At an age where many would be busy chasing academic excellence, Hwa Chong classmates, or as they dub themselves, The Care Bears, choose instead to spend their weekends with residents at AWWA, through activities like slime making & origami.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Slime making was like one of my favourite childhood activities
00:03and I'm very very happy to be able to like share my joy with like the residents.
00:13Hi everyone!
00:17We are all from the same class.
00:20Because we're here to like serve AWA and like try to help the residents here
00:23put in like planned activities for them.
00:26We were actually researching on different types of beneficiaries
00:29that we were interested in.
00:30And eventually after we got together right,
00:32we found AWA and we found that their course was very interesting.
00:35So we decided to volunteer here.
00:37When we first started of course we were a bit hesitant and nervous
00:40because you know we don't usually interact with these people with disabilities.
00:43But now it's been three months and we're even more passionate
00:45because we realised that oh they're just regular people like us.
00:52We come here every Saturday from 2 to 4 pm to engage with the residents.
00:59What AWA does is that it helps people with disabilities ranging from mild to severe
01:08physical and mental disabilities.
01:11So we hope to plan fun and engaging activities to help them during Saturdays.
01:19Hello!
01:21Do you remember us?
01:22I'm Xu Tian.
01:23I have pet fishes at home.
01:27It's me!
01:29Remember me?
01:29Cara and Cara.
01:30Yeah.
01:31Yeah then you open it.
01:34Okay then you'll fall into another triangle.
01:38Then you push down.
01:41So you'll form this like mini square that has flaps at the side.
01:50You open one of the flaps and then you push it down.
01:54Rach, is it okay if you show me?
01:57What is square?
01:58I don't know why I can't focus.
01:59You do the same on both sides.
02:03Based on what we find out about AWA, then we plan our activities
02:06and we have to get it approved by our school.
02:09And we also came over to talk to Natasha about the residents.
02:18No, it's okay.
02:18It's all part of the process.
02:21Now after three months, I actually am friends with a lot of them.
02:23They recognise us when we come in.
02:25So it used to be at the start I was very nervous
02:27but now I actually look forward to Saturday
02:29and taking the one hour MRT ride from my house to come here
02:33and hang out with the residents.
02:36So it's been very fun and it's been increasingly meaningful
02:39as you know you get to know them personally
02:41and I form friendships with them.
02:48We had a lava lamp, we had slime making,
02:51activities that are like science-based.
02:53Inside the contact lens solution right,
02:55got the boric acid to react with the baking soda and the glue.
03:01Okay, so we just add a bit at a time okay.
03:08Most of the residents enjoy playing slime together
03:11and it's definitely quite like helpful as a therapy
03:14because it's very sensory activity.
03:16And today we are making the butter slime
03:18so it's supposed to be like smooth and spreadable.
03:20We should help them to relax and enjoy.
03:22Then sometimes we also plan to make things like floam slime
03:25so there will be like beads inside
03:27which will like have those crunchy texture
03:29and also very satisfying sounds.
03:31It's also a lot easier than other types of activities.
03:36One aspect that we definitely help is the social inclusion part.
03:39Some of them might feel left out
03:40because they feel like they have some disability
03:42which might hinder their abilities to do some of these things.
03:45So what we plan to do is that we plan to assist them in these activities
03:48and help them realise that they can actually complete these activities
03:52just like any of us
03:53and definitely help them to build self-confidence in themselves.
03:56It goes a long way in building their self-esteem
03:58and improving their overall character.
04:01So because of the amount of time we spend together right
04:04we really thought about like everything.
04:10So after this project we became a lot closer than we were.
04:15And I think after the six-month period that you know we've agreed to do this
04:18I'll still come back as regularly as I can
04:21because I feel like I've actually forged real connections with them.
04:25Bye bye.
04:27What we have to give up is definitely our time
04:29and we have to be committed to this
04:31but actually what we receive is more than what we give.
04:33So for instance we forge many valuable friendships with the beneficiaries
04:38with the residents there
04:39and we also make many new friends there
04:41for example with the other volunteers there.
04:46I feel like for volunteers who want to volunteer right
04:48taking the first step would be the hardest
04:49but the time to start is like right now.