Student Development / Community Involvement & Service Learning

Community Involvement and Service Learning
A distinctive feature of the RJC culture is its commitment to service learning. The College aims to heighten the awareness of volunteerism among students and at the same time, give them invaluable learning and leadership experiences in organising, planning and working together as a group.

Students are given the berth to initiate and lead in service learning projects where they see a need. This way, they will better understand the problems and concerns of the community and be in a position to make a difference to those in need. From Jun 2005 - May 2006, students were involved in 140 community involvement projects which they initiated.

Bone Marrow Donor Programe
One project spearheaded by a group of second year students helped the Bone Marrow Donor Programme (BMDP) in Singapore launch its largest and most successful bone marrow donor recruitment exercise yet. A record number of 945 new donors signed up with BMDP in Apr 2006, which worked out to be one-fifth of BMDP's annual donor recruitment target.

The students, who were researching the BMDP as part of their Project Work (PW), were so moved by the need to raise greater awareness of the BMDP cause that they decided to extend their project beyond the requirements of PW. To that end, they organised an assembly talk in the college to raise awareness of the BMDP and carried out various fund-raising activities. The students' fervour and their commitment to the cause so motivated their fellow Rafflesians and teachers that many signed up to be bone marrow donors.

Overseas Service Learning Projects
Service learning at RJC extends beyond the backyard of Singapore and into countries in the region. Overseas service learning projects create win-win situations in that not only were the communities overseas helped, the students themselves benefited greatly from their experiences as well.

Students have reported that they not only learnt to care for the people in the overseas communities in practical ways, but also learnt more about themselves and how to work well with their peers and their overseas counterparts in the process. In living among the overseas communities and working with them, students also benefited from the cultural exchange which took place.

Some previous projects
Laos
In Dec 2005, 39 students led by five teachers were in Vientiane and Vang Vieng, Laos, for two service learning projects. The students and teachers helped a few Laotian secondary schools to establish learner-centred approaches in science and mathematics learning as well as refurnished a community hall.

The service learning projects in Laos are part of an ongoing programme established by the college since 2004. Come Dec 2006, another team of Rafflesians will have the opportunity of a service learning experience in Laos under the auspices of this programme.

Sabah
In Nov/Dec 2005, RJC's Outdoor Activities Club (ODAC) integrated the service learning element into its activity when 38 students, led by 6 teachers, went on a 12-day trekking cum service learning project in Sabah, East Malaysia. The team helped to clean a community centre there and paint the walls.

Overseas Service Learning Projects for 2006
Last year, the college organized 9 overseas service-learning projects involving a total of 174 students and 20 teachers. Even as they embarked on their different projects involving teaching of the English language, refurbishment of classrooms, making of a traditional Cambodian hut for therapy, mural painting and mud-brick making, the students and teachers learnt much from their engagement with the local communities. The enriching experiences have impacted them deeply with lessons on resilience, humility, joy of simplicity, friendship, culture, respect which are now deeply etched in their minds.

"On hindsight, it's not the manual work, the lessons or other technical aspects of the CIP which stick in my mind. It's the smiles on the young faces, the gratitude of the wise, the friendliness of the people and the tranquility of nature which will forever be etched in my memory. It's cherished moments like these which make it all worthwhile."

Asif Iqbal, Student, 07S06M, Project Vieng Samai 2006
     
"Project Veraktas showed me the essence of service. How others might perceive one's actions of community service is an integral part of service itself. Service should be a matter of friends helping one another and not be a case of charity. It should be done with complete humility and not make others feel small."

Shreedevi Kumar, Student, 07S06G, Project Veraktas 2006
     
"It is important for teachers to not only deal with the academic component in their profession, but to also take part in students' character education. It can be a tiring process, but it certainly makes this profession much more meaningful. It is through a service-learning trip where I realised, that if I as a teacher, can only provide my students with academic knowledge, then I'm seriously shortchanging them."

Benjamin Tan Aik Ti, Teacher, Project Moo Baan Dek 2006
     
Write-ups on the 9 projects

      Project "Holding Hands"
      Project "Beautiful Minds"
      Project "Saibaidee Laos"
      "The Seed Bank Project"
      Project Veraktas
      Project "Moo Baan Dek"
      Project "Taiwan"
      Project "Sparkz"
     
Project "Holding Hands"

Project outline:
  1. Refurbishment of the orphanage: Work includes painting, plastering and cementing. The objective is to create a more conducive environment for the local children in the orphanage.

  2. Painting of wall murals to depict good health and hygiene habits and a general clean up of the compound: This is essential as the good hygiene habits are lacking. Through the murals and the interaction with our students as the children in the orphanage work together to paint and do area cleaning, our students can help inculcate in them the importance of maintaining good hygiene and a clean environment.

  3. Cultural exchange, language lessons: In the evening, the expedition team will teach basic conversational English to the Cambodian youths, and in exchange learn basic Khmer from the locals. It is hoped that such interactions with the locals can further develop the interpersonal skills of our students and make the trip more meaningful to them as they connect on a personal basis with the locals they are helping.

  4. Games sessions: Games will also be introduced to the children in the evenings. Games have been commonly used as therapy for good mental heath. This will also improve bonding between our students and the locals and among the locals in the orphanage. The games will also be taught to the caretakers and the older youths such that they are capable of conducting game sessions on their own.
Overseas partner:
Family Care Foundation, Cambodia (The Cornerstone Project)
 
     
Project "Beautiful Minds"

Project outline:

  1. Construction of a miniature traditional Cambodian Hut to be utilised by occupational therapists of CCMH when they work with the patients.

  2. Refurbishment of playground as play is an important form of therapy.

  3. Interaction with mildly mentally ill children through play sessions. This will help to break barriers between our students and the children and enable us to understand them better both in terms of needs and strengths.

  4. Assisting CCMH in reaching out to a local secondary school to promote mental health of children. This is important as a way to raise awareness and remove the social stigma that those with mental health problems face.
Overseas partner:
Dr Bhoomikumar J.
Centre for Child Mental Health, Chey Chumneas Hospital
 
     
Project "Sabaidee Laos "
Location: Vieng Samai Primary School, Vang Vieng, Laos

Project outline:

  1. Refurbishment of the primary school. Work includes painting, carpentry and cementing. To objective is to create a more conducive learning environment for the local children.

  2. Cultural exchange and language lessons in the evening at the community hall. The team will teach basic conversational English and Mandarin to the Laotian community, in exchange learn basic Laotian from the locals.
 
     
"The Seed Bank Project"

Project outline:

  1. Building a mud house for a seed bank. It is important for the local farmers to preserve their heritage. The plants grown from local seeds will be healthier as they are more suited for the local climate.

  2. Cultural exchange and language lessons in the evening at the community hall. The team will teach basic conversational English and Mandarin to the Laotian community, in exchange learn basic Laotian from the locals.
Overseas partner:
Mr Thanongsi, the organic farm owner who is deeply involved in community work for the village.
 
     
Project Veraktas

Project outline:
Working with the slum community in Chiang Mai
  1. Story Collection
    The team will be collecting traditional Shan stories from the Shan children and parents. The team members will be acting out these stories with the children using prepared props in order to further illustrate the stories. In the long run, our team plans to translate these stories into simple English and publish in storybook form. Illustrations regarding the stories will be collected from the children to be used in the book. This project will enable the English-learning process for the children, who will be able to read stories children are already familiar with. It also allows for greater interaction with the Shan and a deeper understanding of their cultural background. It will also enable the Shan people a way in which to relive their culture and preserve it.

  2. Micro-enterprise and Income Generation
    The team will help the community buy materials for hand-tinning purposes, to make greetings cards and candle carvings. These items can be sent overseas or even locally for selling purposes and can be another form of income for the people of this community. This project is aimed at the womenfolk of this community, who do not go out to work and stay at home. The team will also sponsor a trainer to come in and equip the women with skills in this area. Moreover, the team will provide the women with designs they can possibly use for the carving and the greetings cards. These designs will be inclined towards the Shan traditions and will be yet another way in which the Shan can preserve their culture.

The other two projects are aimed at the children of the Shan community. They aid in the learning process of the children, both academically and non-academically:

  1. Camp
    This camp will be filled with games, catered for the children of the Shan community. They will enable the children to engage in experiential learning, through activites like outdoor cooking.

  2. Reading Corner
    This reading corner will be located at the Rejoice Charity headquarters. This library will contain both English and Thai books. It will encompass a few decorated shelves as well as some rugs and pillows. This library is not only aimed at the children of the Shan community, but other children living in the area as well. Simple English books were collected via a donation drive in RJC and from shops along Bras Basar Road.
Overseas partner:
NGO: Rejoice Charity
 
     
Project "Moo Baan Dek"

Project outline:
  1. Remodelling of 2 activity rooms
    The students will help to add on teaching aids for Science, Math, Culture, Arts for these 2 rooms and also paint a mural with the children at the village school. The equipment will include microscopes, posters, scientific toys etc.

  2. Camp at Erawan National Park
    Together with their students, we will be camping out for 4 days at the Erawan waterfalls. Besides trekking, our students will conduct experiential learning sessions involving nature and the environment.

  3. Student-centred Lessons
    Lessons to be conducted are based on subjects like science, math and even physical education. All will be student-centred in nature.
 
   
Project "Taiwan"

Project outline:
  1. Preparation of English teaching materials based on the local culture

  2. Introduction of new teaching strategies to the local teachers through demonstration in the classrooms

  3. English Week to be carried out to provide the students with the essentials of English that is relevant to their daily lives. Activities include role play of a marketplace.
Overseas partner:
Bo Ai Elementary School, He Ping Province
 
   
Project "Sparkz"
Project outline:

The students conducted learner-centred English lessons, to model for the local English teachers, hence motivating both students and teachers in the learning of English at Zhang Pu No. 6 High School.