17th January 2008, Thursday:

Lecture, tutorial, lecture, tutorial. It was déjà vu once again for all the volunteers as tutorials session began this week. Today was the second WSC session for the new semester, and as usual, the turnout for Block D volunteers was commendable. Jianwen had earlier notified the volunteers that we will be having a games session with the boys today. The assigned game masters given with the responsibility of providing meaningful entertainment to the volunteers and boys were Rabin, Xiu Tang, Khalisah, and Rebecca. For almost all of the new volunteers, it was their first experience interacting with the boys through games, as most of them have only participated in the tuition session for the boys last week. The gamemasters met one day before to brainstorm.
Discussing the games
XiuTang's golden moment
Khalisah wasnt there so...
The title of the game that was played today was Tic-Tac-Toe. In a 3x3 square, there will be a total of 9 groups. Each group will consist of 2 players, one from the ‘Cross’ ( X ) Team, and the other from the ‘Circle’ ( O ) Team. The concept of the game is simple: Each team will take turns to be given the opportunity to choose any of the 9 groups to respond to a question given by the gamemaster ( Rabin ). Once the question is made known, the players are able to discuss and brainstorm for ideas with the rest of their teammates ( the other volunteers and boys not in the ‘square’ ). The players will then present their answers to the panel of judges (Khalisah, Rebecca, and a few boys). The most creative, dramatic, and wacky answer will win the round for their team and get either a ‘Circle’ or ‘Cross’, depending on the team the winning player represents, in the Tic-Tac-Toe formation. In the end, the ‘Circle’ Team won, but it was obvious everyone enjoyed themselves throughout the session. I will also like to take this opportunity to thank the gamemasters for doing a fantastic job in planning for today’s game session. I believe everyone has done his or her part in fulfilling the main objectives of the game, which was to stimulate creativity and teamwork among the boys and volunteers.

As the semester progresses, it is expected for the volunteers to become more busy as the workload increases proportionally. However, I believe we will be able to maintain our high levels of commitment to Block D, and continue to make a difference in the lives of the boys.

To conclude:

Although not all the boys will listen to our advices, as long as we are able to make a difference in the life of one, we have already succeeded.

By Junwei

First session after school reopens

Today was the first session after school started. Most of our volunteers met in school for dinner together before setting off to the boy’s home. I think our volunteers are a very committed bunch of people. They travel all the way from places like Singapore Expo, and homes that are so far away in another part of Singapore just for an hour of session. They are really nice people.
For the new volunteers, it was our first tutoring session with the boys. The moment we sat down at the activity room, the boys came in shortly after and we started our very first tuition with them. Most of us got back the same boys that we were assigned to last week. Some of the boys did not bring school work along so we had to play games such as bingo instead. Our volunteers tried our best to answer any questions that the boys encountered in their school work. Time passed very quickly and when we were having fun interacting with the boys, the session ended.

Everyone must be looking forward for the games session next week. Hope that the games session next week will be fun too! It was quite a fun and enjoyable session today. As most of us had 830 lessons the next day, there was no supper for today. We headed home after the session ended.

By huikoon

Zoo Outing!

It was really bright and sunny. The perfect day for an outing to the Singapore Zoological Gardens! We met up at around 1030am and made our way into the zoo. Think it was the month of the cheetahs cos they had many photos of them in action everywhere around the entrance. There were tons of people, mostly tourists and kids from all walks of life. We also took, like a million photos!

There were about 11 of us: jian wen, jun han, rabin, ah cai, seow hong, jia yin, daisy (and dawn dawn - her 3yr old sister), hui koon, kristin and hui wen. Everyone took turns to carry dawn dawn cos she was just too adorable for us to resist. She was part of the highlight for the day!

We saw many animal exhibits like the super cute otters, babirusas, pygmy hippos, white tigers, kangaroos, orang utans, chimpanzees, squirrel monkeys (which suspiciously all look the same, except for minor differences in colour and size) zebras, giraffes, cheetahs, jaguars (know the difference between the two?? cheetahs have spots while jaguars have spots within the centre of each rosette!), leopards, hunting dogs, goats, dogs, miniature horses and a few random animals like peacocks and komodo dragons. Most of the animals were odourless, with the occasional ones releasing not-so-nice smelling smells. It was a pity that part of the Children’s World Animal Land was closed for renovations, as we missed out many other cute animals.

Then we also went to see two animal shows. (1) Elephants at Work and Play: lasted for about 1hr, with half the time spent trying to get one of the elephants to lie down and then get up. The elephants had really strong trunks and excellent sense of balance. (2) Splash Safari: this one was more interesting (and probably the best show) as we got to see penguins, sea cows, and sea lions performing stunts and getting the audience wet. However, it was only for thirty minutes. Enjoyable, nonetheless.

Left the zoo around 1830 and everyone was feeling sticky and hungry. Headed to the old kallang airport for dinner, where we had a feast, consisting of local delicacies like hokkien mee, carrot cake, oyster omelette, stingray, sotong, satay, fried kway teow!!

Overall, it was a fun-filled, exhilarating and eventful day! Though it was a tad tiring day, I’m sure everyone is waiting in anticipation for the next outing! :)

By Huiwen

Christmas Party at the Boy's Home

It was 21 December 2007, just a few days before Christmas. The festive mood was in the air. It was Christmas time and the air was filled with fun joy and laughter, and it was no different at the Boys' Home, even though it was surrounded by high walls and barbed wire.

Even though it was raining heavily (Singapore’s version of snow?), the rain did not dampen our spirits. I arrived at the home a little late (due to work), and when I stepped into the dining hall, it was filled with chitter-chatter and pitter-patter. The boys were hungrily digging into the catered food. After dinner, everyone adjourned to this open space where there was supposed to be carolling. However, due to the heavy downpour, the carolling was delayed. In its place, the 3 finalists of the Boys' Home singing competition sang for us. The rest of the boys sang along, cheering and clapping for their friends. After which, the carolling (by other volunteers) commenced.

The Christmas carols sung further livened up the mood. There were also games played. In addition, there were more food and drinks. Everyone had a great time. Alas, it was time to go as the boys had to go to bed, but our spirits were high and everyone was anticipating the next volunteer session.

first session after exams!

After weeks of rest, volunteers of NTU WSC Block D have finally resumed their sessions on 27th Dec.

So it started off with this message sent by our block representative, jianwen, to the volunteers; "For those who do not know the way to the home, we're meeting at Boon Lay interchange at 7.30pm sharp. At the 157 berth. It's beside 179." (not the exact words, but the content is there though.)

So there were about 4 volunteers waiting very patiently at the legendary 157 berth at 7.30pm sharp for jianwen. Of course they didn't complain about him being late. They were nice people!

Upon reaching the home, several volunteers were already sitting there waiting eagerly for the session to begin! After settling with the boys' home staff our visitor's pass and bags, we proceeded on to meet the boys. This session was meant to be a bonding session amongst the boys and the volunteers, so we played card games with them and got to know them better through these activities.

It was my first time to the home, and everything seemed intimidating to me. The barbed wires, the high walls, the mood/atmosphere and especially, the boys. However, they proved themselves otherwise! Throughout the session, we had fun playing games like dog-and-bone and heart attack. In a nutshell, all of us enjoyed ourselves.

By 9.00pm all of us were asked to leave the home. The boys were very appreciative and they really do welcome and look forward to our next visit! AND VIOLA! NTU WSC BLOCK D first session after the examinations!

jianwen really didn't force me to write this entry.
By sokehwa!