Esther ’25 learns “invaluable lessons on patience, enthusiasm, and gratitude” through her volunteer work.
This summer, I volunteered in a Special Student Care Centre at the Asian Women’s Welfare Association. The after-school center is a respite care service which serves students with additional needs (i.e. students who have intellectual or physical disabilities or are from families with complex social issues) and provides their caregivers with greater support. I took a class of 10 students who mostly came from single-parent or low-income households.
Before volunteering at the center, I met the students and teachers of the class to talk through my schedule of activities. Afterwards, I sent a proposal for the schedule of activities to the head teacher and kept in frequent contact with him to refine certain details. For example, in planning exercises outdoors, I took note of the students’ physical capabilities and modified the exercises to be easier or more difficult depending on each student. For a cooking class where we made our own wraps, I also marked down any allergies the students had so that I could prepare ingredients accordingly. Finally, for each day that I conducted an activity, I made sure I had a clear goal for what I wanted the students to take away.
During my two weeks at the center, I organized multiple activities for the students to try new things and learn different skills. I aimed to help them pick up soft skills like resilience and teamwork while promoting mental wellness which are key to our generation. A typical hour-long lesson started off with me giving a short 15-minute presentation or talk educating them on a specific topic followed by an activity that reinforced the lesson.
As I continued spending a couple hours each day with the 10 students in my class, I noticed that many of them and other students at the center were wearing clothes that were torn and tattered or did not fit them anymore. Understanding their need, I organized a small donation drive by asking a couple friends and their families for clothes that I could donate to the centre. I have collected over 75 pieces of clothing, and I plan to continue collecting as much as I can.
Currently, I am also planning an outing to the Singapore Flyer which will take place in a few weeks’ time. I chose this particular attraction because I wanted to take this opportunity and bring the students to a place they have never been before and may never get the chance to go to otherwise. Additionally, I intend to complement the outing with a lesson on Singapore’s unique and iconic historical sites that will be seen during our visit to the flyer.
Overall, I am grateful for the time that I have spent forming meaningful connections with the students at the center. Though I initially intended on being the “teacher”, they too have taught me invaluable lessons on patience, enthusiasm, and gratitude.