Hmm. Just thought I'll share about my own CIP experiences? (To me at least that's a change for the better from my usual brainless blabbering)

The organisations I have been involved in fall generally under two loose groups - children/youths and the elderly.

Lion Befrienders and Touch Community
I believe all the NY girls would know about them, since these were the main organisations NY worked with. I've been on visits to nursing homes twice, and both times left me feeling guilty for my lack of fluency in dialects. It was really sad, because the aunties and uncles were so appreciative even though all we did was to sing songs and make small talk with them. It reflected on how lonely and emotionally neglected they were.

Peer tutoring in p5/6
It really humbled me because our peers were so eager to learn, and very sincere and grateful. And we were really, really proud of them because they did quite well for the PSLE Science papers. (which I recall were tricky) One of the guys got an A, even though he sprained his wrist on the morning of the exam.

Service Project: Bridging World Musical
Some of us then-sec2s worked with a group of Down Syndrome youths who had talent in the arts (mostly theatre and singing) and two visually handicapped and EXTREMELY talented musicians, Wai Yee and Jafar. We really learnt a lot through interacting with them and the youths' highly supportive parents. It was quite sad that because that the musical didn't work out because the director was a very busy man and he couldn't fork out enough time to see it through.

Guides
I had a lot of opportunities to volunteer with my guides. For one, we adopted a child, Beth, under World Vision's scheme to help poor children worldwide have a good education and find a warm foster home. I'm glad to see she's getting healthier and improving at her studies. We've worked with PUB and Manjusri Sec Sch to do household chores and install water saving devices for some old folks over a couple of weeks.

We also work a lot with the organisation APEX, which caters to a big range of beneficiaries. The most recent activity was planning an islandwide Flag Day with them early this year. Most of my batch and some of my seniors went back to help.

Which brings me to a point I brought up before, but since no one responded, I will nag AGAIN. APEX is once again holding a funfair for children with special needs, mostly likely in the middle of the year. The aim is to let the children really have fun, without the usual scrutiny/eyeballing/gawking they face in public. Ok, I admit I haven't done my research to find out the details of the event yet, but based on my experience when in NYGG, it is a small scaled event, with about max 80 children. There would be about 10 stalls, consisting of food, games, face painting and the like.

The reason why I would help out with this event is because it REALLY is very rewarding to see the children's faces light up, to know that at least for a few hours, you brought them joy and laughter. (Yes I love kids though I'm not that good with them)

So. Where do we come in? We can volunteer to set up some stalls, or work as escorts for the children, bringing small groups of them around and looking out for their safety and other needs.

Coming up the proposal isn't too much of a problem, if you all are interested, I will definitely come up with it. (of course after much discussion with you guys and APEX) If you all are afraid that there isn't enough manpower, we can rope in our sister class/senior class/other ARES classes. OR if you all don't mind, we can work with my Guides juniors.

Yea so people please tag in response to the CIP suggestion okay? BIG THANKS!!

posted by ~ hongling ~ at 7:24 PM