About Rekindle 2016

Rekindle 2016 aims to engage the elderly and remind them that the community has not forgotten about them. The objectives of Rekindle 2016 were:

  1. To improve the housing conditions of seniors by cleaning, painting and refurbishing their houses.
  2. To demonstrate that the society still cares for the seniors through concerted efforts of the volunteers.
  3. To equip the seniors with practical skills & knowledge so that they can them on to others.
  4. To inculcate the idea of “I can contribute to my community too!” among the seniors.

Guided not only by the desire to help the elderly, Rekindle also aims to reignite the compassion in the hearts of the young people. The project consists of two activities held within a day: Revitalise – homes of 5 seniors were cleaned, repainted and refurnished; and Carnival – seniors from the neighbourhood were invited to a carnival and performances were organised to welcome them. With the help from Redhill Morals’ Senior Activity Centre (SAC) and 89 youth volunteers, the event successfully reached out to 54 beneficiaries!

In Singapore, 320,000 elderly live alone without receiving any family support. The majority of them in the Redhill district stay in 1-room rented flats, and they face challenges in doing simple housekeeping or providing for themselves. Some live in dusty homes with cracked walls and sleep on bug-infested beds, while others have their homes cluttered with hazardous items which they do not have the strength to remove.

Through our event, we want to remind the seniors that they are not alone, and that there are always people who are willing to help them if they need it. At the same time, we would like to show our volunteers that there exist many elderly within the community who needs their help, and a kind word or simple greeting from them can go a long way in making the day of the elderly.

The Highlights

Positive Experience

As main committee, we were moved by the humility and stewardship of the volunteers. For instance, all the volunteers who were involved in the Revitalise aspect of the project saw the refurbishment through till the very end, even though it was already past the stipulated time. Some ladies were even unbothered by the paint that stained their hair. On the other hand, the volunteers involved in the Carnival aspect also displayed tremendous enthusiasm in spite of the fact that they had to report really early for this event.

Overcoming the Challenges

Logistics and communications were exceptionally challenging throughout the entire process (prior to, during and even after the event). In terms of logistics, we were nearly faced with a situation whereby our materials could not be delivered on time, we couldn’t accurately estimate the exact quantities required (i.e. paint). Additionally, as for communications, we only had one person who was the point of contact for any issues that cropped up along the way. Thankfully, one of the main committee members drove. Hence, we were able to meet the logistical shortfall on short notice. Additionally, our point of contact, though overwhelmed with many calls, was able to handle all the matters. This would be a point to note for future events.

The Memories


Reflection #1 – The Challenges

Resource Management

As mentioned above, we realised that it was immensely difficult to assemble all the logistics within a short time. Moreover, different people brought different logistics and things were not consolidated properly. In the end, we spent a great deal of time trying to sort them out. On hindsight, we could have assembled them and placed them in a corner at the venue a few days before. As much as items could be ordered online, certain key items such as paint should have been bought personally. After all, online retailers are not 100% reliable. Additionally, we should have allocated our manpower more strategically. For example, we could have assigned one more person to be the point of contact so as to prevent a bottleneck in the logistic movement.

Reflection #2 – The Takeaways

Understanding Ourselves Better

The biggest takeaway from this project, perhaps, was the opportunity for us to reconcile with very fundamental and intrinsic core values in life such as gratitude, empathy, humility, patience and love. We also learnt that the elderlies’ greatest need isn’t material provision such groceries, vouchers and domestic aid, but quite simply just companionship. Very often, organisers of such social outreach programs might be caught up with meeting KPI’s, which could result in a deviation from the original rationale of beginning the project in the first place.