After our February break, we started brainstorming ideas as to what we can do if our relationship with MWC ceases to exist. Which led us to our 3 options: HOME, MWC or Fresh Fruit Friday. 

While still working with MWC, me and 2 others were put into the task of phone shadowing where we watch the landline be picked up and answered. It was an interesting experience. I’ve always seen people answer calls in ads and tv shows. What I saw in person was a bit far from that. There weren’t constant calls, the atmosphere wasn’t hectic however many things were happening behind the scenes. I found it interesting as it challenged my previous preconception of landline handlings. I realized that my preconception was the reason why I was so nervous in the first place. I felt very uncomfortable and scared of the idea of having to handle someone’s life in my hands in a way. After sitting next to the landline I felt more comfortable but realized my proficiency in Bangla may not be very good. (LO1)

Unfortunately, we could not work with MWC after this as they were not too happy with us. From this experience, I learned how hard it is to maintain a relationship with someone else. I think the relationship was damaged because of our inability to keep promises and carry out responsibilities we said we do. This feeds into the dynamic of our group. It showed that you cannot be an individual in a group but rather everything you do as an individual affects everyone else and the progress you have made so far. (LO5)

Our group was demotivated but we still tried to establish a relationship with HOME. We had also met 10th graders who were doing a project to help migrant workers. We took tips from their project to see what our group could improve on since our projects didn’t seem to work out.

One of the main things I noticed that really hindered our progress was our diminishing morale and weak team dynamic.  Another thing was our lack of preparation as a group. We saw that other groups gave a pitch and sold their idea to MWC well. They came in prepared with an idea unlike us where we just went into both Healthserve & MWC for them to give us ideas. I think that if we had done our planning differently the relationship could still have existed.

Now we are planning to work with HOME and conduct six weeks of a photography workshop. (1 session per week) We will be giving the migrant workers cameras and they will take pictures of things that symbolise their life. This is to enable the migrant workers to express themselves through photos. This idea stemmed after a few of our members went to meet HOME and find out that last year there was a photo exhibition where the photos taken by migrant workers were auctioned off. We cannot auction the photos however we can have a bake sale and showcase the photos at our school. Our main intentions are to raise empathy for the migrant workers in our school and to help raise funds for HOME. (LO3)

It’s important to raise awareness and to show the perspective of the migrant workers since it’s all so hidden in the Singaporean community. We would like our community to be able to empathize with the bad conditions the workers are going through. We think that the exhibition will help with broadening the view of parents, teachers, and students. Which will help Singapore be more inclusive of the migrant workers since they are very ostracised in the community.  Our end result aim is to be able to support HOME as well as the integration of the migrant workers into the community (LO6)