Form 5 Community Service Project 2016

On the 9th of January 2016, the senior (Form 5 and Year 11) Interactors spent a meaningful day at Rumah Charis in OUG. This visit was for our annual Form 5 Community Service Project 2016.
All the senior Interactors gathered in school at 8am and left for Rumah Charis. Our school was kind enough to provide us with transportation to the place. We were also accompanied by our teacher advisors.
At around 8:30am, we finally reached the place. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary terrace unit but the inside was really spacious and accommodated more than 50 people (including children and elderly). However, we focused more on entertaining the kids that day. The caretakers came out to greet us and there were also around 6 dogs in the front yard too! It was very welcoming.
We prepared several activities for the children throughout the afternoon. Firstly, we divided ourselves into different groups and cleaned up different areas of the home while some Interactors kept the children entertained by talking or playing with them. It took us about half an hour before all of us gathered again and proceeded to our next activity -> skit! We performed a sketch that the children could relate to and had a good laugh about it with the kids. Then, the entertainment session which included: finger puppet making, jellyfish making, colouring, charades and bubble prints started. Children could choose what they wanted to do and we would assist/help them make it.
Then, we had lunch with the children and caretakers and some elderly at Rumah Charis. The food group in charge brought some homemade spaghetti bolognese, fried rice, sandwiches and a few buckets of McDonald's chicken McNuggets! Corn soup and orange juice were also prepared. We fed and ate with the children and fulfilled their needs and wants, it was really hard to get them to eat at peace but at last, everyone had a filled tummy and satisfied meal! After lunch, it was time for us to go back so we packed and cleaned up.
It was hard to say goodbye after spending a few hours there because we got so attached to the kids...but at least we went home knowing that we made some children happy by visiting them spending time with them and I think that's the greatest gift we got from that day. It felt good to be able to extend our care and love to the less fortunate and we are glad we were able to. We felt so much pain looking at these kids but they also taught us to be strong and happy as there is more to life than this. We would like to extend our gratitude to the caretakers of Rumah Charis for giving us the opportunity to spend half a day with them, and of course to the kids of Rumah Charis, thank YOU for letting us play and take care of you, it was short but we definitely had fun. :)
Also a big thank you to our community service directors Int. Koay Tze Ni and Int. Alex Leong for organizing this!
Enjoy some pictures taken on that day. Thank you for reading.