Seeking to form connections with their beneficiaries during the Covid-19 pandemic, 28 volunteers from Hall of Residence 10 converted their overseas community involvement project (OCIP) into the locally based Project 10ve. Collaborating with welfare organisation Hope Centre (Singapore), the team engaged with youths and children under Hope Centre’s drop-in programme, visiting the centre twice a week in March 2021.
In the first half of each visit, the volunteers will guide around 40 children in a study session. This arrangement seeks to cement the importance of prioritizing work before play to the children, which is an important value to inculcate.
After the study session, the children will be engaged in activities prepared by the volunteers during their allocated playtime, with different projects for each week. For the first week, the children were given plain tote bags to design – with the hope that the children could express themselves creatively through art while encouraging them to cut down on the use of plastic bags. Other hands-on activities included notebook designing and terrarium making, making up three take-home projects that the children could call their own.
For the fourth week’s session, the volunteers conducted a Zumba class. Both the children and volunteers participated actively in the fitness dance, which allowed the volunteers to interact with the children while having fun.
Project 10ve participants believed the sessions were a success, with many volunteers participating in such a service project for the first time. The volunteers learned to be adaptable and flexible during their interaction with the children, as each had different attention spans, and some required more one-to-one attention. Hope Centre (Singapore) also responded positively to the activities, noting that it was “nice to get a group of student volunteers who were young and energetic, as it helped them connect better with the kids”.
For future editions, Project 10ve hoped to schedule its activities to ensure volunteers will be available for all sessions.
“One of my biggest takeaways from this event was learning to have greater empathy and patience with the children. I enjoyed my time volunteering and having a direct impact on the beneficiaries, which made me feel all the more worthwhile.” Daryl Seah, Financial Controller
About Hall of Residence 10
Hall of Residence 10 consists of four blocks with 600 residents.
Hall of Residence 10 organised many events and activities for their residents such as Overseas Exposure Programmes, Mid-Autumn Festival and Halloween Night. Hall 10 also participates actively in the annual Inter-Hall competitions, attaining commendable results in various activities such as sports, dance and cheer-leading.
