With a heart to serve the community in Pathein, Myanmar, 22 students from Hall of Residence 15 set off during the summer break for their Overseas Service Learning project, titled Securing A Future For Everyone (Project SAFE). Prior to that, the team had a recce trip and did their preparations based on the feedback they had from the local community.

Education was one of the focus of the project. Much thought was put into coming up with lesson plans to teach English to the children in the rural areas, in a bid to equip them with additional language skills and building on the foundation that previous teams have laid. Besides teaching, leadership lessons were organised as well, to impart soft skills to the Burmese youths to develop their character and encourage personal growth.

One of the concerns of the Burmese was the condition and state of the facilities of Pathein YMCA. With the hard work of the student volunteers and the Burmese youths, the facilities were improved so that the youths will be able to have a conducive place to gather and learn skills to upgrade themselves.

Amid all of the activities such as home visits, cultural exchanges and a visit to the orphanage, the most memorable for the team was the interaction and connection with the locals, where they picked up new perspectives and a sense of gratitude, and gained much more than what they had given.

I supposed with the naivety of my experiences with OCIP I definitely had the mindset that we were there to help the people, make an impact and whatnot. Because of this mindset, I felt a sense of helplessness when I was faced with the realisation of the magnitude of problems faced in Pathein and the country that was ultimately out of our control. This experience has in many ways grounded my worldly views and thinking. I had to put myself in the shoes of the people there as well as the other members on our team and as such, I have learned that I am only limited by the boundaries I have set for myself.

 

This OCIP trip has been incredibly fulfilling and I appreciate everybody I have met on this trip whether they were our own team members, the Burmese volunteers or even the kids and families we met.
Gillian Chin, Student Volunteer

 


About Hall of Residence 15

Over the years, Hall 15 has created an image for itself. Being a vibrant hall with its colourful and dynamic cultural landscape, it is no wonder that many of our events are also adopted in other halls, clubs and societies in NTU. We pride ourselves as being bold to accept challenges and undertake innovations to make Hall 15 prominent in the NTU hostel community.

We engage our residents with interesting events and activities to encourage social bonding and leading diverse lifestyles beyond just studying. To us, bonding is of utmost importance for a hall is not a home until every resident is seen as a member of the ‘Fiftian’ family.

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