Service Goal Setting
Our Partner's Mission
Throughout the years, we have established a comprehensive network of social services to meet a wide range of needs in our community. Our diverse programmes reach out to children who need care and protection, families in material need, ailing aged requiring quality nursing care and other needy segments in our society.
Our spiritual ministry also reaches out to the people in the community to provide counsel to those in need. We are there to help guide those in need towards finding their identity and purpose in life.
Agenda/Minutes
On the left is an example of what our agenda document looks like. Here is the link to our document, that we will continue to update as we go along with the process.
Singing and Guitar
As the weeks passed, we found that there was one activity we would do that would constantly garner a lot of support from our audience as well as being something that was very practical and convenient for us to organise; singing and the guitar. While two of us could play the guitar, everyone could take part in singing as well as percussion or just clapping their hands. It was an activity that we found really fun to do as well, because we could sing a lot of our favourite songs as well as ensure that the elders were enjoying watching us as well. We had initial doubts about whether it would keep everyone engaged for the full one and a half hours, as well as if we would have enough songs to fill the time, but at the end of the day we found that it was quite possible and that time was practically flying by each session. We now know that this is always an option to use as an activity when we visit the centre because it is something that has everyone engaged and it is something that can very easily put a smile on their faces as well.
Lanterns for CNY
For Chinese New Year in service, we conducted in activity with our clients which involved them making paper lantern cutouts. The paper lantern cutouts were colour-less, and though the plan was to have them colour the lanterns, we would have had them leave the lanterns white in case of a shortage of colour pencils or time. However, during a free block on the day of service, my Chinese friend exclaimed in shock after I showed him a white lantern cutout I’d done. He told me that while red lanterns signify the New Year and prosperity, white lanterns are used at funerals and embody death. I received a similar reaction from a staff member at our service, who repeatedly warned me not to give the elderly white lanterns. We then made sure that no lantern was left uncoloured, since that would have had disastrous moral consequences. This episode highlighted how even the tiniest of things have ethical repercussions, and that we must carefully consider our actions, especially when it comes to dealing with cultures and situations we are unfamiliar with.
Christmas Colouring
Since we were approaching the Christmas holidays, we decided it would be a good idea to get some colouring pages into the centre to get everyone in the Christmas mood. Although we did plan it a bit later than we would have liked to, ultimately it paid off because everyone was very much involved and enjoying the process. A better resolution for us next time would maybe be to plan a bit better beforehand and be a bit more organised with our materials prior to going to the centre, so that we can be better with our time and not have to rush or be in a hurry of any sort. Colouring is a good tool to use for testing the elderly’s motor skills as well as their hand eye coordination. It was also nice to see them bonding with one another in sharing ideas for what colours to use for which page, as well as sharing the pencils among one another. It was another great way for them to develop their relationships with one another and they seemed to be enjoying their time with one another a lot. I think that we learned a lot from this activity because we can use this as a potential activity for future meetings as well.
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