Y Spring-Clean Programme in Collaboration with YMCA Singapore
October 17, 2018
This Community Involvement Project (CIP) was hosted by YMCA Singapore at Teck Ghee on the morning of the 29th of September 2018. The objective of the CIP was to inspire compassion and empathy in the student volunteers towards the elderly and the less privileged of Singapore. The task was to assist the elderly in cleaning the areas of their household that they could not clean themselves which included their toilets, ceiling fans, and windows, amongst others. These elderlies are physically or sensory impaired, which made the basic task of cleaning a challenge. Without help from the community, they would be left to fend for themselves in a poorly maintained home, which may lead to health and safety hazards. While spring cleaning was the overhead task, the intrinsic objective of the CIP was actually to interact with and better understand the aged and underprivileged single-room flat loners.
Prior to the commencement of the activity, the student volunteers had a conduct briefing by a representative from YMCA. They were then divided into groups of four and assigned to a household respectively. During the two-hour spring cleaning activity, the student volunteers also engaged in simple conversations with the elderly, which were really appreciated by them. It was an eye-opening experience for several of the students as they witnessed first-hand, for their first time, people living in different circumstances. The student volunteers learned a truer meaning of compassion and empathy and learned to appreciate better what they have. As children themselves, they also learned the lesson of being filial, to never abandon their parents when they grow up. After the CIP, the student volunteers left the establishment with a better understanding of life and purpose, with widened perspectives of the different societal problems as well as the wealth gap in Singapore.
“One person caring for another represents life’s greatest value”
– Jim Rohn