Post - trip Local Project @ Siling Primary School

Serene, Wanting, Kay and I came down to Siling Primary School on the 28th December 2009 with the intentions to wrap up the local project and to share with the children what we have experienced during the trip. We kick-started the programme at 1020am.

We have prepared a presentation addressing what we have done and experienced over there. As soon as the presentation started, the children sat down with their watchful eyes and to listen with their attentive ears. The children were soon immersed in what we were sharing with them. Curiosity was the word of the day. Quite a number of them bombarded us constantly with questions. As we discussed the lifestyles of the children over there, the siling children compared it to their own. They came to realise how fortunate it was for them to be in Singapore and learnt not to take things for granted.

After the presentation, we had a short Q&A session. We answered many of the burning questions the children had. Their questions range from the lifestyles of the Burmese children to the different cultures among the tribes. We ended the session at 1130am. Although the children did not have the chance to go to Myanmar with us but they certainly widened their knowledge bank of it through our short session with them. 

Yea!! Almost all of us are back at SG!! Please take good care of yourselves and see you all at the next meeting! Remember to finish all the thank-you notes by the next meeting =)

Love, Wan Ting

UPDATES from Wan Ting on $:

Mingalabar peeps! Eh.. Oh. I rmb wad I wanted to say. After staring hard at the bankbook and trying to find the old sms-es you all have sent me, I've more or less figured out each amount on the bankbook and double-checked with the excel file. Here's the scanned images:

As you can see I've yet to figure out the last transaction because I put all the cash in at one go and the envelope I wrote on previously has been lost. Yup.

Hmm. This post sounds really random haha. Muz b slpy.
If I was looking very fierce and/or rude to you in any way during the retreat, please forgive me because I haven't realise it myself. You can scold me back next time hehe

And oh. I have not included what donations June gave me and Thu Linn's basic expenditure fee, just to inform you all.

Local Project @ Siling Primary School

We (LH, YY and I) completed our last and final pre-trip local project @ Siling Primary School on 24th November. We have a group of 16 children aged 7-10 at Siling Primary School. These children are like angels, very well-behaved, very easy to bluff.

We started off with some ice-breakers, followed by a presentation on Myanmar by me. Most of the children do not know where Myanmar was. Some were quite surprised by the condition of the classrooms in Myanmar. Overall, the children were very interested and engaged in the presentation. I explained that they will be writing and designing a postcard to a "friend" in Myanmar.

After that we break them into groups of 5. Yong Yan and Leong Hwee taught the children some burmese words. "Mingalabar" became the hottest word after this activity! In their own groups, the children played mini-games to learn more Burmese words.

The children then went back to their desk and started designing and writing their postcards. They were very eager to write their postcards. Some even us if their friends in Myanmar understand English!?

In my eyes, the children embodied innocence, encapsulated by the hope that they can make a new friend overseas. I took a peep at their letters - some of them wrote about their PSP and favorite cartoon characters that are "alien" to us. It seems to me that these children are fervently fighting the onslaught of modernisation with thier new computer games and cartoon characters.

The activity ended at about 1630.

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MINUTES OF PROJECT SMILE TEAM MEETING HELD ON 191109 AT 17 33 HOURS
Present:
Chin Guan (Guan)
Siew Kuang (SK)
Wan Ting (WT)
Serene
Adrian
Li Jun
Leong Hwee (LH)
Yong Yan
Ain
Lisa
Liz
Darren

Absent:
Kay
June
Mike
Ei Kyaing

1 Commencement of meeting

The meeting was commenced by SK at 19 33 hrs.

2 Sub-committee updates

Tee: Team will be having 3 shirts – MAI-sponsored grey shirt, 1 cotton tee and 1 polo tee. Cotton and polo shirts are priced at $9.90 and $11.90 respectively. The colour of the cotton tee is blue with white font; includes MAI logo. As for the polo tee, it is either white or black (Serene to confirm the colour). A 15% discount is given for the polo tees. Team is to wear MAI-sponsored shirt on 7 Dec 2009 when we meet the media (as a form of publicity stunt).
Banner: Mike is unable to do up the banner due to his FYP, so Guan is doing it. The year shouldn’t be included inside the banner so that it can be reused again. SK suggested giving the banner to the village.

Local project: Local project at Si Ling Primary School on Mon, 23 Nov 2009. For those going, please wear appropriately (according to MOE’s instructions). Darren did a presentation in his dept and managed to get Chinese books. SK suggested trying to get more pictorial books/ flashcards/ jigsaw puzzles.

SK is trying to get Jacintha from the CHIJ mission to share her experiences with us.

Welfare and accommodation: Lisa communicated with FPO, who replied that it is able to supply post-its and small notebooks for us to use as gifts for the village head and ‘big shots’. Hence, team is going to take the free notebooks. FPO also suggested buying corporate gifts through NIE so as to get corporate rates. Lisa will follow up with FPO; to ask for 10x pens and 10x ceramic mugs with a budget of $30. Chocolates are to be bought for host families.

Logistics: Materials we have collected up till now include 200 x little dog books, 10x books from Li Jun, posters, 1 box of books from NIE English Dept and charts. Mayflower primary is still packing their books, so Adrian will wait for the librarian’s reply. Kay has 4 boxes of stuff to give; Adrian to arrange for time to collect from Kay’s house. Ain will settle the sports equipment at CHIJ. Team needs to collect some logistics resources from Jacintha (help transport her logistics to Yangon). A driver and lorry is required for 7 Dec 2009 and Daren will follow up on this matter. SK needs to give Adrian’s last year’s log head contact. Chin Guan to visit a company on Tues to look at and buy the necessary Science apparatus and posters. We can also make our own posters such as those Dr Tan lent us. SK also requires team to split up all donated items to a few locations so that we can donate accordingly to various locations (e.g.: orphanage).

Fundraising: Lee foundation has donated $4000 =) but the cheque is addressed to the wrong people =( . Another problem is that the money will be under NIE, so receipts are required before money can be taken out. Thus, there is cash flow problems =( (Have raised ~10k but there is only 4k cash).
Treasury: WT and SK will decide how much to SGD change to USD and Kyat. Everyone will get a Ziploc bag containing their own money when they reach Yangon. About 2 – 3 Burmese from Yangon are joining us (SK will confirm this when she reaches Myanmar). SK has informed them that team will be paying for their food and transport, so be sensitive when talking about money matters in front of them.

Chalet: Team will be meeting at 15 30 to check in (Please have lunch before coming!). Then we’ll be playing Amazing race in the east area from 17 00 – 21 00 (similar activity in Yangon). *Note: Please settle dinner as we play the game. During the chalet, we will be conducting emergency action plan and risk management, followed by curriculum planning. All activities will cease at about 00 00 or 01 00. Guys will sleep on the 1st floor while the girls sleep upstairs. Everyone in the team to bring sleeping bags due to lack of bed space. Team will wake up at ~06 00 the next day for sunrise walk, then go for breakfast. Next, team will be doing detailed lesson planning before 12 00, then Kay will give a Myanmar lesson on what are the phrases to use when giving instructions etc. Lunch will be packed food. From 14 00 – 18 00, team will conduct lesson dry run in stimulated scenarios. For the 2nd night, from 18 00 – 21 00, there will be BBQ and games. Some alumni members are invited to the BBQ as well. A facilitation session is at 22 30 and team will sleep by 00 00. On the 3rd day, team will go through debrief from ~09 00 – 10 00, have breakfast then go home.

Chalet (Planning): Welfare & logistics will take charge of food and logistics (Budget = $150, excluding breakfast). Buy cheap and easy-to-cook food. For meat, choose only fish and chicken. Suggested food: stingray, hotdog, corn, fried rice/ bee hoon, fillet, hot dog, otah. Let Adrian know what you may want to bring e.g. potato chips. Those buying the food can get from NTUC, Seng Shiong etc at Parkway (may need to meet earlier). Local project and fundraising team to do games for BBQ and spirit boosters (i.e.: cheers etc). Try to involve as many people as possible. May be roped in to be group leaders for amazing race. Guan is to prepare prizes and Programme team will facilitate dry runs for Day 2. *Note: please come up with scenarios e.g.: there are 60 students in the Sci class from 10 00 – 11 00 & we’ll do a 30-min stimulation.

Program: 25 Nov 10 00 – 12 00 Robert’s English Workshop. Kay, WT, YY, LH, SK & Guan are going. SK is suggesting that YEP leaders, SLC committee and Prof Vilma etc to be invited as well.
Next meeting on 26 Nov 2009: Meeting next Thurs, 26 Nov 2009, at 18 00. Venue: Block 2-B1-TR11. Team will be packing and selecting the teaching materials each group wants so as to prepare the lessons accordingly. These resources will be brought to the chalet too.

3 Working Groups Discussion

Team debated on the main topic to be incorporated into each working group’s curriculum. SK suggested integrating various subjects together (something BOOMZ in MOE now). Issues related to the environment are brought out (e.g.: global warming, deforestation, 3Rs, carbon footprint, ozone layer, cyclone, biodegradable products, land fertility and agriculture). YY suggested that team needs to know what environmental problems Myanmar is facing, then we can do a more global approach (direction of teaching will be more towards creating awareness rather than what they should or should not do) & ask them to discuss what they can do. Alternatively, we can use the main topic for the Learning festival. SK feels that the main aim of choosing this topic is to dispel the villagers’ superstitions by telling them about what scientists think about these issues, but don’t tell them they are superstitious. In the end, the team decided to focus on climate change (especially for grades 10 – 11). Team can get articles from magazines then translate them into Burmese.

SK & Liz presented their overview of lesson plan for all the grades:

• Overview of program =1hr per lesson per class. 4 days in total.
• Grades 1 & 2: Darren + Serene
• Speaking, Listening
• Grades 3 – 5: YY & Adrian
• Speaking, Listening
• Story telling. 3 bks.
• Grades 6 : LH & Lisa
• Speaking, Listening
• Word Games, jigsaw puzzles, Tongue Twisters,
• Grade 7: SK & Liz
• Rainbow Fish
• Integrated program
• Grade 8: LH & Liz
• Speaking, Listening, Writing
• Grade 9: SK & Lisa
• Speaking, Listening, Writing
• Postcards writing
• Grade 10: Science Group
• Grade 11: Liz & SK to head, but all are in as group facilitator for all 4 sessions.
• Will need to do homework!! Write compos & we’ll do feedback on grammar.
  1st compo: letter writing
  2nd compo: aspirations
  Theme songs (Burmese & Eng)

We're done!! =D

MINUTES OF PROJECT SMILE TEAM MEETING HELD ON 121109 AT 1930 HOURS

Present:

Chin Guan

Siew Kuang

Kay Khine Win

Lisa

Wan Ting

Serene

Adrian

Li Jun

June

Leong Hwee

Yong Yan

Absent:

Ain

Lisa

Liz

Darren

Ei Kyaing Soe

1 Commencement of meeting

The meeting was commenced by Siew Kuang at 1930 hrs.

2 Introduction

The meeting started off with SK briefing the group about the submission of visa and medical forms, and passports to Kay. Team to sent $600 to WanTing asap.

3 Myanmar Lesson

Team revised their Myanmar language via playing “Blow Wind Blow”. Refer to google docs for new words-of-the-day!

4 Sub-Committees Update

Fundraising and Sponsorship and Grants: Team will continue to raise funds till the 30th Nov. Leong Hwee managed to get roughly 50-100 Science books. CHIJ and NLB donated sports equipment, wind-breakers, books and F1 posters.

Local Project: Si ling Primary School local project will be on the 23rd November, 1430-1700.

Welfare: Documented the application forms. Need to photocopy all the passports. To contact NIE if they have any gifts to give the host families. Welfare need to get malaria pills, gifts and local delights.

Treasury: Members who have not transfer $600 to WT, please do so asap. We have hit our target for the fundraising and donations. Well done team!

Attention: Robert will be brief us about how to use pictures to teach English at the Amphitheatre, 25th Nov, Wed 1030-1130AM.

Retreat is at East Coast on the 28th & 29th.

5 Working Groups Discussion

Groups discuss and plan for the specific programmes.

6 End of meeting

Meeting ended at 1015pm