21S25

Our beneficiary was the SAJC cleaning staff. We had the opportunity to engage in a ZOOM interview with them to better understand the challenges that they faced on a more personal level and empathise with them. As a class we came up with and identified ways on how we can help to lighten the workload on the cleaning staff especially now during the COVID-19 period they have additional duties. On our SL day we also had the opportunity to clean level 4 of the school as a class. We also prepared some tokens of appreciation for the cleaning staff and distributed them during our appreciation segment.

I have learnt that the cleaners in our school play a very important role in keeping the school clean. On SL day, while I was cleaning the toilets, I found it to be very challenging and a tedious task. For example, having to get our hands dirty to ensure that the toilets are properly cleaned.

It changed my perspective of the cleaners in our society as we can take the initial step by keeping the environment and surroundings clean by picking up the trash or by not littering. This would create a less dirty environment for the cleaners and make their lives a lot easier.

Through the service learning activity, I have been able to get a better understanding of the difficulties that the cleaning staff in SAJC face daily. It has changed my perception by showing me and the people around me how to show more care and consideration towards the staff, and that actions as small as greeting the staff and helping to keep the environment around us clean and tidy can help to make their jobs and daily lives to be more pleasant and less strenuous.

Often as teenagers we tend to neglect our surroundings and are hesitant to serve society. Through this process I learnt to be more observant as a small action we do can create a significant impact on another person. For example, greeting and smiling to our aunties and uncles who clean our classes everyday can make them feel warm and welcome. I definitely feel more inspired to serve the society more and engage in volunteer activities.

Through this experience, we learned just how time-consuming and painstaking it is to clean even just one level. The fact that these few, mostly aged cleaners in our school clean the entire school compound every single day is amazing. This has further convinced us to play our part in cleaning up after ourselves, as well as keeping our own classroom clean and tidy, in order to lighten their workload.