a simple story of life

Haha. Finally!

Alrite!

I guess its about time for me to say this.

I am BLOGGING! O_O

haha... its been a month since my last update and my life is just filled with projects, school and more projects and more school! Well, the only time when i relax is to go lan gaming with alvin.tian.cal. and i wanna go sing!!! For such a lousy singer like me, guess less ktv-ing is making my singing worse. Mmmm... not a good thing.

And before i forgot, i like the show on chn8 sunday!!!! That jap drama!!! The ending soundtrack is soooooooo nice. But i can't find it... if i can, i would post it online. it this 救命病栋24小时. The song is by DCT(Dreams Come True). Shall source it out. I WILL!

Mmmm... guess you all won't wanna know anout my boring life rite... so i shall post something even more boring! my apel reflection which is TOTALLY CRAP! hahaha.

***
1. Identify a disadvantaged group, and briefly describe the current situation or share why this group is significant to you.

The group that I am going to identify is the aged.

As we all know, Singapore is having an aging population and the care for the aging is a must. Although the general awareness for the care of the aging is increasing but its not enough. The elderly is a group where it is very difficult for them to take care of themselves, especially when they are struck with illnesses.

I have been to various old folks home to do volunteer services and I have seen old folks who are abandoned and left at the home by their families. This truly enrages me and drives me to do what I can do these old folks.

2. What problems do they face, and what do you think they really need? Give example(s).

To me, the old folks face many problems. Out of which, I feel that family matters are of the most important. Most of these old folks in the home are there because their families gave up on them. They spend the days in the home doing absolutely nothing at all.

What do they really need? All they need is just some company. Money to them is already not important. Materialistic gains to them are of no importance. Why would they need it anyway? Spend some time with them, talk to them. Ask them how their day was and talk about trivial matters. They would already be so trilled. Company, that’s what they need.

3. What are your goals/objectives, and in what ways can you volunteer your service to help this group?

I hope that I would be able to visit a home weekly to spend some time there, doing chores or spending time with the elderly. My time spend there would be fruitful, as long as I am able to see the smiles of the elders there. This might seems to be a very simple thing to do but with my current schedule, it is very difficult for me to achieve that.

To volunteer for such services is easy. I can simply go to a home and inform them. Well, that was what I used to do. Visiting on a weekly basis is something that requires commitment that I would not really recommend it to people with short attention span. It would upset the elders if you promise to go but fail to do so. They would be expecting you.





4. Think of a tentative strategy and if applicable, state the (i) pros and cons, (ii) costs.
(Costs may include supplies, materials, transport, rental, utilities, manpower, etc.)

I think the need of this group (the elders) vary greatly. For some, all they need is some company, others might need medical benefits and some might need money. But to put it crudely, who doesn’t need money? By saying they need money; I mean those who are really poor and desperate.

Most probably the easiest way would be to reach out through a proper organization or a home and sign up to be a volunteer got them.

The advantages of doing so is that the volunteers would be saving a lot of hassles as they would not need to go through the trouble to be allocated a place where they would be needed. The homes/organization would handle that for them.

The cons would be that there might be slightly more paper work to do once they are going through such a formal channel. Registration forms etc would be a must.

Cost of doing such volunteering work at a home would be minimal. All one has to pay would be his own transport fee and meals. The rest would be provided by the home or organization. One can also op to donate a minimal sum monthly. Don’t be surprised that $2 can provided 3 meals for an elder.

5. Based on your recommendation in (4), draw up a tentative action plan.

One of the easier and more direct ways I would suggest is to go through the National Council of Social Service. They offer a comprehensive range of social services that a volunteer can choose to help. Thus, for those who are not interested in helping the elderly, they can perhaps, choose to help the kids or broken families.

There is a quote from the website.
"The difficult step is to get started; once the obstacle is overcome, it would be difficult to stop volunteering. Don't consider too much, just do it."
- Kwan Hoi Leong, volunteer, Trans Centre
Now, signing up is very easy! Simply access the website and you can start! You do not need to contact anyone; all you need is a web browser and a big heart!



Once you signed up from the site, it is up to you to plan your own time line. Maybe you would like to do it once a week or twice? It is totally up to you.

http://www.communitychest.org.sg/ncss/volunteer/aboutssv.html

6. How is volunteering related to your Life Mission statement?

To live a life of purpose, meaning and enduring joy, I will be the leader of my own life; making my dreams come true by realising my chosen Vision, guided by universally admirable Values, driven by an enduring Purpose and fired by undying Passions.

Some of the values that guide me in my life are caring and responsibility. By volunteering in such social service, I am giving out care to the needy. This fulfils my value of being caring. As for responsibility, when I help out in the homes, I feel a sense of responsibility towards the elderly. The home allowed us to be there to take care of the elderly without any supervision and I think it is our responsibility to do our job well.

7. How does volunteering effectively reinforce at least one of the APEL key principles or values?

I would say that volunteering help to reinforce 3 of the values, namely respect, compassion and initiative.

As mentioned earlier, respect is reinforced when the home gave us the change to work on our own. We ought to respect the home for giving us the chance to work independently.

Compassion is also mentioned earlier as caring. By volunteering in such meaningful activity, we display and reinforce on being compassionate towards the society.

How did we show initiative? We did that when we took the first step to sign up to be a volunteer. Remember the quote earlier? Hopefully, from this learning experience, I would be able to always take the first step and do what I think I need to do. Sometimes, there is no need for people to instruct us on what to do and we should act based on common sense and logic. Initiative is about acting without the need to being asked to do so.
***

HAHAHA. whoever read that. please please please tell me. YOU ARE NUTS!

Man. i know. i am nuts for being so cranky. But hey, just trying to relax! Chill.

Shall update another time. Hopefully wayyyyy before September. Haha!!

O! I miss all my council/pjc friends!!! Those who started school, all the best ya!!! I miss all of you!! =)

Another Chapter of angrynor @ 1:11 AM