hand in hand
"profoundly moving"
"love thy neighbour"
"who's closer to us in SMU than our foreign friends?"
"1 in 5 SMU students are foreigners"
"friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together"
"where to begin and how?"
Posted by Deborah at 8:56 PM 5 comments
Nguyen sent me an email today. I thought he raised some relevant points, I think you guys should have a read.
"we must first understand the culture and secondly, not be afraid of meeting new people."
"It isn’t an easy or quick process and it’s the crucial first step which is always the most difficult one"
"the purpose of our project is to help them take the first step"
"understand local culture on a personal level"
"at the same time, encourage Singaporeans to meet people from different cultures"
Posted by Deborah at 9:12 PM 10 comments
Days later...
Survey to find out what activities our participants want!
Facebook group!
Information booklet
CNY celebrations at Bukit Batok Community Center and CIP
Camp in a couple days! I'm so excited.
"leverage strengths"
"empathy"
"rapport building"
Posted by tecksiang at 10:10 PM 1 comment
"Beautiful culture and lovely friends"
"family warmth"
Friday, February 26, 2010
Reflections
I think it's time to reflect on this amazing journey we've had!
Everybody has strengths, everyone brings something to the table
As a group we learnt that recognizing this is extremely important as knowing exactly what you have to work with can help the team organize, plan and determine the direction of the project. What we did was that we leveraged on our foreign student teammates’ personal experiences and contacts to make our project a reality.
Learning to work different people from different backgrounds. Different people have different needs, and one of the very first things we learnt as a group was during the second week when Prof came to us told us, and I quote: “that we need to be empathetic towards those needs”. Yes Prof we still remember what you said, and I think I speak for everyone in my group when I say that although we have more or less forgotten about Sir Shackleton and that submarine show, empathy really stuck with us throughout our entire journey.
Things we could have done differently?
I think for a pilot project we organized a successful event. But we did face a rather serious problem of having some participants bail on us on the event day. It wouldn’t be right for us to say that since we now know our event would be well-received and successful we should have just cast a larger net to begin with and attract as many participants as we possibly we can. But on hindsight, perhaps what we could have done differently is to continually liaise with our target groups to build rapport leading up to the event, through activities such as pre-camp meet-ups, as this will secure greater commitment towards our event.
Aaron said...
I have things to add!
Good job, guys! I enjoyed the food and the moment we spent our time with our foreign friends.
Beautiful and lovely local culture and the hospitality of our local friends are worth mentioning.
Thank you, Strategica. Our foreign friends found it really fantastic and your Limited Singapore Edition, Pictionary helped us share our local culture with them.
Plus I have never been celebrated the Chinese New Year with such a lot of people in such an amazing event. Loved it!!
February 27, 2010, 1:15 AM
Thursday, February 25, 2010
CNY Celebrations at BBCC
Monday, February 1, 2010
Found Something Today
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Received Something Today
Double click anywhere & add an idea
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Camp Day!!
Dear Deborah,
As a foreign student, I think to fully join a new environment, a new community in another country, we must first understand the culture and secondly, not be afraid of meeting new people.
It isn’t an easy or quick process and it’s the crucial first step which is always the most difficult one but after this first step, everything will be much easier.
These problems are not just my own but also the problems faced by all international students.
Therefore, with a camp, we want our international friends to feel and understand Singapore’s culture on a personal level, at the same time, we want to go beyond our own comfortable circles of friends and meet people from different cultures.
Your friend,
Nguyen
It's the strangest thing, I found a letter on my way home the other day. I don't even know who wrote it or who it was meant for but it was profoundly moving. In it, an international student was trying to grapple with being a new community and the loneliness he experienced in Singapore.
It reminds me of some oft-quoted Bible wisdom
"Love thy Neighbour"
It's a pretty universal message, regardless of your race or creed. Help those in need and start with those closest to you, your neighbours. Who were our neighbours in SMU?
It dawned on us then that we need look no further than ourselves because half of our group are International students. After some Googling, I discovered that 20% of our campus mates are International students, that means 1 in every 5 people you rush past on your way to class.
And I don't think we're the only ones just rushing past, too busy to bother or connect. While the International students are not isolated or explicitly excluded in school, it does not feel as if there is enough integration happening despite the varied mix of nationalities.
The 28th President of the United States of America, Woodrow Wilson, is not as famous as those before and after him but he was just as wise at times. He said,
"Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together."
And he is very right. Without these intangible bonds between people, across physical distances and cultural ones, the everyday motions and Life itself would hold very little meaning. People need people and the world revolves around these vital unquantifiable relationships.
So I guess the answer to 'who are our neighbours' was in front of us all along, perfectly logical and clear, because even the greatest changes, the best intentions, must first be practised in our own backyard.
We played lots of games, some Singapore related that were fun and interesting for our foreign friends!
Cheryl said...
That's a great idea! Let's do it! Who's in?
I think we should do something about it!
February 3, 2010, 12:10 AM
Cheryl said...
February 2, 2010, 1:03 AM
Tecksiang said...
Me!
Liu Nian said...
Me!
Jek Bao said...
Me!
Deborah said...
Tecksiang said...
Aaron said...
Me!
Check your email =)
Me!
Nguyen said...
Me too! But what?
February 2, 2010, 1:10 AM
Me!
February 2, 2010, 1:30 PM
Nguyen said...
February 3, 2010, 12:11 AM
5 Comments
Started off with ICEBREAKERS! Took some cute pictures of the participants having post-its on their foreheads:
Cheryl said...
February 2, 2010, 10:00 AM
Awesome! What shall we call ourselves?
Nguyen said...
February 3, 2010, 12:15 AM
And that's a good idea because?
How about a camp for foreign and local students?
February 2, 2010, 1:15 PM
Deborah said...
Hand in Hand!
Deborah said...
February 3, 2010, 12:20 AM
Deborah said...
Btw, I'm giving everyone access to this blog so you can all post!
February 3, 2010, 12:25 AM
Monday, February 22, 2010
Preparing for the camp
Quick update! Here's what we're doing to prepare for our camp, it's going to be awesome!
Lau Par Sat Food Trail!
Awesome fun and company.
Posted by jekbao at 11:11 PM 1 comment
Posted by nguyen at 11:00 PM - 0 Comments
Posted by cheryl and liu nian at 9:56 PM 0 comments
Cheryl said...
We proceeded down to the grassy area outside SOA to play some sports that they were unfamiliar with, such as Frisbee!
Aww, can't believe its over. =(