An experience like never before
Posted by: chensulan on: October 31, 2009
Joining CSL is the time I am tutoring a primary school kid. I can still recall being nervous, not knowing what to expect when I went for the first session. However, the moment I started tutoring a kid, I wasn’t nervous anymore and quite enjoyed the process of tutoring. I enjoyed it not because I was playing with the kid (the kid will surely be overjoyed if I just kept playing with him haha), it’s the sense of achievement, being able to be of help to the kid. However, it was sad that I was only his temporary tutor as the tutor in charge of coaching him was absent that day. So I had to change to another kid in the end.
I’m thankful to have taught the 2nd kid. Teaching her made me realized the difference between teaching fellow classmates about assignments and teaching at CSL. In order to teach the kid, a great deal of patience and effort must be put in on top of being able to answer any queries she has. Being a kid, the approach to take in communicating with her is significantly different from how we interact with each other.
From tutoring the 2 kids, I learnt a great deal from them about communicating with children, and at the same time develop more patience. I look forward to going for tutoring sessions every Wednesday, as I get to see their bright smiles and listen to their stories about school life. =D
jinsen
being the BIG brother:)
Posted by: chensulan on: October 27, 2009
How time flies, it has been almost 2mths since i joined CSL already! Overall the experience was great and memorable so far. I guess i was pretty lucky as i was allocated only 1 kid throughout this period which has allowed me to communicate and bond really well with him. Initially it was a little hard getting him to sit still and he was a little apprehensive towards me too, however after about 2-3 sessions we could open up to each other and he would share with me about the things he did throughout the week which i enjoy listening too. He would also ask me about my life, my studies and on many occasions, about my army experience! I realized that most of the boys there are pretty interested in asking about army happenings, the feeling of holding weapons, and especially if we had any ghosts experiences there.
The kids there are pretty adorable yet a little mischievious at times, but it is entertaining to see them having so much fun and playing around with each other. At times i would look around and see some volunteers getting quite fierce with their kid and asking them to settle down and do their work. I guess they had to do it as some of the boys really lacked motivation and needed some pushing before they could do their work. I’m glad I do not have to do that as i believe I would not be able to! I don’t think I can bring myself to get fierce with them as it is just not in my nature to do so! haha.. But I realized it is important that they do so or not the kid would certainly be wasting precious tuition time.
It was a great idea suggested by one of our own volunteers that we can now bring laptops there to entertain and serve as a motivation for the kids to do their work! I believe it was a great idea! I believe that 10-15mins of just playing a computer game would already make the kids very very happy. It certainly makes me wonder how fortunate other kids are when they have access to such entertainment easily and 10-15mins of gaming would certainly not be anything special to them. Hence I will continue helping the kids in their work, and being somebody they can confide in and depend on throughout my stay in NUS and hopefully bring smiles to their lives!
Andrew.
My two students
Posted by: chensulan on: October 20, 2009
Yours sincerely,
TingTing
–Mid-Autumn 2009–
Posted by: chensulan on: October 12, 2009
This week was rather special. No, not because it was e-learning week… It was the mid-autumn festival celebration at Chen su lan!
The kids were treated to several activities in line with the theme as well as a customary treat to mooncakes! About 30+ kids participated and not to mention a very good turn up of volunteers were present that night. The kids first had their hands full with a lantern making contest. We provided them each a used empty bottle and some decorative paper whereby the bottle was wrapped with the paper. They then decorated the ‘lantern’ with markers and finished it off with a light stick inserted into the bottle. It is always a joy to see kids spill out their creative juices and what they come up with. I dare say if they were given all the proper resources and time at their hands, they could produce lanterns that I would carry around proudly =)
The girls and boys were then split into groups and all participated in a more physical activity/game. I wouldn’t even try explaining the game here as it would definitely confuse you if not me. In short, it involved a row of chairs, the classic scissor-paper-stone game, continuous butt moving from one chair to another, tons of laughter, almost deafening cheering, some sweat and a bucket load of joy.
We ended off the event with prize presentations to the top 5 lanterns selected by the house parents followed by yummy snacks as prizes for all the kids involved in the aforementioned game. It was particularly amusing to see the all the little hints of anticipation in the kids’ faces, in a good way of course. As if prizes were not enough, we followed it up with a goody bag filled with treats to each kid as a token of appreciation. And of course no mid-autumn festival would be complete without mooncakes! You would be surprised at the rate that these kids munch up the slices of mooncakes. Now don’t you wish you were a kid?
The event got a little chaotic at points with all the kids running around and overwhelming our voices. But I expect no less from these truly energetic kids. I believe it was a good change to the typical routine the kids go through every Wednesday night, as it was a good change for the volunteers too nonetheless. It was a good opportunity for us to see the more light hearted side of the kids, the sides we are more accustomed to when it comes to kids. Its events like these that allow us greater understanding of them which I believe would help in our tutoring skills, even if just a little. This is what volunteering is about as I see it, satisfaction and FUN!
Though personally, the only negative for this event was the absence of the kid I normally tutor. He was busy studying for his PSLE alongside other primary 6 kids. This adds to the gazillion times that I wished I could be 2 places at once. It would have been awesome if he’d participated in this event amidst all the pressure that’s been placed on him for his exams. It would definitely relieve a little of that worrisome look he always has when he talks about his PSLE…before he goes off into another story about his soccer games =)
Opps I may have made this a little too long. Will end it off by mentioning that the largest take away for me was definitely the smiles in the childrens’ faces.
Priceless.
-Andrew-
p.s. we all hope Chang’e will make its appearance for the next mid-autumn festival =)
~A Special Mid-Autumn~
Posted by: chensulan on: October 12, 2009
Celebrating mid-autumn festival at Chen Su Lan holds a very special place in my heart. Exactly one year ago, I set foot into this home not knowing what challenges I’d be faced with and not knowing any volunteers there except for my friend whom I brought along. All I knew was that I was on my way to making a difference in a child’s life and the start of something fulfilling and meaningful.
I wouldn’t say that my first experience was either smooth-sailing or easy. My girl appeared rather shy and was not as willing to communicate with me as I expected her to be. As part of the mid-autumn festival celebrations, lantern making was an activity that couldn’t be missed. I remember trying to assist my girl in decorating her lantern with colorful and/or shiny pieces of paper cut into various shapes and using makers to draw pictures on it. When it was finally completed, she kept telling me that her lantern wasn’t nice. But in order to make her feel happier, I have to admit that I told a white lie. I told her that her lantern was nice. Afterall, even though her lantern didn’t win her a prize, there was still considerable effort put in.
Since then, I’ve made an effort to attend almost every tuition session despite my academic commitments. I remember sitting at the same table as another kid whose volunteer was absent that day, and she was complaining to my girl. My girl turned to me, smiled and said “Luckily my jie-jie always come one”. That sentence really warmed my heart and made me feel that the time I sacrificed and the energy I invested in traveling was all worthwhile. Perhaps it’s that sense of responsibility I have for her that motivates me to attend every session/event. Now she knows how to look out for me at every tuition session/event, and the last thing I’d want to do is to disappoint her.
Mid-autumn festival 2009 was slightly different. I had to arrive late because I was assigned the duty to fetch exchange students from school. As a result, I missed the lantern making session. I felt terribly sorry when I received a phone call from Andrew saying that my girl has asked for me so many times and still I wasn’t there yet. Games were fun although my girl cried when she got elbowed accidentally by another girl. At that moment I was thrown into a situation I didn’t really know how to handle, but she was willing to open up to me and let me know who the “culprit” was. Luckily it was just a short episode and everything was fine again.
At the end of the celebration, she asked if I would be there next Wednesday, and as usual, I told her I would be. This special bond which I’ve developed with her (and her sister of course) over the year, the little promises I’ve made to her about being there and the laughter we shared during each session make my experience at CSL so extraordinary.
-Sherlynn-
-A happy experience-
Posted by: chensulan on: September 29, 2009
This is my first semester joining CSL and also my first time tutoring a kid. I’ve never done it before. So at first I felt kinda nervous and don’t know what to do with my kid, a cute and little naughty girl, especially when she made fun of my poor English after she found I couldn’t understand her sentence or words. I can only smile and look at her laughing and sharing this with another volunteer and her friend. After that, my comprehension skills gradually improved, I can understand more of her words. Felt proud of this 
.
Usually I help her in her English, math and Chinese homework. She is always very enthusiastic showing me her new drawing or her new pen that can draw kinda shiny line each time when I get there. Most of the time she looks very cheerful and hyperactive, so it’s a little hard getting her attention back to homework once she starts playing with the pen or sharing with me the funny things she encountered that week. But I find once the staff who is in charge of her at CSL stare at her, she will soon get down to doing her homework and even hastened me to read out the following word in her ‘listening and writing’ exercise. It’s very cute and makes me think of my primary school days. I think it’s the same for most people to have a little fear of our teachers when we were kids. 
In short, I find my experience at CSL a very happy, meaningful and also rewarding experience—this Wednesday I went to CSL with a very tired body, but I found myself energetic once again on my way back. I think a happy experience can really always cheer people up. =)
-Rui Zhao-
=D
Posted by: chensulan on: September 25, 2009
Hum..actually the past few times that I’ve been at the home, Im starting to think their enthusiasm and cheerfulness is super infectious! Last week, while I was looking for the toilet somewhere near the canteen (eh well okay.. the truth was I was trying to check out their dinner, cos it smelt soO nice and my stomach was grumbling), one little girl ran up to me and smiled a big bo-gay-ed smile and said “hallo kofkof!” (that was what I heard!) Initially I didn’t know how to react, I mean how often do kids on the streets come up to you to say that?? So I was staring blankly at her and she thought I was hard of hearing or something, so out came the bo-gay-ed laughter and happily asked if I was lost!
What a refreshing change from our (um.. at least mine are) impossibly old, with beards practically scrapping the LT floors, mono tonal speaking Profs.. right? Suddenly, shades of rainbow brightens the world up around me, and everything impossible looks possible. Okay i was exaggerating, but the first part is true.
On hindsight, I thought it was really so admirable that they could keep up such high spirits with not a care in the world, as though their world revolved snugly within the four walls of the compound. Away from the cold harsh world outside. Sometimes I wonder, could I ever be as strong as them if I were in their shoes many years ago? Could I ever relish and be satisfied with the simple friendships and with what simple necessities the home could provide? Perhaps I would never know the answer, but I could put my heart into enjoying what little time I have with the kids.
Anyway, everyone’s post seem bent on showing off the kid they are teaching, on how good they are, so I feel obliged to show mine off to, so there. Um how to start? Oh yes, before I forget to mention it, my kid is a super duper imaginative kid. He has always got the latest and zaniest story to tell me. One day it might be about aliens zapping his teacher, another might be about monsters eating the volunteers. Yes, you didn’t read wrongly, he meant us. It was pretty entertaining, especially since I got a dark secret to tell..Ohh yes, I was just like him many years ago, I would bore people (the adults of course) to death with my stories. So it kinda reminded me of myself light years ago.
But here lies the problem, he refuses to do any work until he finishes his story which is on average about an hour long! So i gotta batter trade with him, for every 2 qs he does, he can talk about anything for 5 mins. Needless to say, it was a good deal, after all, there are probably not many people like me who are so willing to listen to his stories. And so all’s well it ends well, we both met our goals!
Uh oh..It looks like my post is a little too long, so I’ll end right here. To save you the agony of reading any more of my rumbling.yepx so bye~=D.
-ho zong-
The wonderful CSL experience:)
Posted by: chensulan on: August 13, 2009
“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”
- GREG ANDERSON
Volunteering in Chen Su Lan is definitely a different experience. At the start of my csl experience, I always wondered on what exactly is the reason I volunteer there. It always seem that every week, I’m just there to sit down there and look at them do their work. Sometimes they didn’t even had their work done properly in the end as they only regard you as a volunteer and do not listen to you and keep running around or disturbing other kids. It sometimes really make me pondered of the reason I’m there. Maybe it was just me not knowing how to interact with the kids I teaching?
However, I really feel very satisfied and happy from the last visit. Part of the reason being my kid asking xx to ask me why I was not there yet as I was late that night. Part of the reason being my kid asking me whether I’ll be coming next wed. Part of the reason being my kid despite always using going to the toilet as an excuse for not doing more work, he is a really nice kid. Part of the reason…part of the reason…part of the reason…I’m sure most of the CSL volunteers will feel the same way as me. Depsite our kids being naughty or not doing their work or short attention span, they always managed to bring a smile to our face:)
Sometimes it’s really not about being there to make sure they finished up all their work, sometimes it’s just the process that really counts. The process that they enjoyed having tuition with the volunteers….
Just the quote below, I’m sure many of the kids there leave a footprints in our hearts:)
“Some people come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never ever the same.”
– FLAVIA WEEDN
-Huiting-
Chen Su Lan Tuition Session
Posted by: chensulan on: August 13, 2009
Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home tuition session has restarted. A lot of events has happened even before the start of CSL service. For example, the CSL Family Day which took place in June 21st. The event was held at Hortpark and as usual, everyone had lots and lots of fun. Although the weather was super hot, the kids and their family carried on running around, solving puzzles and playing games. I believe all of us enjoyed the catered food most! Ha..
Then, we also had our Anti-Bullying skit two weeks ago. Although we rushed out a short skit in a very short time, everything still went on smoothly. Again, I was touched by the volunteers who offered their help. The whole program would not succeed if volunteers did not come down. I believe that the bond among our volunteers is strong. We are always there to help one another.
I would like to thank everyone who celebrated my birthday. Thank you. I truly appreciates it. As promised I will upload the photos… =) Here =)
The birthday cake
CSL Family Photos!
