend without guarding against them, or to be exact, without bearing any forms of 戒心, I realized myself being able to infused into their social circle more easily, and that being with them can too, be really enjoyable (and unlike what I thought of to be of different frequency). I guess at the end of everything, it really has to do with the manipulation of my way of thinking and the attitude I choose to carry with me. Quite a life-changing value I learnt I must say, as it kind of convinced myself to put down my guard against people, and learn to be accept them less conditionally.

Yups, project YELL (sounds odd) has been the most life-transformational experience for me, and I am really glad to have made another new 20+ friends, whilst growing closer to existing ones like Yeechuin. I am darn glad I didn’t quit halfway, but have persevered till now and have gained thus much, and grown as a person. Yeah, we will go back again as facilitators again right right right??? :D

final reflection-racheline

2008-01-13T07:45:00.000-08:00

i realised the time of blogger is wrong! anw, i shall post my reflections up before 2359.

This had been an amazing trip which has somehow cultivated my interest in doing more to help the ones that really need our help. I really had fun playing and interacting with the children, although at times it was tiring and i was on the verge of losing my voice. i was being allocated to teach the primary ones, a bunch of innocent and adorable kids who didn't realise the fact that we were leaving despite telling them repeatedly. they're not exposed to the harshness of reality yet, or perhaps they're jus too young. but that's not the point. To those who are in the upper primary, how has our existence into their lives affected them?we came and we left. i wonder if it is more of a boon or a bane. will they be envious of what we have, or will it inspire them to work harder to attain what we have? it dawned upon me that most of them do not have the opportunity to choose, no matter how hard they work, they'll still be stucked in the poverty cycle. but who knows, there may be miracles ( for the minority). therefore, i feel that no matter how our presence has affected their lives ( be it positively or negatively), we should continue reaching out to them, to inform them of the presence of the world that is beyond their reach at this point of time, to try to help them to reach out to the impossible in one way or another because ----every action/effort counts.

It's sad to realise that not everyone appreciate our presence there, that sometimes it's hard to force people to like us or even accept us. We've stepped into their territories and they may not like it. They may find us a disruption into their lives. That's what i felt when i was in lu chong. We were complainning about the school after the first day ended, and after that night, i questioned my purpose of going to yunnan. i badly wanted to share with them all that i know of. i thought i shouldn't complain anymore no matter how bad the condition is. it's natural tendecy for them to reject strangers like us. we can only try our best to make them more receptive towards us, and really try our very best. we've got what they don't have, and we should be more generous to share with them all that we have.

The mountain climbing experience and walking on the fields gave me a deeper understanding of their daily lives. Most of us live in the luxury of being pampered by computer games, television and whatsoever, but they have to do climb the mountains to look for tree branches once a week.it's their way of life, and they told me that they're used to it... it saddened me.

This trip has allowed me to learn alot, to experience the activities that i will never get to experience if i've not gone on this trip, to know more of the world outside my comfort zone which i may not ever know of, but most importantly, it has instill a passion in me to serve with all i can. i believe that the less fortunate are born to be serve, and the privilleged are born to serve.

racheline

Reflection

2008-01-13T07:43:00.001-08:00

To start off, I want to begin with my reasons for joining the team. Since young, I was influenced by my dad to be caring about the less fortunate people. Thus, I always enjoyed serving the community in any way that I may be of help to. Moreover, I have longed to participate in school based overseas trips. Stories related to me by friends that had experienced such activities never failed to amaze me. It had soon become a dream of mine, a dream I told myself that I must fulfill. Thus, when I came into TJ and heard about the Overseas Outreach Program, I grabbed on to the chance and went for the interview.
The pre-trip was demanding, we are supposed to come up with several fund-raising events to boost our budget for the trip. We held meetings after meetings that are held late in the afternoon that drains most of our energies away. However, the events are fruitful, not only in terms of funds we raised, but the experience we reaped through the event and more importantly, at least to me, the budding friendships among us. For example, the Sports Carnival brought me a little bit closer to Gavin and the Overnight Movie Screening allowed me to know Hong Yu and the gang of three( Miss Koh, Miss/ Mrs. Fong and Mr. Cheng) better.
Although we had 8 months of meetings together, I am not fully aware of who my trip-mates are, until the sudden rush of activities like ACM trip, “Day-Camps” and Haig Girls event do I really get to know the entire squad. However, till then, we were still more or less strangers to each other. I was beginning to worry that the trip would not bring me the joy that I had heard from seniors and what I have imagined. I was really scared that we will continue to be strangers even when we are in China. Thankfully, I was wrong.
Unlike my other companions, I had a rollercoaster ride for my preparations for the trip. My mom and I had applied for Singapore Citizenship in March, but the application was only granted in November!! And I still have to go through loads of paperwork! I was actually scheduled to have my Singapore passport in December! That was crazy, so I rang up the ministry and “had a good chat” with the person in charge. And he decided to push forward my official “getting” of my passport. BLAH BLAH BLAH. Then I was asked to hand in my confirmation slip together with my particulars 3 days before the departure date and was expected to get my passport on the exact date of departure. And OMG!!!!!! You know what? My mom had forgotten to hand in the confirmation slip on 3 days ago!!!(Now you know where I got my absent mindedness from?) So we pleaded the person in charge to do a double quick procedure for me. And 1 hours later, Woala I got my Singapore passport and another 6 hours later I was at the airport. From this incident, I wonders why a procedure that takes just 1 hour requires 2 weeks to process (which is the time required for normal applications, my 3 days one is already express liao) in Singapore.(raise eye-brown)
The trip itself is a magical one. We took a China Eastern flight to Kun Ming, and that was the worst flight I had ever taken; the air-condition was a total screw-up, so warm that it suffocates and the seats are just too cramp to be comfortable. Somehow I fell asleep, its 2am after all.
Firstly, our time with the students in the schools. The students are wonderful people, and the teachers in most of the schools are really welcoming and warm to us. Indeed, the locals WANT to improve their standards of living. The students do know that the only way out of poverty is perhaps good, proper education. That is why they are very hardworking and studious. When asked what their favourite past time is, the common answer is STUDYING. That is really amazing especially for most of us Singaporean students who find learning a real chore. Yet, their progress in education could be hampered by the lack of infrastructure. That is where foreign aid is really required and there is a severe need in transfer of technology. I also realised that there is still many pressing discrimination in Yunnan. The preference of boys over girls and boy dominance is prevalent there. They see no fault in a boy pushing a girl or taking over her territories for games. Secondly, they also discriminate against left-handers. While this may seem trival on its own, it speak about liberty and equality. Being a left hander, i noticed when i started writing, the students started giggling and laughing at me. Later i realised that they were all forced to use their right hands from young. So you can never find a left hander there. You are considered stupid to be using your left hand. Another distressing issue is their lack of teamwork. The students we work with are very much self-centered. They do not understand the whole concept of teamplay and how it could actually reap greater effectiveness in self-improvement. Our activities with them usually rotated about teamplay. Lastly, it is sad that most of the students were not very courtous. Minding their Ps and Qs was a huge problem. Perhaps one of the greatest impact we left with them is to clear the place of rubbish wherever we went and also to say the simple "thank you"s. Other than that, the students are an adorable buch, fun loving and simple people.Next, the road building project. Well, i guess many felt that we were not helping out much in that anyway. What we did, one worker there could have done perhaps 10x better. However, i've learnt that it is not how much we do there or how well its done that matters, our very presence, our donated sum of money, brings attention of the china government to the village. That is what's important. Sustainability. We want the government to take notice. To step forward and help their own people. Building of that road in xun dian is especially important to the villagers there especially in terms of trading. Before, only horses are able to pass through the roads. Many crops grown in the fertile soils inland are wasted and left to whilt in the cold winter season. A huge economic waste and very much a pity, especially when there is a current shortage of food in the world.
However, no matter how much their individualistic and competitiveness scare me, I must really say I’m respect their drive and determination. No matter how poor their studying conditions are, they strive to give their best in studies – studying in the morning before the teacher come, staying back straight after class to finish their homework and no late coming or any sort when they have to WALK an average time of 1.5 hours to reach their school. Don’t these things make us feel guilty? We have air-conditioned classrooms with brand new tables and chairs; we have qualified teachers and high tech equipments to facilitate our study; we have a good transport system that can take us around S’pore in an hour or so. But yet, we complain, we grumble that school sucks; we moan at the amount of homework that we have; we give excuses and whine at how early we have to get up for school when all it takes is barely 30 mins to reach school. I’m sure many feel the same as I do – that this trip certainly made us feel how lucky and fortunate we are to be here in S’pore. And hopefully, we can use this as a motivation to study harder and put in more effort by doing tutorials and listening in lectures =S
Now that the trip is over and we are all back in S’pore, I believe those 14 days will never be forgotten. I thought it was going to be a very very very long journey on the first day and was wondering how I’m going to survive. But time flies, like we always say, and for some funny reasons, I sort of wish to stay over there where there’s no stress, no worries and away from all realities. Its my life, i lived it and i loved it

-Yu Ang

charmaine's final reflection.

2008-01-13T06:38:00.000-08:00

It has never dawn upon me that one day, all the "crazy" meetings will come to an end, no more weekly Saturday meetings, no more of Ms Koh's chasing for documents, no more of fund raising events, no more brainstorming and no more anticipation. Yet, it happen.

To me, this trip was indeed inspiring and at the same time, emotionally trying. As I looked back on how I survived on this trip, I cry. But i cry not because I find joy in overcoming all the tough physical challenges, I cry because I release, I managed to survived through all those emotional toils in a faraway land, no one to confide in.

Do those living conditions caused me to feel grateful of my living in Singapore? Not yet. Indeed, unlike others, the impact of the conditions did not shock me. Instead, it was the children that made a change in me.

Why can't it be like that?
Why can't I do something about it?
Why?

Throughout the trip, one thing stayed on my mind, the children. I have learned that some things cannot be changed, it is just the way it is. As I taught the many classes from the many schools, there is definitely one GREAT PROBLEM I see in them, that is, individualism. There is no sense of teamwork. Much as team bonding help them to work together, there is still this tinge of instinct which tells me that, they are together, because of themselves, they still care only about their survival. How I wished this could change.

But it would not, It is their society. The society forced them to be independent, to fight for oneself, much as it is good, it is bad too. Take the analogy that was talked during our trip, even if we build a much cleaner and better toilet, they would be dirtied by the children in "wan lu qing" primary school, because, cleanliness is not emphasized.

Yes, and one thing I'm glad this trip has brought me, would be that I am further assured that children are my directions in life. Teaching, it brought me joy, frustration and tiredness, YET, I will never fail to look forward to stepping into the classroom, staring at those faces.

Dear children, You reached inside me, I hope I had reached into yours.
You are forever, my promise.

I love physically challenging and adventurous things, so all those trekking and climbing brought fulfillment to my life.

The main gist of how the trip has affected me would actually be the team, the people. And myself, I kept evaluating myself, so much, I detest my actions.

I discovered that:
Friends stop to help when they pass by you
but strangers don't.
Good friends make a detour just to help you
but friends don't.

I am thankful for the relationships I have forged in this team but some things will never change.

- Charmaine is attached to the team, yet at the same time distanced. -

L.J was an interesting event to see how things will eventually be in future. I got to understand people's life better yet at the same time, realized that things will never change, things are fixed, and I am flying.

My 'final' entry is one filled of random thoughts about this trip, thoughts that are not model-answers, thoughts that are not about the same old things, they are just thoughts that occupied my mind 3/4 of the time in yunnan.

to end off,
Will this reflection entry be my final?
my guess is as good as yours.

ZONG YAO'S - REFLECTIONS,FINALE!

2008-01-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

Initially when i began attending the weekly OCIP meetings, i wasn't so enthusiastic and passionate about the trip, because i thought that the administrative work would have somewhat made the trip unattractive and not worth the effort.
As weeks passed, i realised that all the meetings and fundraising projects have nullified the negative feelings i had at the start , and i am certain it's the common goal we have that brought us together.
Nevertheless, nothing can be as good and exciteing as the trip itself.A dream come true for me as i had always wanted to take part in OCIP since Secondary 1. All the exposure, cultural and environmental adaptations i have to take can be overwhelming at times, but that was what i yearn for.
And not to forget the lessons we had with the yunna primary school kids.IT's the best opportunity for us to practise our Mandarin ( ha-ha) andto feel how it is like being a teacher.Altogether we went to 3 different schools.
And each school has it's own unique culture. We had ti adapt to each of them because we had to complete our task which was to educate them.
At the end of the 12th Day. I felt very satisfied with myself for being able to endure through the harsh differences in culture and climate.However, i was saddened by the fact that it may be my last time being here to help them.And i had this eagerness to stay behind for the rest of life ( just because the simplicity of life in the rural region is so enticing).

Not only have i gained much insights from a different world, i've learnt much more about my team members - about their lives , their interests and dislikes. I learnt much more about myself and the period of 2 weeks was one that i did many of my own reflections.

All in all, i am certain the TJ OCIP trip is the stepping stone to a whole lot more of OCIP trips i am going to embark on for the rest of my life.And who knows, maybe when i'm old, i may move over to Yunnan where i can 'reconcile' with my lost-simplicty! =)

woonyee is yelling!

2008-01-13T06:18:00.000-08:00

OK. After looking at all the posts before i start, i'm getting stress up now, why is everyone publishing books and biography?? Maybe everyone is really touched and 有感而发...

Pre-trip
To be honest, I used to dread thursday afternoons, because of ocip meetings. i end 2 periods before 5.30pm, and the meetings usually wouldnt end before 7pm. and most importantly, the process is a long and tiring one. we would go through rounds and rounds of discussions just to decide on what drinks to sell etc. i hate going through all these and in some sense, wasting all my time. in addition, i would have to meet and interact with some weird weird people whom i dont know and not comfortable with working together. i do question why i did sign up in the first place and began to regret, i just wanted to get over and done with it. BUT, the TURNING POINT came. it was the first of several saturday meetings we have in school. through the process of talking, discussing in same groups did i start to feel that it might not be such a horrible trip after all. We fight for our own interpretations of statement, and through these, i began to know more about the people and their thoughts and mindset. i get to know how different they are from me and how similar we are at times. as the departure day approaches, we got closer and closer together. we spent hours packing the stationery from haig girls and dividing the things to bring yunnan. it was then that i felt that everyone in the team is actually contributing, putting all our luggage limits together to maximise the amount of things we can bring over :P.

THE JOURNEY
Before we left singapore changi airport, i was still a bit hesitant about making the first step to talk to the other people. i saw some people gathering at the meeting point, but still walked away to my friends, pretending that i didnt see anything. when i knew that amanda, jumping and i wouldnt be sitting together in that 4-5hours flight, i was upset. but, in that few hours, i found out that there are also many interesting people i can talk to! i've been to china, and seen some of the bad and dirty part of china, thus, i wasnt in for some culture shock or anything when i reach yunnan. see the children for the first time at wan lu qing school woke me from the coming-with-my-family feeling i had. i realised that this time round, i have to actually interact and play with chilren -something that i'm totally not familiar with. as the day pass, i got closer to the children and to the people in the team. everyone told me that i would learn a lot from such a trip and come back a differnt person. but i felt otherwise. i wouldnt say that i've learnt a lot and changed dramatically. i choose to say that through the trip, i see a lot, observe the way of live, livelihood, lifestyle of the people there. maybe through that these i manage to gain an insight to life. i really feel for the people there and hoped that their lives would be better. but thinking about it again and again, i realise that sometimes in life its just like-that. there is a limit to what i or even zhao bing and company can do for the people there. a lifestyle change in something that takes time. no amount of time, effort or labour can help them, and that is their way of life.only with time can there be any change to their current lifestyle. maybe to them, nothing is wrong or bad. (just like how the wan lu qing aunty burnt plastic bags without any hesitant). that would be my greatest takeback. learning that everything in life has its own time. through the various "life journey" sessions, i know more and more about the different individuals in our team. everyone have their own story and the things that they deem important in in life. like what the teachers say at the beginning, "you will meet the team the first thing you wake up and see them seconds before sleep and chances that you might even see them in your dreams." i really did end up dreaming of the team at night...i found out that everyone in the team is wonderful, bringing joy and the teachers are brilliant, taking good care of us.

Ending
i still did dream of the team after the trip, back in my comfortable lovely bed. there would never be a trip like this trip to yunnan. it was a trip to see and look at how the villagers live and spend their lives. and chengmistry is great! we had a difficult time stalking zhao bing and talking to him but it was all worthwhile i guess :P. thankyou everyone for bringing such lovely memories for me. it was all you people that made this such an enjoyable trip for me and encouraged me to pull through. together we can strive to work together to help more people!

28hearts bonded as 1. YELL!

reflections after the trip!

2008-01-13T06:06:00.000-08:00

This trip has really been an enriching and meaningful trip for me! My initial purpose of participating in this was solely to gain experience and enjoy myself. Service was never one of my main reasons. But after this trip my opinion totally changed, service is actually something so meaningful and fulfiling. Besides this trip made me appreciate what i have now, we are fortunate to have all these material wealth and yet people here are complaining about what they don't have. Its really amazing how people over there can lead such a simple lifestyle yet there are many times happier than the people over here. I remembered there was once when our group had a discussion on whether our appearance over there was a good or bad thing. They say that the people are content with their lives, so why should we let them know what they don't have as compared to other people? Doesn't this just make them unhappy? Perhaps this is true, but somehow i feel that we should open them up and let them know more about the world outside. The decision lies in themsleves.
Another thing i will not forget is the sanitary conditions over there! Especially the toilets! oh my, when i first step into the toilet i was totally gross out and i really wondered why i am here to self torture myself. Back then i so wanted to be home. But as the days went by, we got used to it and in retrospect it wasn't that bad after all.Because of that, i have learnt to be more adaptable to suituations. There are many instances when things might appear very unfavourable, but as long as you look on the bright side, it will somehow turn out well.
Personally, the best take back for me is the friendship fostered over there. We were a group of loose sand as what Ms Koh claimed but after this trip we were a lot more bonded! The company of friends over there was great. Still remembered that night when sye yuet was ill, there were many people who was concerned for here and tried to do anything to help out. and another time was that Ms Koh wasn't feeling well, and guess what? The whole team of us actually tried to cheer her up by singing the song that she composed for us. haha! Ms koh, aren't you touched by what we did? We are such nice kids!! Also, i got to know the teachers better, Mr Chueng is always so funny, Ms Fong is just another bimbo!!haha, and not forgetting Ms koh who is so passionate and dedicated to this trip. In order to attend this trip, i gave up the chance to participate in a climbing competition which was actually a great sacrifice for me because i love climbing. And Ms koh asked me if i ever regret doing so, so here i would like to say i never regretted doing so and in fact i am glad i made this choice. So anyway, all good things have to come to an end and this is the end of such a wonderful trip that i will always remember for life. A great thanks to all OCIP-ians and the 3 great teachers for giving me such a wonderful experience! you all will always be remembered by me!!

dearest jesalyn

Denise's final reflection

2008-01-13T05:54:00.000-08:00

Thinking back, it really has been a hell of a ride.

Being the last to get in, the only TA2, crazy team members, endless brain cracking meetings, fun-filled fund-raising events, photo essay project, "road building", endless competitive basketball games, my Brillant Buddy, 蛋糕 (高老师 plz dont kill me XD), the kids, the schools, the scenery, the games, gathering firewood, the programms, getting sick, the songs, and most importantly, the BEAUTIDUL TOILETS!!! Recalling all these really makes me think how i actually got throught it!

The majority of the pre-trip meetings were mostly to prepare us for the trip to Yunnan. Yet, unlike what i had expected, most of them required A LOT OF MY BRAIN JUICE!!! It so reminded me of Language Arts lessons. >.< Anyhow, despite my depletion of brain juice, I've never regreted going through the Service Learning lessons, the trip to ACM, the Haig Girls Event, Movie Marathorn, Open Hose and the selling of the Jigsaw. Time consuming as it may be, I had gain a lot of experience.

The trip itself was the fun-est part. I can still remember the first bus ride from the airport to our destination on the first day. The first thing we witnessed was the Sun rise. It was beautiful. Conincidental as it may be, the straight road we travelled on seemed to lead to the sun. It immediately gave me the thought of a journey to new insights, discoveries and... ...hope. It further opened up my mind.

The weather there was not as bad as expected. In fact, when i was there, i realised that i had brought too much clothes! Being Yunnan, the scenery there was breath taking. okayy.. thats a little too exaggerated but hell, it was still beautiful. Oh and a little observation, the average driver in Yunnan is equivalent to a Pro-driver in Singapore. Just look at their skill and you'll know it!

If i had to pick a favourite school, it would be Wan lv Qing and the school which students shouted "欢迎! 欢迎! 热烈欢迎!" when we came in. However, if you ask me which school kids I liked the most, it would be all. Though the schools may treat us differently, however, kids are still kids. Once we are being familarized with them, we were able to carry out our programs efficiently. And boy it was fun with the team bonding games, nursery rhyme teaching, english lessons, basketball games, teaching of 7 stones, and balloon sculpturing.

The most memorable experience of the whole trip would be the one on gathering firewood. The kids at Wan Lv Qing were practically flying up and down the mountain! They even helped to pull/push us up! And the way they climb the trees, all I can say is WOW! i still remember, when i "walking" back down the mountain with my firewood, i saw a sight which made my stomach clench.. GAO LAO SHI WAS SLACKING UNDER A TREE!!! okayy.. i wont say slacking.. lets say.. enjoying the role of being an empress dowagers sitting under a shady tree with people serving her while enjoying the beautiful scenery. right.. >.<

Oh yes my buddy.. how can i forget.. MISS FONG!!! I really miss the times where people tease you of being a bimbo.. haha.. oh and though i may suan you, i have never called you a bimbo.. hahaz.. juz wondering if you ever realised.. hahaz.. anyway, hope you enjoy your time in Shanghai with your husband.. but in case you read this, i would like to remind you that WE ALL MISS YOU!!! oh yeah.. did you like the pic i drew for you? XD

Now that everything is over, all I can say is that I really miss Yunnan and the time we, YELL, as a team had spent together. Though i had started out not knowing most of you guys other than one or two, though all those time, strong bonds have been formed and I really hope that these bonds would last through time. The last few days we spent as a team were the ones which really touched me. As most of you guys know, ironically, i fell sick during the R&R period but this news only got out on the last day. Reason being, after 11 days of CIP, I'm sure all of you guys would want to spent your leisure time shopping and stuff, and I didnt like the idea of me being a burden to you guys. But still, the care you guys had for me during the last night really touched me.. really... thank you...

I really hope that we as a team can carry out more events/services/justnameit in the future..
I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU GUYS!!!

~LONG LIVE YUNNAN OCIP '07 a.k.a. YELL!!!~

~dENisE

jerome's final reflection (for now. outreach never ends)

2008-01-13T05:43:00.001-08:00

i'm sleepy. woops. sorry. but final reflection's up.

let's start by looking back and recalling why i signed up for this TOO program in the first place. There was that bit of me saying "wow this is gonna be so fun and perfect for my SP!" then there's the part of me which says "i can help save this world(: i can help others" i never had the single inkling that there would be so much learning involved in the process as well.

I got to understand more about the concept of Service Learning (SL). I feel that all the sessions held by the teacher mentors have been really beneficial and enriching. They have helped me develop my mind into one which thinks more deeply, eyes which see beyond the superficial.

Moving on to the time when we actually got going for the fund-raising events. I have to admit, i'm one person who really dislike going round asking my friends to danate. It was a real challenge to me but i feel that it has made me grow stronger in this aspect. I would never do it if i were not fully passionate about this whole project. Especially in selling of the notebooks and jigsaw pieces, it took much courage and thick skin to approach and pester my pals over and over again. Its quite humourous now that i'm recalling it.

Now i shall reflect on the events in Yunnan.
Firstly, our time with the students in the schools. The students are wonderful people, and the teachers in most of the schools are really welcoming and warm to us. Indeed, the locals WANT to improve their standards of living. The students do know that the only way out of poverty is perhaps good, proper education. That is why they are very hardworking and studious. When asked what their favourite past time is, the common answer is STUDYING. That is really amazing especially for most of us Singaporean students who find learning a real chore. Yet, their progress in education could be hampered by the lack of infrastructure. That is where foreign aid is really required and there is a severe need in transfer of technology. I also realised that there is still many pressing discrimination in Yunnan. The preference of boys over girls and boy dominance is prevalent there. They see no fault in a boy pushing a girl or taking over her territories for games. Secondly, they also discriminate against left-handers. While this may seem trival on its own, it speak about liberty and equality. Being a left hander, i noticed when i started writing, the students started giggling and laughing at me. Later i realised that they were all forced to use their right hands from young. So you can never find a left hander there. You are considered stupid to be using your left hand. Another distressing issue is their lack of teamwork. The students we work with are very much self-centered. They do not understand the whole concept of teamplay and how it could actually reap greater effectiveness in self-improvement. Our activities with them usually rotated about teamplay. Lastly, it is sad that most of the students were not very courtous. Minding their Ps and Qs was a huge problem. Perhaps one of the greatest impact we left with them is to clear the place of rubbish wherever we went and also to say the simple "thank you"s. Other than that, the students are an adorable buch, fun loving and simple people.

Next, the road building project. Well, i guess many felt that we were not helping out much in that anyway. What we did, one worker there could have done perhaps 10x better. However, i've learnt that it is not how much we do there or how well its done that matters, our very presence, our donated sum of money, brings attention of the china government to the village. That is what's important. Sustainability. We want the government to take notice. To step forward and help their own people. Building of that road in xun dian is especially important to the villagers there especially in terms of trading. Before, only horses are able to pass through the roads. Many crops grown in the fertile soils inland are wasted and left to whilt in the cold winter season. A huge economic waste and very much a pity, especially when there is a current shortage of food in the world.

Lastly for the trip, my group "chengmistry" did a project based on the life of our project coordinator, Zhao Bin. Through his sharing on his life experiences, i have learnt many things about his job scope and what sustains him. Well, before taking on a project, or deciding which village to help, the very first thing he needs is the support of the village head. The village head have to first WANT to help his own people, taking the initiative to approach zhao bin before anything else. Next comes the sustainability of the project. There is no point and no meaning in conducting a project which would only last a few months and the village regress and die off. They have to finally find their own feet and progress on their own. Finally comes the accessibility and the ability of foreign helpers. Zhao Bin only earns about S$20 a day when there's a group around. It shows that he does not do it for the money, but actually its his passion to help his people. So what actually sustains him is his family's support, his mentor Dr Tan, the feeling that he is important, our happiness and the smiles on the children's and the villagers' face. I am truely inspired by this man. I want to do more to be like him.

I'll end off this set of reflections with some take-aways from this trip.
1. i've understood the delicate balance in life, how some must give so others may recieve; how some fall while others stand strong
2. Learning and Growing takes place anywhere and everywhere. Be it going for a home visit or cooking or simply going to the market. Perhaps i'm learning even by typing all these(:
3. A new motto: Life is meaningful if I make it meaningful. "TOO is beneficial if time if I make it beneficial"
4. All the wonderful friendships i've made and understanding my new found friends better through breaking of ourselves in "Life Journey"

That's all. Y.E.L.L. one of the most amazing experiences in my life.

Yijie's final reflection(:

2008-01-13T05:31:00.000-08:00

I think I would not have been able to do up this final reflection without my journal.

The pre-trip sessions are really important. Without that, I would not have known the true meaning of service learning and would not have as much ownership to the project that I had right now. I think the S-L game left us into thinking a lot.

On the very first day, Wan Lv Qing Primary already left me a very great impression. The Principal, teachers and students really warmly welcomed us and made us feel at home right away. The students were also extremely friendly and helped us moved our luggage to the place that we were staying.
The living conditions were also bad as compared to Singapore. However, I learnt that money is not put in to build a better toilet as it is actually their way of life and we should try to adapt to it. The weather there was also another challenge for us as it fluctuates a lot throughout the day.

The most unforgettable experience I guess would be the mountain climbing to collect firewood. I was with three very helpful girls from the primary four. We went quite high up to chop the firewood and tied them into a bundle. Of course, it was the girls who helped me and I realized that mine was really half compared to theirs. The slope was actually VERY steep. Climbing up was better because we were not carrying anything but the girls were practically pulling me up and I was thinking if I were to slip, we would all fall down together. The way down was so scary and obviously being pulled down by the girls again.

I guess all of us were quite sad to leave the first school as we had already formed a close bond with them through the various activities that we had together. It seems that the children do really remembered what you have done for them. And the question that I do not want to hear was those children asking when we will be back. Deep down we would very much like to go back but it is not up to us to decide as well. If we had the chance to return to this school, I am sure that the children will still remember us no matter what.

It was definitely an experience that we are able to visit four schools for this trip. However, for the road project, I just felt that we were not able to do what we could due to the weather. On the other note, I am glad that our funds were still able to help the village by opening up a road so that they could increase their income and not let the crops gone to waste.

For my group, the photo essay helped us a lot in understanding the preparations behind this whole trip. It was really fun thinking of ways to approach Zhao Bin and discussing the questions that we were to ask him.

Our team is actually one which loves singing and it has really spice up the whole journey. Last but not least, Ms Koh, Ms Fong, Mr Cheng and the rest of the YELL team, thank you so much for your care and support. I could not have made it without you guys. =)

Priscilla's final reflections.

2008-01-13T05:23:00.000-08:00

omg. everyone is writing so long reflections..

for me.

pre-trip
i was real excited abt this ocip thing when i first heard about it. so i signed up super eagerly. then came the interview and i thought i screwed it up but i got in so yay.
i didn't think much about all those pre-trip meetings and all. i thought they were just a waste of time at first. but as meetings got more intensive and interactive and all, i found that they were actually quite useful in terms of mental preparation. and through the meetings, i managed to open up more and all too! the fund-raising events were really good bonding sessions too.

actual trip
environment: i was so not looking forward to going on the trip, mainly because of the conditions i've heard about and the images going in my head. but it wasn as bad as everyone thinks it was. All we needed was just tissues and the feng you! haha. and i realise i didn do much "sight-seeing" due to me sleeping most of the time in the bus.

programmes: i think the programme that left the most impression on me was the teaching at the primary schools. esp at wan lu qing. i find that the kids are really different from s'pore kids. i feel more appreciated there. although we faced some difficulties at lu chong, we managed to survive our days there. i've never thought that i would get satisfaction from teaching the kids, as to me, my main aim there was to build the road? haha. then the "road-building" thing was, to me, a lil not meaningful. i didn feel a purpose in clearing the roads. somehow, i felt that we were more of a hindrance. however, i felt the care of everyone in the team, coz we cared of each other and helped one another.

general: i enjoyed the trip to a certain extent only. to me, there was this piece of enjoyment missing in me. i guess a large part of it was due to my mum-sickness. i missed my mum alot and i cried everyday when i called home. so i didn really immerse myself into everything i did. but i would say that i don't regret going on the trip. i made friends. learnt alot of things through every single activity. and i eventually realised that i was never alone through the whole journey.

post-trip
i missed the team, esp the few close friends i made on the trip. i missed the simple life. and the kids. i learnt to enjoy the life i have in s'pore. and of course appreciate my mum more. i do regret not enjoying myself more on the trip, because i know i will never meet as wonderful a team as YELL.
though i am like not in tj and all, i will be back to help if time permits! yay!

yay, i'm done. its short, but its all that i can reflect, because to me, my deepest feelings in deep inside my heart.

Amanda’s Reflections for YELL

2008-01-13T04:23:00.000-08:00

Since the beginning of march, when I signed myself up for the trip, so much has happened – different experiences, different emotions, and of course different people. Somewhat and somehow, the whole journey has come to an end and to think that I find everything slow moving in the beginning. I still remember sitting in a classroom with a sea of unfamiliar faces one evening in April not knowing what to expect from this trip. Despite the uncertainty surrounding it, I took the risk, completed the trip and perhaps have gotten the most I could out of it.

Pre-trip
Though the trip was only 2 weeks but it took a whole 8 months to plan. I must admit that in the beginning I was shocked that the teachers want all of us to be involved in the planning. It was truly something that I didn’t expect. I thought that I am simply just going there to give my all and help the people there (that’s why I was at the big S, small L). Nevertheless through the numerous activities and meetings the teachers painstakingly planned, my perceptions on the trip changed. This trip is not only about the people the people in Yunnan but about me learning too. I still remember being in the fund raising team and those activities we organized – selling drinks, movie marathon, book sales, jigsaw sales. Though these events has been reduced to a few words but the memories of them is still within my mind. To think about it, we have spent so many activities and meetings together even before the trip began.

The Beginning - the HARD time
This 14 or 15 days is an out of the world experience for me as it was my first time visiting China. I still remember the day of the flight, a few friends and I were at the airport and they were teasing about how harsh the conditions in China were. At that time, I was really worried and lots of things were going through my mind and for once I felt a tinge of homesickness though theoretically I was still in Singapore. I boarded the plane, hoping to get it done and over with.

My first impression of China came across as “like any other developing country I been to”. After all, driving on the roads to the village, I was bombarded by the sights of tall buildings, wooden houses, shophouses, roadside stalls, huge trucks and 3-wheeled vehicles that seem familiar to those I had seen in Thailand.

Naturally, that was in the city and town and the big shock came when I stepped foot upon the first village. Firstly the scenery was breath-taking, rows after rows of fields, tall green mountains, sandy roads and mud-brick houses. It was like those documentaries and drama serials I had seen on China but without the stench from the toilet, the bumpiness of the roads, the hidden bugs and the grains of sand constantly whiffing about in the wind.

When we were preparing the rooms, I was shocked to see it infested with ladybugs and flies fluttering around plus crawling about the straw mats. However, nothing can be compared to the shock I gotten from the village toilet. The smell and the flies struck me so badly that I did not even dare to step into it, plus it doesn’t help that there were rumors of maggots sightings by the guys. When I returned to the girl’s room, I finally cried. For the first time, I asked myself “Why am I here?”, “How stupid was I to come here instead of remaining in Singapore?”,etc. For a moment, all my reasons for coming to Yunnan was reduced to nothing, I felt really helpless as I still have 13 more days to go. Thankfully, I remembered that God is with me all the time, whether I am in Singapore or Yunnan and he will be constantly looking out and protecting for me. It was this thought that I managed to settle down and kept me through the whole trip. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it!

The children
We went to 4 different primary schools throughout the trip and we taught in each one of them. Though in the beginning I was apprehensive to approach and interact with the children but I soon realize that they are just like any primary school kid in Singapore. Teaching the children really makes me feel that the whole trip is worthwhile, though maybe naughty and disrespectful at times but the smiles on their faces radiates the purest form of happiness that is absent from the cold world of adults.

Of all the schools we have been, I thought that the experience at Lu Chong Xiao Xue was the most enriching for me. Though the students there are the most mischievous but I can see the change in their attitudes towards us as we came back and taught them the second time. They were more friendly and enthusiastic to us not. It is not that the children and the other schools weren’t but to see such change really showed that we have managed to impact them in some way or another. I felt glad that the team had given the children there an insight of foreign volunteers.

I shall not talk about the wood-cutting trip but it has shown me how to appreciate life more.

The villagers
They are really very nice. Even though they may not be rich but they are certainly friendly. We had received numerous invitations to come to their house for a meal though we do not know each other in a single walk alone. Through the home visit and the 2 dinners we had at the villagers’ house, it showed me their generosity and how big hearted they could be, giving us the best treatment they can. Somehow after the 2 dinners I could not help but feel guilty, wondering how much have these kind villagers spent on preparing such a grand dinner for the 28 of us. I was also envious of their closely knitted community.

-------

Gosh, I dislike writing about such trips. There are so many things, so many feelings deep down and incidents to keep a record of. There are so many scenes flashing through my mind and it is impossible to put all of them down in words.

I shall just conclude now. This trip may not be a smooth sailing one but it has impacted me. It opened my eyes to the world around me and taught me so many things. How a group of us, in a short period of 10 days would leave an everlasting impact on the people there. Also Yunnan has made me appreciate my family and life in Singapore much more. Most importantly, it has shown me how much I have grown and more about myself. This trip has given me the an enormous sense of accomplishment that I could never get out of my academic results.

Thank you Ms Koh, Ms Fong, Mr Cheng and the YELL team for making this trip an unforgettable one for me (:

pinqi's reflection

2008-01-13T03:41:00.000-08:00

woohoo~~~super long..i mean i took a very long time to type!!jacq!!i m here...

This reflection is guided by post trip reflection form which is adapted from the youth expedition project reflection form because there is so much that I learnt from this trip and I don’t know where to start.

Right from the very beginning, I joined OCIP with the intention of giving a service. Though I knew I can learn and experience a lot from the trip, my main intention was still to help the community over there. However, my opinion changed slightly after the various discussions we had. I began to understand that there is a limit to what we can do to help, however, everything that we do, observe, hear, touch, feel can have an impact on my own life and we can learn something from almost everything. (why not a service in singapore you might ask, i believe it is very different, and an experience there could enrich me and give me new ideas!and btw.i do service locally too)

One very memorable activity we had before the trip is the well planned open discussions by the teachers: S-L activity, Yes, No, Maybe discussion. These activities opened up my mind and allowed me to rethink about my opinions regarding some issues, for example, what form of service is most necessary for the host community. Also, these activities gave me a chance to understand my team mates better, in terms of their views. Most importantly, I came to understand that although we have the same goal, we might look at things from a different angle and there is really no right or wrong!

Pre-trip was also rather tiring. The darkest time was probably seeing our hard work produce very minimal results. Moreover, the whole team was rather separated and that was worrisome and disappointing. Though I m not sure if I enjoyed that part of the pre-trip at all, I can gladly say that I made a new good friend JACQ! mainly because of the “sai-kang” we did together, and it is worth it(: and I think I can make a good salesgirl for charity, though I do not aspire to be one. Finally, I come to understand that fundraising was a process/ hardship, that we were tasked to go through, it is really not about how much money we can raise as the teachers had applied for sponsorship already. I’m glad we really pulled through as a team during the trip and became a united group of friends.

Honestly, I had a reluctance to go for the trip (though it was not my first trip without my family) and later, a reluctance to come back to Singapore. Upon reaching Yunnan, I became charged up and excitedly await our first task. However, I remember feeling so bored on that day. Besides arranging our sleeping area, exploring the conditions around the school and writing journal, I did not do anything much. In the night, during our group discussion, I then realize that I should have taken the initiative to go down to interact with the kids there. Well, everyone makes mistake, so I decided to change and be more proactive.

One part of the trip which I enjoyed the most is Life Journey (LJ). It gives me great insights to learn from each others’ experiences and also triggered me to reflect on my whole life and some other issues of life too. It is also a great bonding session as I learn to embrace the actions of our team mates and understand them. It feels great when we trusted each other and could pour our hearts to the whole team. This is an activity that I might consider to introduce to my other organizations so that we can become closer too!
The photo essay is one activity which helped me focus better. It zooms in to one specific topic which we are interested to find out about. It gives a sense of purpose, besides just giving a service to the host country. Chengmistry bonded well during the activity, and had not much if not no problems with task allocation like interviewing and taking photos, however, we were struggling and did not know if we should continue on the topic on Zhao Bing or switch to our backup plan. Lucky for our group, we had support of each other and Mr Cheng, we persevered and finished our project successfully. It was really not as easy as taking a photo as we were not professionals and taking photo of a person in an act is like ?!! (I don’t know how to describe that). And quoting from Zhao Bing: “那简直就是偷拍嘛！” yup, professional paparazzi okay!! Record of 2041 photos (my tablet hang when I open that folder lo)

Thinking back about the schools and home visit, I cannot exactly pinpoint the lesson learnt. It was a different experience from the schools in the city. And it was a great chance to learn to deal with different people from different background. However, there are still so many question marks I yet to find an answer about. You’ll see below.

Probably one thing I can say is “ignorance is bliss”, as they are contented and happy with their life. But from another point of view, I think that many of the children deserve a chance to break out of their poverty cycle. Some of them are very bright and really obedient and matured, even at the age of 7. And I think they are deprived of that chance. But then again, what can we do as students from a foreign country? Even if we could give them the chance to study in the city/abroad, is it a good thing? And how many kids can we help? Is visits from us and teaching them simple english enough? Then again, 勿以善小而不为, so it will still make an impact on them, big or small.

Also, the last school which is nearer to the town was like an indication that made me have a hypothesis. They did not really welcome us, unlike the other schools which were more rural. This made me think that not everyone appreciates our help, especially those who already have a taste of the urban life. But should we still help? No matter what, I think that was a lesson learnt definitely, if not for that school, probably we will continue to think that they need/want our help.

One issue that we briefly discussed about is whether we should give them the sweets or not. Of course it is not about the sweets, it is the broader issue about dependency and whether by doing that they will expect the other teams to do the same too. Maybe it is true, as the previous paragraph about the last school states, they take us for granted and do not appreciate us anymore. Maybe that is a wrong signal sent out by us (the foreign teams in general) too.

Another broader issue was the government’s indifference to the development of rural areas. We found out about this only when we talked to Zhao Bing. This made me admire Zhao Bing’s “movement” very much. It is a very noble job that not everyone could undertake. A sheer 100 RMB per day (only when there are teams) is a testimony of his passion towards his job. This is so different from just coming over to do a service learning project for 2 weeks. But it is the indifference of the government that surprised me. Maybe China is too big, and the government does not know where to start? So in a way, the money that we are donating for the road works and all is still important, right?

We only stayed in the schools for three days and the accommodation of the rest of the trip was the hotel. I think it is a blessing in disguise, though we thought it would be a good experience to live in the village (as we would not be able to experience it in Singapore). This is because the team could bond even better in the comfortable environment, like talking till late at night. Also, we are more energized to start work the next morning due to a good night’s sleep. It also made me realized that adaptability and safety is more important and we must 见机行事 and must know how to react quickly to solve or prevent problems.

Well, there is just too much for me to put down in words. Maybe I’ve missed out some things, but I guess the main points are there. And reading other people’s reflection will somehow trigger to think about the other important issues too. And The smaller details like going to the market, cooking, toilet-ing, traveling, road building, dealing with P1 kids, singing, collecting the firewood and plain chatting are all in my sub conscious mind and journal so I would not elaborate.

Finally and finally, thank you to the people reading this, cos’ you’ll probably not understand my incoherence. And most importantly, I cannot thank you enough teachers and team mates of YELL!! I will remember you(:

JiaHe's Final Reflecition

2008-01-13T02:21:00.000-08:00

Alright. This is 7.20pm on a Sunday evening and I realized barely 5 have blogged. So I shall now post what I have to say on this final reflection so mine won’t be the latest post which will be read by most people when they come to this blog =S

I must say that my opinion of outreach programmes have changed after joining this OCIP Yunnan team. In the past, when anyone mention about CIP, I would be thinking of things like what they need, what I’ve to do to improve their living condition, ways to help them etc. These thinking, although not intentionally, reflect our mentality towards the people that we are ‘helping’ – They are inferior to us and we people, as the superior ones, are going to help them. Indeed, this is what I felt when I first heard of OCIP as I believe that it is no different from CIP that we had in primary/secondary school. However I slowly got rid of these thinking when we started discussing what exactly is service learning.

Another aspect which had got me thinking quite a lot would be the magnitudes of service and learning and how it should be. Yes, the ideal would definitely be a big-S and a big-L whereby we maximize both service and learning. However, after the trip and doing some reflections, I realize there is a limit to everything, except learning. If we look at the amount of things we can do to help them, be it to improve their living conditions or help them financially, there’s always a limit to the level that we can help. But learning from this experience is different, definitely. We can’t deny the fact that we’ve learnt more than we’ve served and that’s the primary reason why I feel it’s small-S big-L. But we can always improve and someday I hope that we can achieve the ideal: Big-S Big-L.

Alright, enough for the ‘boring’ stuff and on to some experience that I had during the trip. What really scared me was how competitive the children there are. Seriously, if Singapore is already considered as very competitive, I’ve got no idea what is it over at China. Maybe it’s due to the fact that they are all very individualistic – no sharing, no giving in and no such thing as ‘teamwork’. Everything they do, everything they carry out is for no one but themselves. It is very obvious that they struggle from the games that we play with them, especially games that require teamwork. But yes, that’s how they’re brought up and there’s nothing we can do in that short 14 days – kind of helpless yea, aren’t we?

However, no matter how much their individualistic and competitiveness scare me, I must really say I’m respect their drive and determination. No matter how poor their studying conditions are, they strive to give their best in studies – studying in the morning before the teacher come, staying back straight after class to finish their homework and no late coming or any sort when they have to WALK an average time of 1.5 hours to reach their school. Don’t these things make us feel guilty? We have air-conditioned classrooms with brand new tables and chairs; we have qualified teachers and high tech equipments to facilitate our study; we have a good transport system that can take us around S’pore in an hour or so. But yet, we complain, we grumble that school sucks; we moan at the amount of homework that we have; we give excuses and whine at how early we have to get up for school when all it takes is barely 30 mins to reach school. I’m sure many feel the same as I do – that this trip certainly made us feel how lucky and fortunate we are to be here in S’pore. And hopefully, we can use this as a motivation to study harder and put in more effort by doing tutorials and listening in lectures =S

Now that the trip is over and we are all back in S’pore, I believe those 14 days will never be forgotten. I thought it was going to be a very very very long journey on the first day and was wondering how I’m going to survive. But time flies, like we always say, and for some funny reasons, I sort of wish to stay over there where there’s no stress, no worries and away from all realities. But that’s life and I’ve a friend who always says – Life, is a joke I didn’t get.

-Jia He

Gavin Final Reflection

2008-01-13T01:42:00.000-08:00

I happen to read Jia Xiang's reflection right before this post, and i noticed that he has tons of quotes. And I must admit, that they were quite effective cause these quotes are the only thing that i still can remember now (after 10seconds reading). But I wont be "quoting".

As my final reflection, I think that I will be posting one of my First reflections of the trip, instead of a overall reflection, because i believe nobody else will be doing that.

3rd day, 4.45pm. Thursday. 15/11/2007

What we did:
1. Mushroom chicken instant noodles
2. hygiene lessons (teaching)
3. Asked about the students' lives
4. Played marble
5. Lunch, pasta with rice
6. Firewood 'hunting'
7. Basketball
8. Life journal

As usual, I was awoken by the cheerful enthusiastic voices of the primary school students, especially the pre-schoolers who are just having lessons in the room next to ours. For the first time, the girls woke up earlier. On a side note, I woke up with a bad sore throat.

And as usual, I preferred instant noodles to bread and with lots of saturated fats. Reason? It's really taste. Next i had to teach the students about hygiene, which i believe they were not particularly interested in. Most of them don't have the appropiate facilities and more importantly, it's very difficult to change one's culture and way of life.

For my project, I had to probe and analyze the education system in this particular village. And i found out, surprisingly or not, all of the students enjoyed studying. Most of them aspires to be able to study in a secondary school or equivalent, and thereafter enter university (but according to the principal, only a minority population is privileged enough to be able to). The class i was assigned to teach for the whole duration was a primary six class.

Nextly, I played marble with the students. The students kept giving in to me. And finally, I've won. The kids are so accurate with their shots that I'm very much impressed.

For lunch, we had pasta which group Chengmistry prepared for the whole team. It tasted good, but the noodles that they originally planned to prepare, soured. And was fed to the pigs of a very nice lady who helps us all the time for cooking. I had several conversations with her, and i found out that she finds sending her children to school not too expensive (when it should be, giving her circumstances) which I believe is due to the fact that the villagers fully understand the importance of education. Each semester cost 100-200RMB and there are two semesters a year. This lady rears two pigs where one will be slaughtered once a year (to be eaten by the family through the following year) and the other sold for 1000RMB at the village market.

Firewood-hunting was a horrible but probably inspiring experience. The terrain was very bad. We had to climb up high on a steep and slippery mountain, and there were many flies. I was embarrassed to be more of a trouble than help to the two chinese students along with me, and they kept insisting I stay where I was for my own safety (but of course i din't). What touched me most was that they further insisted on carrying my share of the firewood. The rationale they provided was because they understood that it's my first time in the high mountains and thus it might be dangerous for me with a heavy load to descend the mountain. But it was'nt my first time, I had past experiences in trekking from OBM, rockclimbing and et cetera. The students was also very curious about my country, bombarding me with questions about Singapore. I've also noticed that, despite their poor background, they do not gather expensive plants (which they can recognise), be it plants used for traditional chinese medicine or for display. For example, they found this lan hua, a species of flower which can fetch a price of even 1000RMB. When asked why, they told me big issues such as environmental degradation and the love for environment. Their maturity, despite their young age, surprised me alot.

Gavin Loh

jiaxiang =)

2008-01-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

one bigbig afternoon and jiaxiang is here to blog reflection -.- hoho. okay.. it wont be a very long reflection either.. not tt gd with words.. =)

hmm. first of all have to say about the weather.. err, well i survived. before the trip i am little worried tt my permanent injuries and body conditions would sorta hinder the stuffs tt im going to do in yunnan.. but haha it turned out, hoho not bad? =) im not tt gd at adapting after all, so i took first 4 days to adjust to the environment.. and i tot the toilet wasnt tt bad.. except the hospital one.. it's some sort of a housefly nest i guess. hoho im the KING HOUSEFLY dun forget >.< another thing, perhaps i will never get as enthu as the kids in yunnan.. in studies i mean. well i don personally feel xian mu-ing the kids there coz they are so passionate about studying, i jus feel.. hmm at least you all love study. jus feel glad for you all..

and.. i agreed to wad woonyee said during the last ocip meeting on final reflections.. yep, there's really nth we can do, much. they are living there. tts the reality.. in the first village, the da shen who cooked for the Yo! group.. we went her hse to have a chat with her. and i rmbed her saying, tt maybe she will nv be able to step out of here.. at tt moment, i admit my heart really sank. in normal situation i would have rebuke and say, "stop saying you cant, or you will never." perhaps it just sounds meaningful, but there's no meaning to it actually. in reality, there's always a limit to everything that we can do.. i cant do anything at tt moment, i've nothing to give. perhaps prayer, that she will be able to live to the fullest.. and all the best to her children. perhaps you wont want to step out of here, coz you nv know how complicated it is the world out there. or maybe i should say, i will nv know how complicated it is the world in there. you've taught me something - i have limits. but ive learnt something from that too.

"I'll go beyond that, and I will. Not because I must. But because I need to. I don't a have choice."

indeed, somehow i've grown stronger.. stronger than before i went to the trip..

and ofcoz, i bliv most of us will tok about the gathering firewoods experience. hmm. thanks to that little boy. you made me realise im weak after all. not being sacarstic here. weak, depends on how you interpret it.. haha you'll never know what my weak refers to.

"thanks.. and all the best to you in your secondary school.."

i think im going to end my reflections soon. i know it's pathetic. coz its so v short as compared to others. but somehow, those are the most important stuffs that ive learnt from this trip.

"Different mindset... different ways.. different.
All different. "

"Simple, is complicated.
there's nothing that is simple..
if you think it's simple,
you're more complicated that i thought."

"Yu qiang zhe qiang.. That's me. Show me, and I'll show you. "

"No matter.. No matter how hard you try and how hard you fall..
Just fight.
At the most you lost all your energy and collapse..
It's nothing more scary than giving up. "

"I will manage.. somehow..
-jiaxiang "

3.11pm, 13/1/2008

Jacquelyn's FINAL Reflectionsss

2008-01-12T09:51:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes I said post by tonight so I shall 以身作则 and blog my also. If I did not guess wrongly you are Pin Qi, right roommate? Tell me if I am wrong.

I must admit that our teachers have done a very great job before the trip in getting the entire team prepared to learn something out from the trip. We were being put into many discussions during pre-trip meetings to discuss on our main purpose for the trip and also not to mention service-learning was one of the hottest debate that our team had.

After several discussions and reflections, I feel that my opinion of service-learning is that it is a form of experiential learning through community service from which we can learn and grow from important educational experience that will contribute to our personal discovery and development. As we are involved in meeting real community needs, community services provides a rich learning environment for us as experiential learning facilitation methods are used to draw out the learning points for us. Although based on the actual evaluation of the trip that I have been through, my stand would be (s, L). Personally, I feel that service-learning places equal emphasis on service and learning. Learning enhances service, service enhances leaning, and we cannot deny the fact that it is a self-perpetuating cycle. Thus, my opinion of (S, L) will still stand even if asked about both importances again.

I feel that the process of thinking and learning have been put in place very well by the teachers for the team as all of us were very comfortable in sharing our thoughts throughout the trip since we dared to voice out our opinions as and when we do not agree to certain issues discussed. Through all these discussions that we had from the start to the end of the trip, it have definitely made us open up our thoughts and give more in depth thinking about the things that we went through.

Next, although many disliked the idea of doing a photo essay suggested initially because is like another dreadful PW, after all grumbling, all of us still work hard to complete it and eventually we began to love it as we get involved with the task at hand. It is not as bad as we have thought; in fact it is much more interesting than PW. With all the efforts put in by all members to contribute to the project, I am very proud to say that we have successfully completed the photo essays and it was very well done for all groups.

This is the 2nd overseas service trip that I have been to, but this is the first that I have diligently written down my reflections for every day that I have experienced in the country. I felt that by doing so, I could recall back most of the things which happened during the trip when I read through my reflection (which is something I enjoy doing) even though the trip might have passed for a long time.

I strongly feel that this trip has really made me appreciate my present life even more and it also taught me to be contented with what I am having now. Although, many of us shared our experiences on the supposedly tough road that we have been through during in our life, I think probably some of our life journey may not seem to be as tough as the children in Yunnan. Many of us are definitely much fortunate as compared to the kids in Yunnan. They live with the simplest life that we can ever imagine it to be.

We went to four primary schools, namely Wan Lv Qing Primary, Yang Liu Primary, Lu Chong Primary and Xiao Jie. Through our interactions with the kids in the first primary school, Wan Lv Qing Primary, we realized that many do not have electricity at home and are forced to study in the dark or used light from the moon if there is a need to do so. However, despite the many difficulties that they may face during studying, nothing stopped their enthusiasm to learn more things from books. Many would go to school willingly as early as 6am in the morning to practice self-study in school since that is the only place where they have excess to electricity. Secondly, many of the students in this primary school told us that they stay very far from school. Many of them have to run for as long as 1 entire hour up and down mountains in order to reach school in time for their self-study lessons since they do not have accessible public transport like we do in Singapore. In Singapore, we complain for having to wake up early to take the bus for about an hour to reach school, however these kids who run for 2 hours every day to reach school did not make any complain at all. These kids have really earned my true respect and admiration for them and I would really hope to learn from them.

Another new thing that I have experienced in this school is going up to the mountain to chop firewood. Having lived I an urban city for the past 17 years, all I have to do is turn the notch on the cooking stove and I will have my fire blazing hot in front of me. However, things were different when we were over at China. We had to start our own fire to cook every meal by burning more and more firewood. And on this special day, 15 Nov 2007 (Thursday) happened to be their chopping of firewood day for the school. All students in the school had to be involved in this activity and since we are at the school, we also accompanied them along in this school activity. We learnt from the students that this is a 3 times a week that that they have to do for the school, but all responded that they were very willing to do this for the school and are very happy being given a chance to serve the school. This is something I was very shocked to hear coming from students as young as 10. Students in the village were very selfless and are very enthusiastic in doing things to help their own school. This is also another great learning point which I have picked up from them through the chopping of firewood.

Along the way up the mountain, we had to cross through small rivers, walk across vegetable fields, walk on mud walls and climb up very steep slope before reaching the top. The route was challenging for urban kids like the 25 of us since this is the first time all of us are doing such things. I remembered very clearly that day I was walking with my group of P4 kids, when come to the part where there is steep slope leading to the mountain top, one boy named Xiao Quan, immediately put out his hand to offer his help to me up the mountain. Suddenly, I felt very very touched at that moment and was filled with admiration for him. Despite being still young at his age, he knows how to care for others and offer his help to me when he knows I needed it the most at that point of time. That one moment was indeed one that I will never forget in this entire trip.

Yang Liu Primary also left a deep impression on me. The studying environment at that particular school was also very terrible as compared to the classrooms that we have in Singapore. Their classrooms were very dark, although there was a light bulb in each class but none was switched on because all were spoilt. Hence, students have to study in dark environments. Besides that, furniture was in very bad conditions in the sense that tables and chairs were toppling. Roof tops were also leaking thus affecting students studying conditions. However, students were also enthusiastically engaged in all lessons and learning still takes place as usual.

Students at Xiao Jie were very welcoming; they cheered all the way upon our arrival and we were warmly welcomed into their classes although they knew that we will only be there having lessons with them for that one day only. Although the students at this school were slightly better off than the previous two schools, they did not show any proud attitude in them and all were as accepting as the previous two schools. The only difference that we received from them is that we sort of have a mini autograph session after our lessons with them. They were rushing to get our names and well wishes written in their small exercise books after lessons. It was indeed a wonderful experience that I have never tried before in my entire life.

The last school, Lu Chong Primary, came as a shock to many of us. Probably, I can say that it is a challenge given to test all of us. This is because we did not receive much support from the school itself and the students at this school was much difficult to deal with as compared to the other three. They were much rowdier especially the P6 class that Gavin, Jesalyn and Yu Ang have taken. They have no respect for our members and were at total defiance. After the first and second day with the students, many of us were full of complaints and did not want to go back to the school on the last day. However, after given time to think what we really want to achieve at the end of it, majority still chose to go back to Lu Chong. Ms Koh, the brave one, decided to take on the challenge on the last day to step into the P6 class to teach at the later part of the day. And yes, she managed to subdue all these little monsters in the P6 class of Lu Chong just like what she has done it in CCSS by making friends with the big boss in the class. The rest of us also learnt to change our teaching methods and attitude towards our individual classes within the short period of 1 day so that it would make our time spent with them slightly better. This is something I have learnt that is to adapt to the environment we are in and not try to change the environment to adapt us and I think all of us did a good job for that.

Home stays during our time at Lu Chong was also one memorable experience for me. That was when we got really close interviews with the adults living in the village. As Lu Chong was a village with majority being Chinese Muslims, we tried to learn more by asking about their common practices and compared their practices to the Muslims in Singapore. Both Muslims from 2 countries shared similar beliefs such as cannot eat pork, celebrate Hari Raya and their poultry have to be brought to a person named “Ah Hong” to pray before consumption. The only 2 differences that they have are it is not compulsory for the Muslims in China to go to the Mosque to pray every on every Fridays, they can do so whenever they feel there is a need. Secondly, the Muslims in China do celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. These are some interesting cultural facts that we have learnt through this trip.

Last but not least, there are also learning points which I have taken back from my team members as well. I learnt to be passionate about giving to others selflessly such as volunteering to help in cooking and washing up although it might not be our group’s turn. I also knew the importance of giving words of encouragement to one another when something has been done well so that others feel that their efforts have been recognized. This can be as simple as saying “Thank You” to the people cooking for that particular meal and giving positive comments about the food and gobble up the negative ones (hahax just joking). Also, 没有局限地分享 of life journey also allowed me to understand each of my members and teachers better, which is something I enjoyed very much. This is because by doing so 我不知不觉又多了几位知心的朋友.

In conclusion, I have indeed learnt a lot from this trip and have not regretted signing up for it until now and will not also in the future. I guess all of us will share this common belief.

Cheers! Jacquelyn Wan :)

2008-01-12T08:36:00.000-08:00

jac said that we have to post our reflections by tonight. so i should start early.

though i must say i didn't consistently write my journal, but i do remember certain things that really left a deep impression.. first of all was the hike up the hill into the forest to gather firewood. by the time i actually got to the bottom of the hill.. i was really feeling exhausted!! it was really a long walk and i was quite surprised that they were still going on strong because i was dying and so the climb up was indeed worse than i thought. almost fell once or twice but i should be thankful that the few of them, i think around 6-8 of them who brought me up. of course i think i must thank gao yuan because he was the one who seriously stayed by me and made sure that i was safe at all times... so i shall add some photos! here we have them climbing up this STEEP slope.

steep beyond words and it did not have any steps but they still got up as if it was a flight of staircase.. haha. they tried to get me up... but figured i would be safer where i was. haha. they wanted to pull me up with a rope. HAHA. im too heavy for that. so i helped them by taking care of the firewood while they went around and found firewood. they disappeared and came back with LOADS of them. haha. i just stood there and tried to help with tying while taking photos haha. so here's a photo of all of them... i guess. and more. because by the time we reached the foot of the hill once again they met up with some of their classmates and so we took pictures..

we can't really see their faces... but haha that's alright. you know they are cute. haha. so i was utterly impressed by the time i reached back to the school. oh. they even made me carry all the light firewood while they carried the heavy ones. what gentlemen right?(: they totally made my day. really wished we could spend more time at that school because it felt like we were there for a really really short time and we didn't really have the time to interact with them enough.

okay i'm not going to write a long reflection like ms koh, partly because it's very late right now and i have tuition tml and also to make everyone's job simple (don't need to read so much). so next up. the other two schools didnt really leave me with much impact because we only went there for one day or even less than that. only that i do remember that the second school we went to, when we wanted to leave, they started to come to us and asked us for our autograph! like we were stars.. i think that's something we would definitely not forget. how many times do we actually get to experience that? but i felt so welcome and so happy that i was there, not only because of the signatures but they made me feel they want to remember me even though i was there for only that one particular day. so it really felt very heartwarming.

so next up, well. the last school, i guess left a deep impression to anyone and everyone on this trip. i'm not sure about other classes but i'm certain that in our class, yeechuin and amanda shouted like crazy to get them to sit down at their places. haha. i tried to shout but i think i was not having a good throat to actually shout so nothing came out, or at least not loud enough. it was indeed disastrous like.. they didn't really listen to us. they wanted to go home. they were very attention seeking and they made us do alot of stuff.. like drawings... and when we draw for one, we would have to end up drawing for all of them... or at least all who knew that we could draw. they were hyperactive.. they moved around in class and the four of us just couldn't handle them. jiahe was just too much like a loving father to them. i will always remember this rebellious one, ma zhao ran... yu ang's brother. from the first time i met him, he was already like against me or something. always finding trouble. not willing to do or participate in our event. so the rest of them decided that we should just not care about these people who do not want to participate and just focus on the rest of them so we made these people stand outside the classroom. somehow, i hoped that they would actually join in to these activities. so i stayed outside and talked to them and two of them went in to listen. while the other two, including ma zhao ran, wanted to take their bags and leave. they were trying to grab their bags through the windows. and after much persuasion.... i still didn't manage to keep him in. so he left. and disappeared. i wonder what was it we did that he didn't like, that he just didn't want to be in the classroom. were we boring? were we fierce? were we unfriendly? i don't know and perhaps would never. but yu ang brought me to him after the lesson to apologise. though obviously very unwilling. but i'm glad he actually still listens to yu ang.

i'm actually quite happy to go to four different schools, though i wish we focused on less and spend more time there. but going to four different schools showed me how four different groups of people actually react to us. the first school was more than welcoming. they were like treating us as guest of honours. the second school treated us like celebrities. the third school clicked with us almost immediately and the fourth school didn't really seem to like our attention. it's very different. perhaps it's the conditions of the village that makes a difference to how the children behave.

though i do know that no matter how much we thought that this 14 days would be very long before the trip, when we are on the trip, when we are at yunnan, this 14 days will pass before we know and then after the trip. you wished that this 14 days had been longer. it's funny. but... i really hope to go back there again with everyone(:

jumping.

Miss Koh's Reflections on the trip

2007-12-04T23:12:00.000-08:00

Shall attempt to write down my thoughts about the trip before it fades off.

This is one Service learning trip which i did not diligently write down my reflections. Like i told some of my students, maybe it is because some of the things that i see do not have that much of an impact on me anymore since this is my third trip. However, there were moments that i really would want to remember.

We went to 4 primary schools this time, which is another kind of experience as we get to see that different schools react differently to our teams. We've seen rich schools, poor schools, heartwarming schools to schools who treated us as if we are giving them so much trouble. It is definitely a good experience for us as we get to realise that to us we might be thinking that we are there to teach and give, but not every school actually appreciates that and some might even question our meaning of going there.

Wan Lv Qing Primary, Xiao Jie Primary, Yang Liu Primary and Lu Chong Primary. Four different schools, four different experience. However for me, i had the chance to interact with the students most at Wan Lv Qing Primary. This is the school that i went last year and this is the school that made me feel the most welcomed. The principal and teachers went all out to help us and make us feel comfortable. I am glad we went back again as this part of the trip i feel actually made the students feel more attached to the local students.

I will always remember how i tried talking to a group of primary one students from the window. It was then when they start warming up with us, it was from then that our students dared to go forward to interact with the children. I guess i made a right move. I will also remember how the primary one students were screaming from their classroom to ask me to teach them.

I will also remember the experience of gathering firewood. None of us would think that we will need to climb up to the mountains to CHOP firewood. We all thought it was just a trek somewhere to pick up firewood, but we were all wrong. It was then when we realise how useless we are. Two primary five students were attached to one of us and they had to carry their heavy tools up as well as to pull or push us up the mountains when we are struggling to climb up the mountain. I think was the most useless one, i did nothing but sit there, take pictures. haha. they even made a walking stick for me to go down the mountains easily. It was then i got to know Pinxian and Jiahui, two lovely girls who treated me like a queen. It was also then when i realised that they actually remembered desiree and felicia who taught them last year. I was really glad to hear from them that, even though more than 10 teams have been to the school, our team last year made the greatest impact on them and they really love our team.

I guess it was the close interaction i had with them that made me feel so attached to them at the end of our short stay in Wan Lv Qing. I nearly teared when they waved goodbye, i nearly teared when they asked me to stay, i nearly teared when ping xian stayed a corner to watch me leave.
For the subsequent schools, i feel that i should give my students more chance to interact with the school children. Thus i took a back seat and tried not to be so involved in the lessons. Cos i really hope that my students can have the same experience as i had, enjoying the time with those children and feeling a sense of attachment to them when they leave. This is one of the best takeaways for anyone who come on such trips, the feeling of wanting to come back to the village as we know that someone in a place far away, there are people who actually remembered you for what you have done for them.

Lu Chong Primary was probably a challenge for the team when the teachers do not seem to be so welcoming and the students there seem to be rather rowdy. I was not there on the first day, but from what i hear from my students, it seems that most are not enjoying their lessons, especially the P6 class. I took on the challenge to visit the P6 class the next day and i guess it was a good chance for me to break into the class when i managed to make small talks with some of their class girls during their break. They first were rather shy and did not answer my questions. However, i continued trying and i guess the ice was broken when they shared my love for music. They wanted to sing with me but the bell rang and they ran into their classroom. Though the interaction was short, but i guess it was sufficient. I went on to visit other classes and when i came back to P6 class again, i stood outside the classroom to watch them. A boy (who apparently challenged one of my students yesterday) decided to play a trick on me by clapping right in front of my face. He was glad to see my shocked face. However, the girl sitting beside him (one of those who i interacted with during break), told him that I am actually a teacher. Now it was his turn to have a shocked look! haha. However, I was impressed by him when he instantly stood up to say "Sorry", it was then that i feel that this class is actually not too bad, they are probably just craving for attention. Something which their teachers probably have not been giving them and thus their kind of actions to get it from our students. Thus, at the later part of the day, when i realise that my students are having a hard time to get their attention, i decided to go in to takeover the lesson. It was probably a random chat with the class, ending with some riddles which they actually loved. I enjoyed the lesson when they actually responded to me. (something which i took more than 2 weeks to achieve in CCSS) Guess no student is too hard to handle, we just need lots of patience and time to gain their trust and to make them comfortable in communicating with you.

Weather this time was bad as it can be very cold on one day and very hot in the afternoons. This has thus affected our road project very much. In the end, the students only spend 3 mornings on the road. Though many felt that they could have done more, i personally felt that they have contributed to the road even before they went to kunming by raising funds for the projects. The trip up to the rural part of the village and the fields was an eye opener and it was the trip that convinced me that our money is put into good use. No cars not to say trucks could get into the fields without our money. Many crops would have gone to waste if there won't proper roads. To us, S$5000 might be a small amount. To them, it will definitely change their lives. And maybe that's why I always felt that for a service learning trip, the service we are giving them is not the actual manual work that we are providing, but the donations that we are giving and the attention from the local govt that the school and village gets from working with us.

Like i told my students, I feel that this team is the most successful Service Learning Project which i ever organised as i feel that Learning has been properly planned for the team and that the team is very comfortable in sharing their thoughts as they know the importance of sharing. Many thoughts have been put into planning for their learning journey. I am also glad that my fellow colleagues were so supportive of the concept and they went all out to help me put my passion for service learning into actions. Without their support and understanding, I would never be successful in executing such plans. As for the students, I am really glad that the 2 saturdays we spent before the trip helped them to understand the importance of learning during the trip and that planned learning could actually help them to maximise their learning during the trip. I see the growth in them as they come to realise the importance of asking questions and the benefits of sharing within the group. I am excited when I see them discussing about their projects, and that different ideas are exchanged during the discussions. I am relieved when i feel that they don't see the project as a burden, but something they really want to complete and be proud of at the end of the trip.

The project itself might not have made a great impact on me, but the bond i share with the students definitely have convinced me that this is something I would want to continue on in future. All 25 of them are great people, special in their own ways and everyone of them has touched me in one way or another in the 14 days I spent with them. It has also proved to me that satisfaction do come in teaching but it definitely takes a long while before we see it. All hard work was worth it when I see them enjoying the trip, it's worth it when I see them bonding together as a team, it's worth it when I see them feeling upset when the programmes are not going as well (cos they care), it's worth it when I hear the song that they wrote for the teachers, it's worth it when I hear them learning my song and singing it wherever they are, it's worth it when they take my scoldings gracefully and we can still talk as friends the next moment, it's worth it when I see people helping out in washing when it's not their duty, it's worth it when I hear everyone thanking each other for the dinner cooked, it's worth it when students bother to say sorry when they make me angry, it's worth it when students do not want to see me stressed up, it's really all worth it.

To my darling students, members of the YELL team:
You are definitely a team I would remember. Though you are not my first team, but all your little actions have left a great impression on me. There were moments when I am really touched by all of you, especially the time when you all came in to sing for me. I was not feeling very well then but your little action actually made me want to be strong and continue this journey with you all. I do hope that this journey would be one that you will never forget and that you will continue to serve the community in your own ways.

2007-11-05T07:38:00.000-08:00

sorry for this super late post. fistly during the ACM outing i learnt a lot and had a great time. It amazed me that how ppl can have diff views on different matters and it was interesting to see their questions that they generated during the sessions. also another thing that i learn from it is that sometimes ppl tend to overlook tiny details which may actually convey a lot of msg..so it made me more meticulous when viewing things so that i wun miss out any information. Basically it was an enjoyable day.

Next was bout going to Haig girls to get tthem to draw cards. This was a very interesting experience and i had a great time there. My group of ppl were very adorable and lively..this whole event was very meaningful and the kids were very enthusiastic bout participating in the event..btw i like junping's group a lot. The girls in her group very sweet and nice to me!!haha..this two events were really fun and i had a great time!

Jesalyn

Yeechuin's reflections

2007-10-24T21:44:00.000-07:00

STUPID BLOGGER ATE UP MY POST LIKE DONT KNOW HOW MANY TIMEs! urgh! i should be like the laest of all =X aaahh hate blogger!

Anyway, yes today's reflection. Hm iit turned out to be a rather memorable way to celebrate the school holiday after all...Today went to ACM and well, i would really say it's a good experience/trip because i really got to see things in a different perspective, compared to the last time i went there alone. Like how Buddhism, Islam developed in China, how things like ideology has shaped China ever since it started out 5000years ago. It became really fascinating and i would definitely want to come down here again to further explore other areas. It's really like a book, everytime u read it, you'll get more things, especially things u have not noticed before!Plus, the different perspectives different people brought up also too shed light on the capacity for us to learn from one another. Haha, by the way, i really do think my group's been really fun and interesting to work and hang out with!

The day started with the Big S, Small L activity. I chose Big S Big L eventually because i think i would like to maximise my capabilities of servicing even though i do realise our limitations as a service provider to the village/villagers. As this is not so much about size, i believe it;s more on proportion. I would really like service to be as much as learn because i feel the learning i take back can allow me to further build on the service aspect. Hence my stand is on that of maximizing potential to serve and learn. It's been a really enriching, eye-opening and educational day i supposed? Haha, i would'nt really mind going to the museum again really! (:

Cheers
Yee Chuin

p.s. one day we should just really boycot blogger and change to some other blog provider.

Charmaine's ACM reflections

2007-10-24T07:14:00.000-07:00

HAHA, and suddenly BOO! Charmaine is the latest of all!
Sorry. =(

Well, I've learnt a lot on the day itself. Firstly, those activities organised in school made me think twice about our purpose of the trip, especially during the SL,sL,Sl,sl event. The yes,no,maybe made me think about many things I wouldn't have thought about, and it also broadens my knowledge of what exactly is happening currently. It allows me to once again, get to know the other personalities in the team and get to understand them.

I won't forget what Mr Cheng said : " Instead of we being a help to them, we may be more of a hindrance".

The photo taking practice was really interesting, as I've learn to constantly keep a lookout for things that may seem interesting.

The ACM trip taught me a lot about the world and the different cultures. In fact, I've gain many new knowledge about many general things. I will never forget what "Halal" really means. This trip is something really refreshing and thought provoking, never did I expect a museum trip to be really engaging. Probably, this time I went there with a purpose, and an open mind.

Thus, I would like to end with a few words...
A open mind, absorbs many things!
( I hope it is not, DUH)

Yijie's reflection (HGS)

2007-10-24T06:13:00.000-07:00

I must say that the activities at the Haig Girls' School today was REALLY REALLY fun.

We started out making the learning cards and it was really a huge success as the girls there are really talented and creative. In addition, the briefing allowed them to have a clear idea of what they are suppose to do. However, there are some overlapping of the fruits as the girls chose to draw some of the more simpler ones.

Next, we move on to doing the nursery rhymes. It was also a huge success as everyone played a part in one way or another such as giving ideas and drawing it out. Everyone's talent is being maximised.

I think splitting up the girls into small groups is really effective in engaging and communicating with them. Our group is really bonded and we even exchanged msn and stuff. Haha. I am super amazed that everyone in the primary 6 cohort knew one another it is quite a small group and I think thats very cool.

I also enjoyed the part when we took the group photo and that we sang nursery rhymes with the girls over there. The teachers there are also very enthusiastic.

However, I am surprised that some of the girls that is in my group didn't bring colouring materials as they wasnt informed.

All in all, I feel that the school really puts in a lot of efforts in grooming the girls and that they also try their best to develop their creativity. The whole school and most of the classrooms are filled and decorated with all sorts of art work.

I really hope that can have further collaboration with this school in future projects or even with other schools.

racheline's reflection (HGS)

2007-10-24T05:54:00.000-07:00

the HGS trip has been a wonderful experience for me.

i had to find a way to interact with the students which was rather challenging, as the girls in my group were rather quiet. however, after further communication, they became livelier and talked more. other than that, i realised that most of the students can draw really well and possess artistic talent. it was rather easy to get the girls into groups and start their doing the learning cards, as they were more organized then i expected. Although they tend to get distracted easily, they were still able to get their work done. From the making of the learning cards to the writing of nursery thymes, i found out that the students are indeed very creative .

i took many pictures during the tour around the school, which gave me some idea on how to decorate the classrooms in yunnan and the possible activities that we could carry out.

Adele's reflections

2007-10-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

Everybody seems to be saying sorry for being the latest to post their reflections, but i think no one will be later than me!! really sorry!!

The activities that i enjoyed the most for the day is the s-l thing and the photo taking session. The trip to ACM was rather an educational one too as i've learnt more about China and Islam.

I chose s-L to represent my attitude towards this trip as i feel that the impact that we will make in the lives of the people in Yunnan will not be as great as the impact that they make in our lives. Being in the village for 10 days will indeed be a great experience for us, city dwellers. As we will be interacting with the villagers in their country, there will be alot for us to learn and also a great exposure for us too. Also, given all the preparation work and learning sessions that we have gone through before the trip, we have learnt much from it already.

Through the s-l activity and the yes, no maybe activity, i've learnt the different people have different perspectives on different issues, and there is no absolute right or wrong answers sometimes. I realised that it is important to be open to other's perspectives as we will gain more insights on the issues discussed. Also, this will allow us to be able to work better with one another after we understand the different attitudes and perspectives that we carry with us. I enjoyed the activities very much!!!

The photo taking session was yet another bonding session for our group, Chengmistry!!! Through this session, i've learnt more about my groupmates. I've also learnt the a picture really says a thousand words... Within a photograph, there is so much to tell. I think that this session is also quite a good practice of our photography skills. This will be really useful when we are in Yunnan too. But there are moments that were rather embarrassing as passers-by were staring at us because we were taking photographs..

The trip to ACM was very educational, but i didn't really enjoy this part of the day's activities as much as the others. Maybe because i've been there before... Nonetheless, choosing an artefact that can bring out the the adjective that we have chosen was quite a challenge to me. By asking questions, i've learnt to think in depth and thus, posing intelligent questions.

All in all, today's activities were fun and involves lots of learning too!(s-L!!) i am feeling more and more attached to the team!!! hahas... Looking forward to the next meeting...

Reflection on the ACM trip-yu ang

2007-10-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

through the trip, i have learnt many things. First of which is the Service and Contribution debate, I get to know how everyone feel about the trip in terms of how we can serve and learn during our trip and their explaination from their perspective. This give me the chance to have a varied view of the purpose of the trip. Secondly, I have learnt to take notice of the surrounding through the photo-taking session, I used to ignore what is happening around me and when I looked around today, i found many interesting and touching moments. I never liked taking photgraphs too, because i used to think it as fake and shallow. However, after today I feel that some shots really capture moments of joy, giving me the chance to relive the memory in years to come.
-yu ang
15Oct2007

Jacquelyn's reflection...

2007-10-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

haha you guys are not the latest... I am. Nearly forgot about it. All thanks to PW which has kept all of us so so busy I guessed. But as the saying goes "Better late than never"... Hahax!

(S, L) is my coordinate for the discussion on service learning. Personally, I feel that service is as important as learning in this entire project that we are embarking on. Although (s, L) mentioned that our service may not be as much as they expect out from us, on our side we will try our best to maximize the service that we can offer to the people at Yunnan. Of course, learning must take place along the way or else the trip would be a futile one.

Haha finally there is you guys here to share the “折磨” that I have been through for the past few months of photography sessionSsss… We were given time to go round taking pictures according to the project that our group has discussed in the previous meeting. It is yet another photography taking session that I have been through umpteen times. However, this time is different because I am able to share my point of views with my group mates when taking a good photograph. Although, the process may be similar, but the feeling is different because along the way I still picked up new ideas injected by my group member, yu ang. Many of us are trying to feel what he is trying to say when he said just 很放的去 take a photograph. Anyway, it has been a great photog session.

Finally, the ACM tour has been very enriching. Although this is already my 3rd time to the ACM, I admit that the previous times I did not learn as much as I did this time around. I am amazed by how the Muslims made use of astrolable, a tool used to tell the direction of Mecca from where they were living. This is truly amazing because even without advanced technology nowadays, Muslims in the past were still able to tell the direction of Mecca with the help of the astrolable. In addition, they are so creative to use their Islamic words to draw animals and show life in their words that they write.

An interesting fact to share! Do you know even Muslims know calligraphy? Chinese make use of Chinese brushes to do their calligraphy while the Muslims uses reed pens to write their calligraphy words. All in all I think the trip has indeed been an enriching one for me.

Denise's Reflection

2007-10-21T08:43:00.000-07:00

Right.. This reflection is overdue. Thank god its not an assignment which is to be graded.. *phew* So, like always, another day has passed. And as usual I've learned new things...

The day started out with the s-l, S-l, s-L, S-L sharing. Initially, the teachers nearly gave me quite scare as they hinted to us that they wanted a debate-style sharing. (I absolutely detest debates!) But luckily, it didn't really turn out to be one. From here, i got to know the members better: attitude wise, and character wise. This little sharing session also comforted me in a sense that at least i wasn't the only one who thought that we as amateurs building the road would be more of a hindrance than help to the people there. This thought of course leads to more questions which may trigger problems and doubts between both parties.

Next up was the introduction on the different layers of a photo which of course is similar to all objects. We were being taught to read beneath the surface and not just look and appreciate the object's physical properties. The practical portion of this activity is probably one my favorite throughout this day. Snapping pictures of people being happy/contented is not as easy as it seems. Apparently, stealth, fast reaction and flexibility is much required. Basically, much skill is needed.

The picture i took was suppose to compromise of a man smiling happily at his wife. Yet, due to my lack of skill, he noticed me and the picture turned out to be one compromising of a shock man, thus leading me to chose the word hilarious as an adjective of my picture therefore leading to the biggest problem and challenge for the day - to find an artifact in ACM which can relate to the word hilarious.

Great i thought.. I'm so dead...

So in the end, after much struggle, i managed to find a trick cup/bowl, one that is unable to be filled more than 3/4 full due to a hole somewhere which i can't locate, to relate to the word hilarious. Lucky.

Overall, it has been a very fruitful and fun day with the additional exposure to Islam and Buddhism, and espically with the job in finding an artifact which can relate and represent the word hilarious.

yijie's reflection

2007-10-21T06:30:00.001-07:00

sorry for this very very late post..really sorry..

At first i thought we would be spending the whole day at the museum and i was like what are we going to do there? However..thanks to the teachers who have put in their effort to plan this special holiday for us..i think i really benefitted a lot..

We started with the S-L game. To me, I believe that service and learning is equally important. However, after the discussion, I realise that it may be related to how much we can actually give and take as well. Learning is something that will stay with us for a lifetime and our service may seem small due to the duration of our trip.

I enjoyed the photo-taking activity most. I learnt not to just look at things from the surface but am forced to look into deeper meaning. Good photos also come by chance and it is not something that we can plan ahead. in addition, a photo does not reflect truth if our presence has had effects on the photo taken.

At the ACM, I got to learnt things that i never knew of. It was an enriching experience that set me into thinking questions about an object. We have to keep questioning ourselves in order to get to know more.

I am sure that we will be able to get as much learning from our trip to Yunnan..=)

pinqi's reflection

2007-10-17T04:45:00.000-07:00

hello..ok..here's my rather short translation of my reflection cos my reflection is in chinese..hehe..

this hari raya holiday was a rather fruitful one, coincidentally learning much about the muslim culture(which is significant in the SEA) and also participating in activities carefully planned by our dear teachers that aid our thinking process very much.(no sarcasm intended). oh ya, MS KOH!!can i borrow the "bamboo" book too?

my favourite activity:the photo taking cum understanding activity. Though i still feel that taking photo is an activity which requires some luck, i learnt that we must pay attention to details within a photo (and yes, a picture says a thousand words). Well, i'm definitely very proud of the works of CHENGMISTRY. let's practice more and go yunnan and take better photos k!((:

next, the activities that i found interesting: the S-L, yes-no-maybe quiz. Well, at first it may sound like a really normal activity, but after the short discussions, i thought that the whole thinking process is really cool, and got all of us thinking. It shows to us that even though we have the same goals(supposedly), we have different perspective. Not only that, we can learn alot from other's perspective as well, as long as we listen.

ok.this don't look very short either..the full version can be purchased at only $19.90. pre-requisite: read chinese!

jkjk..ok.cya!

pq(:

racheline's reflection

2007-10-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

The session ytd was fun! although i hated the fact that we had to wake up early in the morning and go to schl, i must say that it was worth it.

i think the most enjoyable part of the day was the trip to the museum as i have really learnt alot from it. I guess as we grow older, we will also grow to appreciate things. i've been to the museum before, but i don't recall having learnt anything. but yesterday was a totally different experience for me, as i actually managed to learn new stuffs. i like the the part on the muslim's traditions especially, which is so super fascinating and interesting. i'll make sure i go there again some day and learn more!

At first, it was not an easy task when we had to look for stuffs that matched our description in the museum. but after a while, i realised that i had to look deeper, and try to search for a meaning.

it was interesting to hear the different perspectives that people have abt certain stuff, which we might not have thought of. and i belive this has exposed me to the different mindsets of people which i've never encountered before.

Priscilla's Reflections

2007-10-16T04:51:00.000-07:00

I realised I have never written a reflection here before, so here goes my reflections for the monday meeting cum 'excursion'.

I went to school reluctantly because I was lacking of sleep. But the activities were rather interesting. The 'S-L' and 'Yes, No, Maybe' activities got me thinking about things i have never thought of before. Even the question about planting trees got me thinking about my purpose, and what i really want to gain from it. We all have the same aim, but our perspective of our purpose there seems different.

The photo-taking activity was really enjoyable and enriching. Due to our original theme, we had to choose an occupation to touch on. CHENGMISTRY originally started out to take the photos of the bus uncles at the interchange. But as we walked around, we changed our theme to construction workers. It was rather unexpected for me, but i learnt to be more observant to our surroundings. i also learnt through the whole photo-taking activity that when we look more deeply into different photos, we can acquire different perspective from the same photo. The activity has also got me interested in capturing different emotions and messages in photos.

I didn think much of the ACM trip. I thought it would be a normal musuem visit, but it turned out otherwise. The displays there were interactive and interesting. I learned more about islam, something that is rather close to our daily life. I also learnt to ask questions about the things we see.

I am looking forward to more events so i can bond even more with CHENGMISTRY and the whole team too! (:

PickYee's reflections

2007-10-15T05:29:00.000-07:00

Alright today is another long yet fruitful day for me=) First of all, i shall not deny the fact that I was feeling a bit sian in the morning because its a holiday and we have to meet so early...BUT I am really glad that I turned up because its really fun and most importantly, I learnt a lot of things today!

Hmm...first of all, I think both "S-L" and "Yes, No, Maybe" activities were rather interesting. Not only did the questions trigger my brain to think, it was also interesting to see how each of us try to defend our point of view/stand(Just like a debate)Although there wasn't an absolute to each of the question, I feel that there is a lot you can learn just by listening to what others got to say=)

Oh yea.I enjoyed the photo-taking activity too because I've learnt more about photo-taking. For example, Ms Koh said something about our presence being able to affect the outcome of the photo. I thought what she said was quite interesting because that has never cross my mind. Not only that, through this activity, I come to realize that there are many times when Im not observant enough such as not being able to see the little details in a photograph adn sometimes, these little details just tell you so much more.

Lastly, the ACM trip!!Yea.I enjoyed that trip very much as I learnt so much more about Muslim and China. Hahax. One funny thing was that Jiahe always thought that Mecca is in Indonesia(wow...) until today when Mr Cheng told him its in Middle-East.Ok I shall not laugh at people because I do have lots of things that I do not know until TODAY.One such example would be that there is actually no specific way of building a mosque!And another would be the meaning of halal!It means "permitted".Not just a word related to food.

So...Im really looking forward to the next meeting=)BUT arrgh I've got PW on the day we're going to Haig Girl's!!means I will have to wait till after OP before I get to attend the next meeting...RAR.

Syeyuet's reflections

2007-10-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

HI Sye Yuet!!

It has been very fruitful today learning that we are not any more superior compared to the people from Yunnan and our trip is about service learning which we learn along the way and we need a proactive mentality and total willingness to contribute! As Ms Koh says- Reciprocity and Reflections!!!

After doing the test on Singapore, boy, we hardly know about our own country!! I guess its time we got hit the books again and learn more about Yunnan and Singapore to be part of the two way exchange!

For our porject for ACM, i hope it will be a success and i think our idea is a hit! This project is a whole new idea and and i think YO! will make it a sucess!! RIGHT??!!!

Gentle reminder: Collect for $ is the wed after our trip to ACM!

Syeyuet~

woonyee's reflection

2007-10-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

no worries...i'm around and have not posted my reflections as well.. i've been thinking hard about what to write since i was not around for the morning activity. although i did not go through the process of brainstorming about the definition about service learning and CIP, learnt more about the difference through the presentation by the different groups. before this, i never knew the difference between the two. now, i see that difference and understand the purpose behind service learning.

subsequently, yeechuin gave her presentation on the condition in Yunnan. all along i thought that i might die there. but after her detailed explanation, i finally have a feeling that it would turn out to be a safe - :P - and interesting trip.

after that we moved on to brainstorm on the project that we want to carry out. after the initial stage of discussion, we realised that the 3 different groups had almost identical ideas. we continued to go further into the life of the coordinator that we will be meeting in Yunnan. through the process, i know more about the members in the group and their thoughts and ideas.

initially, when i knew that there would be meeting on saturday, i was quite ____(dont know what to say). but now, after going through what the teachers had planned for us, i feel that it is really beneficial and we had learnt a lot from it!

hongyu's reflection

2007-10-11T06:55:00.000-07:00

Oops. it seems like i am the last to post my reflection here. am i? I'm so sorry because i was too occupied worrying about whether I'll get promoted or not.

Okay, now back to my reflection. We had a bonding session on Sat, Oct 6. Everyone came (yeah!). Finally we had a full attendance. so let's maintain it this way, people!

Basically on that day, i was quite tired throughout the whole session. Sorry YO! mates. I promise I'll be more enthusiastic during our next activity. I look forward to get to know my group mates more.

The teachers gave us quizzes. After glancing through all the questions, I realised I am super not prepared for the trip. I guess I have to do more research before going to yunnan to prevent awkward situations from happening. I am about to read up on their culture, their festivals etc.

During that day's lunch, I learnt another interesting fact about Yu Ang. He is a 大胃王 too.

I suggest we should have another cooking competition again since not many people had turned

up for the previous one.

After the session, I am more clear of what we're going to do there. Building roads may not be a big project compared to building a school. However, the impact maybe bigger. We're actually going to help the whole village and not just the students.

Also, I realised I just want to go there for fun initially (probably about 75%). Now that I realised service learning is a two way thing. I am glad i have realised it early or else this trip will be wasted.

YO! which is my group is going to capture happiness for the ACM project. Happiness doesn't mean just smiley faces. The concept is good (thanks to yu ang), however it'll be quite hard to capture that exact moment. So i guess we need to start practising. Before that, let's hope ACM will approve our idea. If she or he doesn't, we still have 2 other backup plans.

Lastly, we ended our session by taking group photos.

Here's YO! group photo:

Amanda's Reflection

2007-10-11T05:06:00.000-07:00

The first activity was a little sharing session on more of ourselves. From which I managed to learn some interesting facts about the others like Francis enjoys poetry, Yu Ang loves soccer, Mr Cheng is a devoted Christian, etc. I hope that you people had learnt something about me through this session too.

After which we did some individual quizzes and group discussion to give us a taster on what could happen on the trip. It was only till then that I realised how unprepared I was for the trip, I cant even express my explanation clearly in Chinese. Oops! Also, as a team, we realised that we were not steered in the right direction, that is our current focus should not simply be having fun with the children there and building the road, there are other equally important things like planning, doing background research, trying to understand the problems of the people there, etc. I felt kind of ashamed that all this while I have been so self-centered and have been only researching up on the dangers (parasites especially!!!) of Yunnan and neglect researching on other more relevant aspects. Thus I have decided to go back and conduct a wider research.

Next was group lunch at the hawker centre opposite the school. I spend some time interacting more with some of my group mates and our teacher, Ms Fong. Nevertheless, I thought that it would have been better if we were all at 1 table instead of being segregated into 2 tables.

After lunch, we did a comparison of CIP vs Service learning. This has certainly clarified my purpose of embarking on this overseas outreach and taught me it is I who will be benefiting the most from it. From now onwards I shall attempt to take on a positive outlook and bring with me an open mind instead of worrying about the conditions and environment there. I must make sure that this trip has impacted my life and that I have learnt the most from it.

Yeechuin's presentation on why we chose that village was rather touching. Seeing what the past teams have done and all those photos was also inspiring.

The day ended off with a group discussion on possible topics for the photo essay. Besides the occasional burst of enthusiasm from Yu Ang, the mood was rather down and sianed. I guess it is probably because of the heavy lunch earlier and that we had to wake up early that day. We fumbled, stumbled and met with road blocks along the discussion but fortunately, Ms Fong was there to guide us and we finally settled on Yu Ang's idea on Happiness. Hopefully the lady at the ACM will accept it!

I am also hoping that the I can bond with my team more in the upcoming activities. No more le. (: Byebye!

Gavin's Reflection

2007-10-10T23:38:00.000-07:00

Reflection on 06.10.07 Saturday 9am-5pm

Spirits: Abit high, amazingly din't fall asleep.
Biggest return: Skills on asking questions

-Definitely a long day, learnt about questions that i wouldn't have otherwise asked.
-It is the process of learning to ask questions and to question questions that is probably more important than asking questions.
-And that service learning and OCIP does have certain significant differences, but it is in the end, that the participants' mentality during the process that really matters and defines what the end result really can be.
-Different questions that I would love to ask about Yunnan
--> Religion
--> Minorities
--> Lifestyles
--> Habits/ things that defines the population
--> The rich VS poor even within the village

Task: To do research on Singapore so as to better answer some questions the Chinese may pose to us.
Sidenote: Are we the ones that are helping them or are they the ones helping us? A question that a teacher just recently posted to me, that whether overseas outreach participants are in fact "helping" people or are in a way generating jealousy and/or dependency?
*just a sidenote that we should/may be considering*

-The impact?
- And importantly, that we are in no way "superior" to anyone anywhere and that we are certainly in no position to view ourselves as 'helping' them, but rather treat it as a service.

Other pieces of information
--> 2 schools of population 200 and 270 in a village of 95% muslims.
--> Goal: building a road and to pave a possible trade route through the road
--> Project group: Forever 18
--> Project task: Photo essay

2007-10-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

JiaHe’s Reflection

Alright here it is. Sorry for the late post as I’ve some hard time trying to find the username and password for this account. So basically, 6 Oct was another bonding session that we have for our OCIP Yunnan. In CHENGMISTRY, it was non-stop laughter for me but at the same time, there are a few learning points from this session.

Before this session, I’ve always felt that we are superior. Though most of us would deny this, subconsciously we have been feeling so since we started doing CIP in primary schools. And because of this mindset, it has resulted in us focusing too much on the children over at Yunnan. Furthermore, before getting to know the outline of our activity, I was hoping that we will be building structures like school and hostel as it would leave a greater impact on the children’s life. However, we can’t deny that it would certainly more effective and efficient if we just send 20 workers over to Yunnan! And when I heard of the money for us as compared to that donated to the Yunnan kids, I realize that the things that we’re learning from this trip would far exceed the amount that we will be helping them.

With YC’s presentation, it made it clearly of what are we doing over there at Yunnan and told us that we will be building roads. Though it would not have an impact as great as building a school, I am convinced that we are there to learn from them and we are not superior to them in any way at all. We are certainly of equal status.

2007-10-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

06.10.07 Reflections

Reflections are quite personal so though i really wrote quite a bit on my book, i'm not sure how much of it can be typed out here.

well today we got to know each other better through a simple game and a picture and of course more bonding time. there were also quite a few brainstorming sessions where we were made to think how much we knew about Singapore, about Yunnan and our purpose of this trip. it's only then that i realised that we didn't really focus on their needs, and definitely our focus was too much on the kids.

Most of us do think that "we are going to Yunnan to make a difference in their lives, but most likely we are going to be the one who would have changed at the end of our trip". When i heard that we are going to build a road of stones and pebbles and the amount of money spent on us instead of being donated to them, it felt like this whole thing is for the sake of us and not for them. It makes me wonder exactly how much are we helping.

Well we ended the session with a discussion on a photoessay that our group would be doing on the Muslim culture in Yunnan, though that means we have to bring a camera and i'm not sure if my camera is working that well afterall. ha.

junping.

Jerome's Reflection >:)

2007-10-07T04:28:00.000-07:00

HElLO! its Jerome here. I'm one of the lucky 9 chosen to post my reflections for the service-learning session on 6th october.
Definitely, it was a really wonderful bonding and learning session today. I had buckets full of fun with my group and I feel that we definitely have lots of CHENGMISTRY! xD

"In serving you, I wish to learn from you" a very enlightening quote indeed. This was my greatest take-away that day. During the sessions today, I had the self-realisation that in taking part in this outreach project, by going out to help the people in yunnan, I'm equal to them all. I'm no superior being from them and I have a lot to learn from them.It is important that I constantly remind myself to stick to this mindset of equality and not stray from it. Only then can I be humble enough to learn from this journey.

Truthfully, I did'nt expect to learn much from today. I'm amazed at how much I've benifited from the session today. So much more, SO unthinkable what and how 14 days in yunnan will do to my whole perspective of life. I'm sure it'll change. In what way? We'll see >:)

Zong Yao's Reflection

2007-10-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

HELLO! this is zong yao, ONCE AGAIN!
Here's my reflection for today,6th October 2007.
-------------------------------------------
Today,most of my doubts regarding the trip were cleared,doubts like why the collaboration witht eh Asian Civilisation Museum, or why we switched from building a hostel to building a road.Of course, i was VERY convinced ( FYI,this is not sarcasm (; )

It's a day packed with lots of brainstorming - and i mean A LOT.Our teachers made us generate many questions about the trip, which eventually made me realise that i need to maximise my learning there so as to make the trip a more fruitful one.Also,my initial perception of the term OCIP sort of changed because of the intensive discussion we had.

OH!We had to bring an object that represents us.So i brought a mirror which my SA friend gave me during Valentine's Day.So i said that i am a very self-conscious person so and so forth.HENCE, I AM VERY MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO SHOPPING AT AWESOME KUNMING, in additon to the work we have to do =)

OH!By the way,there were some changes to the groupings : as in, initially we always meet in our Programmes,Fund raising,Logistics group ; but now, we are going to meet in groups.My group has the name of Forever 18 because Miss Koh is always and forever 18 years old => Well, i'm very pleased with my group members cos we are able to click very well.Absolutely zilch communication problems.

-Some project details -
The county we will be visiting will be 95% Muslims which actually redefines our action plan.We have to consider several things before implementing them as we gotta bear in mind their customs and restrictons.OH! Miss Koh also explained to us the difference between a province,county and village, which i thought is kinda cool.

Despite the change in culture. There is -sadly- no change to the living environment. Guessed it?
YES IM TALKING ABOUT THE TOILET.
I'M VERY SURE THERE'LL BE LOTSA DRAMA BOUT IT =)

Today's meeting actually increased my interest for thr trip and my heart is itching to go to Yunnan.Let's all hope i'll be able to go for the trip despite my poor results =)

Regards, ZONG YAO!

Syeyuet's reflection

2007-06-12T05:57:00.000-07:00

After our rough attempt to whip up a meal or rather trying to, it has dawned on me that we need to do something about our cooking skills or suffer terribly in the cold with less than appetising food.

So, the next day, for my family's Sunday lunch, i cooked bean sprouts (again) and egg with onion (under my mum's watchful eye of course). I will be trying to learn how to cook from my along the way when she cooks lunch on sundays. I think we should all too! Who knows, we might able to whip up a feast in Yunnan!

For the bridge challenge, it was obvious that one group was more on the creative side and the other more on the pragmatic side. I think it will be so cool when we worked together. Think we will be unbeatable!!

Hey Jia YOu people! Lets go cookinG!

Charmaine's reflections!! =D

2007-06-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

We had a bonding session on 2ndJune , Saturday. WOW! It was an experience. We had 2 main activities played, although they were only about 12 people who attended (we hoped they would be more), the session was unforgettable.

We had to pen a letter to a future "US", when we would read it after our trip. With time contraints, I wrote what I feel without stopping to re-read to check if i was making sense. I'm looking forward to the day when we will read the letter again. I've a strong feeling it would be something really personal and overwhelming.

For the games, we were splitted into 2 groups.

FIRST activity.
Using newspaper, create a bridge which could hold a filled 500ml bottle. Our group first started on one idea, but as we built the bridge, new ideas came up. No later, our initial plan was scrapped and we had a new idea! With everyone of us taking on different roles to complement each other, we managed to built a really long bridge which looked like a horse, with one end looking like an olympic torch. It's hard to describe the structure but I dare say we BELIVED in our structure and were CONFIDENT of it!

SECOND activity
With everyone of us contributing only a dollar, with the teachers paying $2. we have to get our own food from opposite school and cook them. The 2 groups decided to work together and combine forces. On the way to the market, we had a discussion if we should eat noodles or rice, although there were conflicting views, we all managed to come to an agreement within a short time. There are times when we have to give and take, and all of us have no qualms about it.

Bargaining was something we knew we had to do when buying ingredients, and being thickskinned is a plus point. We split up and allocate tasks to save time.

When we reached school, we had a fun time cooking and laughing at each other's cooking methods. Eventually, we had a full lunch!

What I've learnt from this is that, the 12 of us can work together pretty well, and give good suggestions. Not only that, I feel we have bonded during this session and this will definitely be one of those events we look back after the trip and laugh over it. (SALTY EGGS!)

Jacquelyn's reflection

2007-06-06T02:24:00.000-07:00

That day was our very first bonding session we had after having several meetings before that. Though the number of people was small, we really had a great time together with just that few of us. However, I will still hope that the next time when we carry out such bonding sessions, there will be more people coming to join us as a whole and united team.

My views on the 2 activities planned by out teachers...

I feel that the first activity, building of a bridge, focussed more on our teamwork. We have to come to a consensus within the short period of time and the structure to fulfil certain requirements set by mr cheng. Initially, most of us thought that it was impossible for us to make our bridge stand and still have to hold a filled water bottle. But nothing stopped us from letting our creativity and confidence flow within us. Our group drafted our structure on apiece of paper before carrying out the actual building of our bridge. Halfway through the building, we realised that the initially planned model could not stand well, luckily we were fast enough to switch our plan to another structure. Although we carried on with a lot of uncertainties, we still believed that we can do it. And eventually our structure is completed with great efforts put in by the whole group. Phew, it manages to hold the bottle for 10 seconds... Yes! We did it!

2nd Activity: Cooking lunch!
It sounds so fun isn't it? Indeed we have fun buying ingredients and cooking together. That was a test of how we work together to prepare edible lunch for the whole team. And most importantly we must also learn how to slah prices when we are at Yunnan. HaHax! The lunch turned out to be quite decent despite it being the first time we worked together to cook a meal. And for some of us this may be the first time we actually get involved in cooking a meal that does not comprise of maggi noodles only. First meal with the team was a memorable and happy one but i'm sure there are more happy meals that we are ready to share with one another.

Everyone had a fun filled day and I have learnt the importance of teamwork, give and take when we comes to making decisions, and giving what we have to others and sharing knowledge and fun with one another. Hope to have more of these activities when time comes...

-jacquelyn

Jia Xiang's reflection

2007-06-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

jia xiang here to update his reflection on the bonding session held on saturday 2nd june..

yea.. not many attended this bonding session.. i hope more [ or all! =) ] attend bonding session next tym.. coz i think we did realli spent some time bonding together..? yup. its quite successful.. quite, unexpected for me as it turns out to be better than what i thought it will be lik.. =)

so after the discussion of some fund raising ideas, we had to write a letter to ourseleves? well.. yea i had some difficulties writing the letter.. basically coz i nid more time to think thru and we're onli given 15-20mins -.- .. hahaa but..the letter helps. somehow. will i rmb what i write after the trip.? gosh if i nv rmb wrongly we need to read out our letters after the trip which is soo.. abit shy. hahaa

hmm so next we got the newspaper game!
we're suppose to build a 90cm tall 120cm wide bridge with newspapers..
and it is supposed to withstand the weight of 500ml bottle for 10secs..
so.. yupp our grp discuss how to build the bridge..
err.. in the beginning, i wasnt really able to picture the "bridge" that my grp members said..
so i was abit blur at that moment.. so i jus rolled up the newspapers as told..
however sometime later i think we came up with something creative!
yess.. its a long long long bridge with a "olympic head" (abv 90 cm) .. well i don't know how to describe it..but somehow.. we manage to complete our task.. within the time limit.. meet all the measurements requirements.. and able to withstand the weight of 500ml bottle for more than 10 secs..
the other grp succeed too! yupp =D
somehow i feel that.. there will be alot of challenges ahead.. but.. no matter what it comes.. we will manage it.. somehow... by hook or by crook!!

so after that we're suppose to cook our lunch!
yes.. everyone contributed 1 dollar each.. teachers contributed 2 dollars each.. we're suppose to buy those ingredients.. what kind of lunch is this?
okay yess. it seems quite impossible.. but in the end i guessed we stuffed those food into our stomach.. i din realise the money tt we had could get us.. quite alot of food.?
yess.. simple lunch.. but its not simple at all.

i guessed all of us enjoyed had fun that day? looking forward for the next one...

-jiaxiang

Yijie's reflection

2007-06-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, though not many attended the overseas outreach meeting, we really had a lot of fun. All of us were divided into 2 groups.

Before the first official activity, we had to write a letter to ourselves stating the things that we hope to achieve at the end of the trip. I really hope that after the trip, as we look back something that we had written 5 months ago, we can really feel a sense of satisfaction.

The first activity was to construct a bridge which was supposed to meet the minimum requirement of the length and height of a study bench. Next, it would have to withstand the weight of a filled 500ml bottle for 10 seconds. It seemed quite an impossible task at first as we were only provided with newspaper and a roll of scotch tape. However, as we proceed on, things got easier when we pictured the end product in our head and started working on it. As materials that we had were diminishing, we did small changes here and there and even added some creative juices into our bridge.

The next bonding activity was to cook up a lunch for our team mates as well as the teachers. The budget for each group was $7. In the end, the 2 groups decided to merge and we proceeded on to buy our required stuffs at the market opposite the school. We had so much fun bargaining, frying and cooking up the lunch all by ourselves.

Other than having fun, what I think the teachers wanted us to learn is to make full use of the resources that we had and try to think out of the box. The conditions in Yunnan will be similar-with limited resources. Thus, we need to learn how to make use of the circumstances and get what we want.

The sharing session at the very last put me into thinking. Yes, it may seem that the 10 of us seem united and bonded but there are still 17 members who are not able to attend. We really need to bring them in, get them to join in as well so that the 27 of us can really benefit what the teachers had planned for us.

(=

Junping's reflection

2007-06-02T05:54:00.001-07:00

today's the first day i went for OCIP meeting and though it was the first time i met most of them... i really had a lot of fun. was relatively early today and when amanda and i got to the benches under the trc we thought today's session would only have four to five people. but soon more people came and we started the fund raising meeting with 12 people and our two teachers-in-charge.

took quite some time for us to settle the fund raising events before we started on our first activity. building a bridge with newspaper and scotchtape and our group ended up with a bridge that looks like a horse on a sledge with a tail. while the other group did a real tall one that looked more like a bridge.

the next activity was to make our own lunch which we actually was supposed to do that in two groups but we ended up just combining our resources and thankfully the yong tau foo stall opposite did not close i guess. didn't know that 14 dollars could buy that much. it was a filling and meaningful lunch. because we cooked for ourselves.. other than the extra salt and the extra oil. and it was filling at least.

all these activities make me look forward to our next meeting.
junping-

Amanda's reflection

2007-06-02T05:41:00.000-07:00

Amanda's reflection on outreach bonding session
Today can be considered eventful as we finished a number of activities. Firstly, we managed to discuss some of the fund raising ideas, which is..... good and now i shall move on the main point.

The first game about building the bridge with newspapers, I must admit that I had reservations about the possibility of building the structure that fit the requirements. I mean, 0.9m high and 1.2m long, plus it has to be free standing and be able to withstand 500g, creating it must be an engineering feat that is only reserved for brillant engineers-to-be to achieve. It doesnt help much that I am not a physics student.

However, as the activity progresses and seeing the enthusiasm of my other group members, I started to stop being so skeptical and did whatever I could to materalise the plans. There were problems and doubts about the plan along the way but we manage to constantly improvise. After rolling stacks of newspapers and taping rolls of newspapers, the moment of truth was when we did a trial test. We released our grip on the newspapers and….. not only did the bridge stood, the water bottle stood pompously at the center of it and there was just this sense of self-accomplishment that drowned me. We did it, we did it. It was something out from nothing. The feeling of completing something that I thought was near-impossible was simply magnificent. The most meaningful takeaway from this activity is that no matter what the goal is, easy or hard, we must always attempt to reach it with our best efforts and no less.

Hoho, now I shall ramble on to the second activity about lunch. $1 to provide each person lunch, now that’s an activity I have not participate in before. I guess it was a really good move for the two teams to work together to achieve synergy rather than be competing against each other. So we were off to a good start by being able to share ideas and come up with the best to stuff everyone with food. There was a substantial amount of debating in the beginning but when we were at the food market, everything went on smoothly and systematically.

“We will get the yong tao foo”
“We will get the eggs and vegetables”
“ We will get the rice”

I was responsible for the rice and somehow we struck gold on our first store. With Jacquelyn’s marvellous bargaining the price for each packet of rich was cut from 50 cents to 30 cents (: Another point I picked up is the necessity to do away with self consciousness and daringly ask for a lower price or for free stuff. Hahas. Anyway, like different cells that make up a multi-cellular organism, division of labour does wonders, allowing the task to proceed efficiently and also leaving us with extra cash.

Back to school and cooking. I hardly cook; in fact I have always been afraid of hot oil in pans. So I did whatever I could contribute, pluck the beansprouts, wash the utensils, peel onions, prepare the table and crowd around the brave souls frying and marvel. I guess in Yunnan, I will have to face my enemy- the hot oil, so I guess I had better start loitering around the kitchen to watch my maid cooking. Once again like the first activity, we accomplished the challenge, despite everyone (am I right to assume this) being a greenhorn at cooking. Kudos to all of us for managing to work together to come up with lunch - yummy, tasty and filling lunch. From this activity, I learnt about the importance of working as a team to achieve a common goal.

Oh wells, that’s the end of today’s activity. I must conclude that it is fulfilling and we have certainly gotten to know one another better (((:

Amanda