Blessings In A Bag partnership

We are pleased to announce an upcoming partnership with Blessings in a Bag! I emailed them previously, but they did not reply. So it was heartening when I received a reply the second time round! The main points of the partnership are in bold. A meeting should be scheduled sometime in August. Stay tuned for more updates!

Hi Diana

Apologies for this late reply. Emily forwarded me your email and on behalf of the team, we would like to express our gratitude to hear from you and your friends who are willing to help us with our cause.

We couldn't be more excited with the help that you offered, because we always have Blessings Bags to distribute be it to our beneficiaries or travelers under our Blessings in a Bag Movement program. Our main focus is to help as many underprivileged children as possible and we would not have done it without the kind help from people like you. So, feel free to let us know how many bags you guys will be able to bring over to Cambodia. :)

Also, we would like to know whether you guys are interested to be our ambassadors under Blessings in a Bag Ambassadors program... Maybe it will be best if we can arrange for a meet up, at your convenient time, or you can always come down to Serene Centre to meet the core team, as well as our volunteers, on any Sunday to discuss this better... :)

Looking forward to hear from you again and thank you again for contacting us!

Cheers!
Arbella
Street Team Coordinator
Blessings in a Bag


www.blessingsinabag.org
Follow us on TWITTER: twitter.com/blessingsinabag


-- You can't do great things with small love but you can do small things with great love -- Mother Teresa


--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Diana Yusoff <dianayusoff@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Subject: Wish to be involved
To: emilyteng@blessingsinabag.com
Cc: blessingsinabag@gmail.com, Tan Ming Hui <tan.minghui86@gmail.com>


Dear Emily,

I chanced upon your website through a magazine feature article, and
thought that your cause is very meaningful,

My friends and I are a group of students from NTU, intending to go
down to Cambodia in December for a water filtration project under the
Youth Expedition Project (YEP).

We wish to participate in your Blessings In a Bag programme, be it to
distribute bags to the children in the village in Cambodia, or to
provide some of our manpower/assistance if you have any upcoming
events or logistical needs.

Please let us know how we can be involved. Perhaps we can meet up some
time in the first week of August to discuss this further.

Additionally, through the YEP Leadership Workshop, I've come to know
other leaders going to places like Batam, Nepal, Cambodia and Vietnam,
who are likely to be able to participate in your programme as well. Do
let me know your needs and whether you need me to link you up with
them.

--
Best regards,
Nur Diana Yusoff
Nanyang Technological University
NTU Students In Free Enterprise (NTU SIFE)

Liaison with CROAP

I had just sent an email to CROAP, our Cambodian NGO, to suggest the few areas that we can work on. We are very fortunate to have a very receptive local NGO. In addition to the water facilities, I intend to plan for a few more meaningful activities for our team. Probably will have to check out with CROAP. Otherwise, we can probably link up with other NGOs for mini-projects.

The following is one of the email which i sent to CROAP.

Dear Father,

From the discussion with my university, we would like to suggest a few areas in which we can work on to improve the quality of the water.

Firstly, the water in the existing pond is rather murky. It is likely to be due to the type of sand/soil in the area which caused the water to be unclear.

Instead of relying on the existing dug pond, in which water seeps through the soil from the river to the pond, we suggest building a separate concrete pond(attached as Pond design.ppt) with a drain to channel water from the river to the pond. We can add in different layers of filters in the drain, so that when water is filtered as it travels through the drain.

With the concrete pond, we can directly use the water from the pond for washing purposes.

Secondly, we suggest building a simple water filtration concrete unit whereby water is filtered from the top and clean water is collected at the bottom.

Water will seep through layers of filters. I have attached a sketch(Blueprints.zip) of the proposed filtration unit. It may seems rather confusing.

I will try to obtain pictures of a built one, so that it can help you to better visualize.

With the filtration unit, water produced is likely to be portable, but it will take a longer time. Therefore, water for washing should be taken from the pond whereas water for drinking should be taken from the concrete filtration unit.

Our team hopes to build the above two facilities with the support of CROAP.

What do you think of our proposed solution?

Please feel free to clarify with us.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Journey as a Leader

On Saturday and Sunday last week, Ming Hui and I went for the second part of our YEP Leadership training conducted by Blossom. It was held at Ubin, where we had to stayover for a whole night. I will be posting up the pictures after this!

Overall, I would say that the leadership training has been a real eye-opener. I feel especially strongly on this, because I myself have never assumed such a big leadership role in my entire life. Possibly it is because of my lack of confidence in myself as a leader in previous years that made me decide not to assume any leadership responsibilities.

However, I decided to grab the opportunity to co-lead in Project Waterloo because I've decided for myself that this is something I would like to try out. I realised over the years that I've slowly been regained more confidence in myself and my abilities, and although I am still lacking in many areas, at least I know I am trying.

Being a leader, as I soon found out from the camp, is not easy at all. Some people are born leaders. Others, like myself, will have to put in more effort. For example, the feedback I received from the camp will be useful because such simulations have made me truly realise the enormity of our responsibilities. It is more than making sure that everything is going according to plan; it is the realisation that we (me and Minghui) are responsible for the lives of our participants.

How I realised this was during the traumatic Emergency Evacuation simulation, where two casualties (played by Yingyi and Chit Chin) had to be rescued. Chit Chin was 'bleeding profusely' almost dying, and Yingyi was supposed to play the role of the irritating girl with the tummyache who refuses to be helped and keeps on screaming away.

The truth was, when the simulation started, I was at a loss amidst all the chaos. Yingyi played her role too well, screaming away like nobody's business, and truthfully, the screams were so jarring they were almost painful and way too realistic. I stayed back to oversee her whilst Minghui went to help the other fella.

THE GIRL DID NOT WANT TO BE HELPED. Every question asked was answered with a scream. It did not help either that the first aider was at a loss too. It was then and there that as a leader, I realised that I should be more decisive and snappy at making decisions - to take control of the situation and to ensure that the participants are given the medical attention that they need. To make the proper calls when necessary and to ensure that overenthusiastic bystanders do not get into the way of the medical attention that is required to be given. These are just some things that books on leadership cannot teach you.

Here are other things that we learnt from the simulation:

1. Bystanders who have nothing to do should be shooed away. Otherwise, give them a role to do beforehand e.g. runners.
2. Have other team mates in charge of roles such as telecom (to call up the relevant parties like ISOS, transport etc) and observer (to take down the evaluations of the patient by the first aider as records for future use).
3. EAP map should be prepared so that the protocol during emergencies are known by the other members, and the leader can immediately refer to it in the event of an emergency
4. Contact numbers of relevant parties should also be included in the EAP for fast and easy reference
5. The leader must scold people when necessary to ensure that he is in control of the situation.
6. The Epipen can be used to prolong the life of an anaphylactic patient,until help arrives
7. ISOS hotline can be called in the event that the first aider cannot manage, as they will be able to provide sound advice when required. Leaders should practise calling ISOS hotline pre-trip.
8. Provide the insurance number to ISOS so that they can determine if there will be reimbursements for any medical services utilised.
9. Certain places such as TTSH Traveller's Clinic and NUH international clinic will be able to provide advice on jabs required for each specific country.
10. Doing RAMS (Risk Assessment & Management System) will prevent the need to face an emergency evacuation scenario.

Other things I learnt:

RAMS is a good methodology to assess the risks on-site and take the necessary actions to prevent risks.

Step 1: Identify the risks.

Step 2: Evaluate and assess the risks by drawing a chart with four quadrants. For the quadrant with high severity (if occured) and high likelihood, it cannot be Tolerated

Step 3: Manage the risks through the 4 Ts: Tolerate, Transfer, Treat or Terminate

Also a duty of care list should be crafted so that we can be better prepared for the trip.

During my facilitation session as well, I learnt that it is important for both leaders to sync and provide a short and sweet summary that would stick in the minds of participants. Negative feedback, no matter how painful to hear, should be seen positively as they are good learning points for personal growth :)

Participants can be made to use an object or a photo to describe how they feel about their YEP venue.

All in all, the trip was a fulfilling one. I discovered more about the other leaders during the segment titled Learning Journey where we each had to share a significant event in our lives through a drawing.

Ubin was a shocker when we first arrived due to the poor maintenance of the place where we stayed (an Ubin villager's). However, I managed to get used to it and got to know some cute animals as well. One experience that I will always remember is the loud noise of the rain hitting the zinc roof of our building, and the rain slowly drizzling down the holey roof.

I was afraid the roof would collapse! :p

Failitation Skills

Of particular importance are the skills needed to conduct a solid discussion.

From the 2 days, these are some things that we need to observe, sounds very commonsenscial but it is not easily achieved.

To have a good discussion

1. Facilitators should talk less and listen more to avoid narrowing the scope of the discussion.
2. Engage the participants by using ACTS(refer to the previous 2 posts)
3. Ask questions and use the frame work of ELC to design activities for the team.

I am going to practise that more often.

By doing so, I can talk less and yet engage the participants!

Leadership Training (5th July)

• Social Tree

Making use of metaphors, the team is able to explore issues freely. In the session, we represented Singapore with a tree, hence the name Social Tree. Each part of the tree represents different aspects of Singapore, and we have to explain the links between each part. For example, the roots of the tree represent the foundation of Singapore's society. And the trunk, which is the core of the tree, represent the people.

Some steps in conducting this session

1. Introduce and explain the concept
2. break into small group discussion and present their work
3. compare the differences in their work and explore the reasons that led to the differences

This session is particularly useful in bringing out differences in people's thoughts and is a good start point to bring certain issues out, e.g. Car and Driver.

• Documenting Culture

How do we learn from foreign culture? The following are some exercises which we can use to get the team to explore a different culture.

1. Taking photographs with a story behind. These photographs can be ones that best represent the members' view of Cambodia.
2. Thick description: Using a paragraph to factually chronicle the locals' daily life/actions (without any personal comment). Then find out with possible questions, e.g. why do they act/behave in such a way.
3. A day in the life of a counterpart. Follow a local on his daily tasks and document what he did.
4. Draw a map of the locality.
5. Photo essay. With a theme & objective.
6. Cooking own food, buying from the local market.

These are all very good mini-exercises that can get the team involved in the daily life of the locals. Perhaps we can even consider documenting the working of our NGO, such as the agricultural school it runs. It will give others a clearer picture of what they do, and we can possibly work in this area too.

• "Make a Stand" game

This session forces participants to make a stand by asking them provocative questions. In the workshop, we watched a film in which a prostitute aspired to marry a rich person in order to climb up the rungs of society. We were asked whether the protagonist was "progressive". We then took a stand by standing on one of the three placards, "Yes", "No" and "Maybe".

Once again, this activity is good for exploring the differences in our thoughts. And it can be easily turned into a debate.

• Understanding Reciprocity (Role-playing)

I was appointed the role of facilitating the activity, with another NUS lady, Yingyi. I had fun doing the job! It was a very good practice for both of us. In this session, we were broken into 2 separate teams, one representing the YEP team while the other representing the local village head. In the scenario, the YEP team was only informed by the locals that they could not go ahead with their plans when they arrived at the project site. So we were to observe how both sides would react in this conflict.

Such Role playing scenarios help to bring out real issues faced by YEP teams on the ground. A discussion afterwards enables the participants to air their thoughts as well as to explore what are the possible actions they can take. This is good in mentally preparing the team for any contingencies.

Leadership Training (4th July)

The training we had received under Blossom: Training were organized into modules. With a class size of around 12, we conducted our lessons in a variety of manners. We made use of discussion, presentation, facilitation and role-playing to bring across certain points. I will make use of this entry to revise the concepts we had learnt, as well as to share some of the useful techniques to conducting discussions and meetings.

1. Self introduction

Having a round of self-introduction enables the leader to quickly assess the profile the members.

2. Setting Expectations

Setting groundrules helps to communicate mutual expectations amongst participants in a team. More importantly, these rules should not be seen as coming from the leaders only. Spending some time discussing the rules, rather than taking a top-down approach, ensures that members are more likely to abide by their own words. Below are some pointers for our facilitating discussion.

•Do not call groundrules groundrules, call them something else e.g. agreement/expectations.

• Leaders should help in facilitating and eliciting, do not just give rules.

• Lead the members in the direction/rules u have in mind.

• Allow the members to understand the rationale behind the groundrules. E.g.

o Rule: Only one person talk at one time

o Rationale: Enable members to pay attention to the speaker.

• Groundrules evolve according to situations. There is no need to cast the groundrules in stone.

• This exercise can be applied in different contexts, i.e. ways to create a meaningful YEP experience, respecting the locals, personal safety etc.

• Difficulties in setting groundrules

o Difficulties in enforcing groundrules, especially people who repeatedly break the rules.

• By making the members come out with their own items, the behavior of the team can be regulated by peer pressure.

3. What is a YEP project

Understanding the nature of a YEP project will enable a team to have a more realistic expectation of what they can achieve.

• Humanitarian Assistance Vs Development Assistance

Most volunteer projects can be categorized into the above categories.

Humanitarian assistance is usually used to describe disaster relief efforts. This can include medical assistance or rescue efforts. It tends to be more urgent in nature and has a shorter duration.

Development assistance takes place during peacetime, possibly after a disaster. This involved building and construction. It is a less urgent and takes place over a longer period of time. Nonetheless, such assistance is equally important.

YEP teams do not do any disaster relief as most teams lack the technical expertise. Thus most people would probably think that YEP is part of development assistance. Surprisingly, YEP actually does not fall into either of the categories.

o Lack of time. A typical YEP project lasts 3 weeks and most teams probably spend around 10 days doing the actual work.

o Lack of funds. A typical team spend around $5000 on the project costs, the majority of the funding is spent on transport and other items which may not be direct project costs.

o Lack of expertise. A typical team usually consists of youths with little technical expertise to offer to the locals. Imagine a group of students going to Cambodia teaching the farmers how to farm, or teaching school children English. We may even have trouble grasping the concept of pedagogy.

Recognising the various limitations faced by a YEP, the direct impact such a project can be brought to the locals may not be as great as one will think. With this in mind, a YEP is actually developed for Youth Development. By exposing the youth to a different and difficult environment, YEP hopes to develop resilient and caring people who will go on with the spirit of giving to others.

4. The YEP Model (Home Run)

A YEP lasts for around 4-6 months. Differing from common perceptions that a YEP culminates at the overseas trip, there is much to do prior and after the trip. Thus the name HomeRun. YEP consists of 3 phases – Pre-expedition, Expedition and Post-expedition. It has a comprehensive framework that prepares participants for the overseas trip, being inspired during the expedition and coming back to continue share their knowledge with fellow Singaporeans.

Since Project Waterloo is water-related, preferably the local projects should be water-related so that our work remains consistent.

5. Goals and Objectives

The Goal is where we want to be.
The Objectives are the steps needed to get there.

Goals and Objectives should be SMART.
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Realistic
T – Time bound

With regards to being realistic, there are certain statements that we should avoid, e.g. We want to alleviate and eradicate poverty. Big No-No. A better statement to make will be “We are part of an existing effort to…”

6. Politically sensitive words (Eliminate Colonialism)

Teams need to be aware of their actions and words to avoid being insensitive to our overseas partners and communities. While we may list down some of the words to be avoided, it is more important that we inculcate the correct mentality towards our overseas community.

These words include poor, needy, disadvantaged. The rationale is obvious, we do not want to hurt others’ feelings.

Even words such as “improving their lives” should be avoided. What makes us think that they need us to “improve” their living. Worst still, we may even say things like “We want to share BETTER knowledge” or “Improve their knowledge”. Instead of using “Beneficiaries”, we can use “Counterparts” to indicate that we are working on an equal basis. It may seem frivolous to us, most of us probably do not mean to appear superior to the locals. Nonetheless, it will go a long way in developing our communication skills if we practice this advice.

7. PR Soundbites

Our PR soundbite sounds something like this…

8. Tools (I) - Experiential Learning Cycle (ELC)

An example in which we can adopt this model is as follows,

Experience – YEP provides a wealth of experiences beyond our normal life.
Reflection – Ensures that this experiences will not be lost, by creating opportunities to reflect upon one’s actions.
Rationalise – Enables one to place this experience in the correct perspective and explore the underlying issues, e.g. what had caused the locals to live in poverty.
Action – Looking out for opportunities and avenues to do something about the issue.

9. Tools(II) – YEP Learning Pyramid

10. Tools (III) – Microskills to facilitation: ACTS

The following tool is very useful in facilitating discussions. It allows you to rely on the wisdom of others within your team and give others a say during discussions.

A – Acknowledge what others had say
C – Clarify any doubts
T – Tai-chi the issue to engage the rest of the team
S – Summarise issues that were discussed

Meeting with LIFE (26th June)

Throughout this project, NTU SIFE has been seeking advice from Lien Institute for the Enivronment(LIFE) with regards to the technical aspects of building a water filtration system in CROAP.

In this meeting, we managed to get a clearer picture of the costings involved in the project. A filtration unit costs approximately 500-700 Sing dollars. A cemented water pond will cost a few hundred dollars, depending on the size. The cost involved is clearly not definited, as it can be affected by the fluctuations of the local prices.

We also obtained a blueprint of the filtration unit from LIFE. It gave us a clearer picture of the internal working and the space required for the construction.

Now I will need to liaise with CROAP with this new information.