beyond self

What drawn me to join Beyond Self (Beyond Social Services) closely relates to how its core values, beliefs and goals resonates well with mine.

At Beyond Self, its main initiative - the LIFE (Learning is Fun & Exciting) Programme provides tuition support for less privileged children (aged 4 to 12) facing academic challenges in school. Through LIFE, it aims to help children look past their multiple socioeconomic challenges, and attain their age appropriate literacy levels so that they can have the fighting chance they deserve to further their education and eventually improve the lives of their families.

Encompassing more than just academics, as volunteers, we become personal befrienders to the children and youths belonging to vulnerable communities in Singapore. The SL group also often conduct field trips and learning journeys for the kids, where the children have the opportunity to learn outside of class through a hands-on approach. Games and other enrichment activities will be planned and executed during each session, to give the kids a break and a more holistic and fun experience.

While the school encouraged joining just 1 SL group, I remained committed in my 2 year stint as a volunteer mentor at Beyond Self (Whampoa), atop of my existing responsibilities at SUSS Torch. Leaving was never an option - purely because of my interactions with the kids, being aware of their fun-loving nature and potential as well as eye-opening exposures that gave me a glimpse into their lives and challenging living conditions via an Outreach Programme.

Through the Outreach Programme, volunteers were separated into teams dedicated to go on multiple evening house visits to reach out to neighbouring Whampoa residents (near 75 Whampoa Drive). Our goal was to find out more about the people who live in the rental flats, extend friendship to them, and encourage parents to send their children to Beyond Self for free tutoring sessions with our volunteer mentors.

Similar to what I experienced in my secondary school days, this Outreach Programme had left me deeply disheartened as I witnessed the living conditions of some residents. Most families were residing in a cramped, rented two-room flats with many children. There is barely enough breathing space for so many to live under one tiny roof. An instance relates to one young lady (probably about my age) supporting her 3 kids alone in the rented apartment. As I peeked into the house, I saw that the living room was a mess, with clothes strewn everywhere, rubbish scattered across the floor. Her kids, not giving a care for the world, were fighting with each other, while the baby was in the tight corner screaming for its mother. I was shocked, as I ponder on the overwhelming ordeal and responsibilities she has to take on as a young single mother on a daily basis. It must be so exhausting. Moreover, the living conditions were beyond unfit for a proper studying environment for her kids. Hence, these are such instances where Beyond Self can come into play and provide aid in this area - where parents struggling to make ends meet are encouraged to send their children to Beyond Self, where we will care for, teach and mentor them.

Ultimately, these experiences have not only sparked an innate sense in me to lend a helping hand, but also touched and inspired me to stay and make a positive difference to the lives of these kids. More specifically, my 2 years at Beyond Self, have taught me to be more than just a "tutor" to these kids. Instead, it taught me to be a mentor for life - one who is courageous enough to strive to give hope and make a positive difference to the lives of others.

In a nutshell, “They Hope, We Help” and we strive to make a small but sustainable difference in the lives we’ve touched. It’s not only the children who will grow. We will too.

As a volunteer, I am proud to have been apart of this grounded and selfless team, one whose beliefs and initiatives were able to make a change to the lives of these children, and hopefully, even their families.

Although these are small little steps, they are little hopes that goes a long way ~ (:

Having been a mentor for the kids from diverse backgrounds, with personal end goals of making a difference, be it big or small, to the lives of the kids, I strive to make every session with the kids I mentor a meaningful and enjoyable one.

When it comes to ‘tutoring’ time, I would focus on helping the kids whenever they experience difficulties/have doubts for their homework (eg. Solving mathematics/ Science/English questions). I would first ask them to try and solve the questions to see their capabilities, and thereafter, identify their weaknesses and strengths to better assist them.

Once, I was mentoring a very playful and rowdy kid that was uninterested in doing his work/studying. It was a slight challenge for me while tutoring him as he was often distracted and displayed reluctance in completing his school assignment. Once in a while, slurred vulgarities and displayed other disrespectful behaviours at me. I was slightly taken aback at the start. However, as the session went on, I took on a different perspective and displayed patience, understanding and kindness towards him throughout. I even told him what he was doing wasn’t right. As time went on, I have also discovered his strength in mathematics (eg. Fast mental calculations). He was a really smart boy, and that had prompted me to motivate him and share words of encouragement about his strengths and potentials for achieving great things (at school and even in life).It had worked and he got motivated to complete and do well for his assignment.

While mentoring such kids, we as mentors get to learn as well.

This opportunity enabled me to hone my teaching skills by trying to understand and adapt to each kid's ability. It had also taught me the virtue of patience. Having come from a less-privileged background, most of the children overlook the value of studying, and hence, often display acts of rebellion or reluctance in doing their work. Moreover, most tend to have short attention spans, and get easily distracted by their friends. However, as a mentor, I seek to be a role model and a befriender that inspires them to study, be more than who they are, as well as to achieve their goals and do well for their future.

Whilst teaching primary school students, it had also challenged my skills as a "tutor". More specifically, there were instances where I totally forgot certain things I learnt in primary school! Hence, this experience has provided me with the opportunity to refresh my primary school Math, English language skills, and Science concepts. In a way, allowing me to learn together with the kids ! (:

Moreover, this mentoring experience has also shed insights as to how kids at such young age, no matter how ‘crazy’ and rebellious they can get, are vulnerable, and they require a reliable support system. That’s where, we as mentors, can come into the picture and provide them with an additional support system to show care, concern, inspire change and hopefully, make a difference to the lives of the kids.

All in all, it has been a great and enjoyable journey being a mentor to the kids at Beyond Self (Whampoa). While the kids can get a little rebellious and out of control at times, they are however, lovely individuals.

Throughout the 2 years, I have bonded with the kids and managed to see some of them grow. Moreover, some mentees have even grown attached to me and would always look forward to meeting me every session. It was always a heart-warming sight to see their smiling faces every visit as you gain awareness of how your presence made a difference and was somewhat a source of their motivation for attending each tutoring session.☺️ Additionally, they've even gotten comfortable enough to even, share some of their family problems with me. This led to scenarios where I gave them a listening ear to their problems and even tried to give them sound advises and words of encouragement to hopefully get them through a tough time. Altogether, these experiences speaks volumes on how we as mentors, can have an impact to their lives and serve as an alternative form of support system for the kids.

I am beyond glad to have been a part of this and have thoroughly enjoyed myself during every mentoring session with the kids. ☺️

To aid us mentors in better understanding on how to handle and care for the kids from less-privileged backgrounds, The Beyond Self family had organised a 'Bonding Session' with the staff from Beyond Social Services. The session involved a lot of sharing of one's experiences, role-playing games and brainstorming on creative ways to handle potential difficult problem-scenarios as we deal with the kids at Beyond.

Overall, I had thoroughly enjoyed myself during the session, and I have gained deeper insights on the background of the kids as well as valuable advice on ways in which we can adopt to better approach the kids or problems faced.

Apart from mentoring, the team had also organised a field trip to ‘Science Centre Singapore’, with which the both the kids and the Beyond family had thoroughly enjoyed.

Personally, this was a challenging yet fun and meaningful project the team has taken on.

On the very day, we encountered instances where the kids’ safety were being compromised. As it was some of the kids first time visiting the place, they got overly excited and hence, leading to scenarios where some of them would wander off to different places to view other attractions of their interest. At one point in time, things got slightly out of control as some of the kids displayed rebellion by refusal to listen and running away from us, as we mentors, tried to gather them back together. This went on for quite a while, and it got slightly stressful for us. Hence, this called upon a greater need of patience, understanding, banding and cooperation between mentors to persuade the kids to listen to us as well as to get them back safely, together as a group.

Through it all, the team persevered and had organised a very successful trip. New and deeper bonds between the volunteers and beneficiaries have been forged.

Similar to the Zoo expedition organised for the beneficiaries at SUSS TORCH, the most fulfilling and meaningful aspect of the trip was gaining a heart-warming first-hand experience of seeing how our little plan and interactions with the beneficiaries have made a positive difference to their lives. Joy and excitement were emanating from the kids’ faces as they got all engaged and engrossed in learning about the cool and interesting scientific and technological facts of the world.