A very big welcome to all the new volunteers to Youth Block D! :D

Block D officially welcomed its new volunteers into the family over the Festive Season. There had been a slight delay in arranging the new volunteers' briefing talk due to unforeseen circumstances, thus resulting this late entry.

During the First session at Block D with our new volunteers, the seniors were there to guide them along and orientate them to the place. After 1 round of brief introductions, we played Ice Breaker games, such as double whacko together with the boys so that we could get to know each others' names in a fun way. Though the place was a little quiet in the beginning with some of them being shy, the boys never failed to amuse us with their jokes. Very soon, the atmosphere became less tense and it was good to see the new volunteers mixing around well with the boys; the boys showed much enthusiasm in getting to know them as did the volunteers.

After Session ended, it was time for the volunteers to have our routine supper session together at Sheng Siong. However, this supper session was set to be a special one. In keeping to the spirit of giving during the festive Season, Block D had its very own Christmas Gift Exchange session. Everyone had been pre-notified to purchase a gift of about $15 or hand-make a gift for this gift exchange. Although participation in this gift exchange was optional for the new volunteers, it was indeed great to see all of them participating eagerly.

Poker cards of 2 suits were given out to all the volunteers who were present and each of us was to pick our desired gift according to the number on the card we were holding. After everyone had picked one gift, it was time for the interesting part where volunteers were given the choice to swap their gifts with another volunteer. The day ended happily with a photo-taking session of all of us with our gifts over the night backdrop.

Once again a very warm welcome to all the new volunteers and hope we could enjoy the future sessions together with the boys as one happy family! :D

-Rishi

Telematch @ Block F!

17 December 2012

*yawn* early morning to wake up during the second week of holidays for what?! 

Well, it was actually for the telematch! =DDDDDDDDDDD Volunteers had to meet even earlier than Saturday sessions because we need preparation for the event. So early in the morning volunteers went into the home in preparation for the event. Well, first thing first, WATER BOMBS *evil smirks*. As part of rainy day plan, our dear boss came up with the idea of adding dark soya sauce into the water. Despite the scorching hot sun shining upon us and not to waste resources, WE ADDED IN DARK SOYA SAUCE. MUAHAHAHAHAA. Ok, its pretty disgusting as the smell of the soya sauce floods the early morning air. =/

After the preparation, we gathered the boys and split them into 2 teams named Dragons and Hornets. Volunteers were split evenly between them. It was difficult to get the boys to start playing the game and everyone was reluctant to play. However, after much encouragement, the boys start to willingly join in and started to enjoy themselves! It was a heartening sight to see. So to start off, the first game was called U-tube. Representative from each team had to up the bet of adding either dark soya sauce, vinegar, ketchup into the water. After bet was made, the mixture was poured into the tube and each player holds 1 end of the tube and blows into it. So, as expected either one will have the gooey mixture into their mouth! *yuckss* =( hahaha.. I had a lot of laugh watching thou =P Well, at the end, Dragon team won! *hurray!*

Next game, was rolling on the canvas sheet. The losing team had dark soya sauce, vinegar added into the canvas sheet while the winning team had normal water on the canvas sheet. All members in the team had to flour themselves white and roll on the sheet to clean themselves up. The fastest team wasssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss, DRAGONS! ^^

Next, the game I call it exaggerated scissors paper stone. On the canvas sheet of yucky mixture of all the condiments, representative had to army crawl along the canvas sheet and play S,P, S. the losing player needs to crawl across the whole canvas while the player stands and leaves.  After a tough fight of 11 games, HORNETS WON! WOOOTTTSS!! =D

Lastly, and the most awaited one, WATER BOMB WAR! So the main aim was to just throw water bombs at opposing team. After I started the game, I start to feel unsafe as I feel people targeting me!!! >=( den I went to hide with Swee Ying. Hahaa. Menacingly Qing Feng came with a water bag and threw at me. HENG I siam fast enough. Ahhaaha.. well, watchin the whole game was quite interesting as I was literally watching some romantic encounter unfolding. =P hahaa.. those who know, knows. <3~ Well, the  boys had a fun time playing with each other and with the volunteers. So finally to decide who the winner is, we had a game of plain scissors paper stone and Dragons won. So they were awarded notebooks. All participating boys were given a pen as a gift of participation.

Watching everyone having such a great time, the fatigue from climbing out of bed early in the morning, perspiring under the hot sun was all worthwhile. The experience in Block F was great and I look forward to much more interesting events with them! =D

Till den,
Aimin! =)

S One family

10 Nov 2012 was a momentous day for all participants of the Boy’s home family day. For some of the boys and parents, it was a long awaited reunion for them after months of separation. For the event organizers, it was a rare opportunity to take a glimpse of what goes on beyond the high walls of the home. For us, it was another day of great fun and joy amidst volunteering.

The decision to leave the running of the events to external organizers was a wise one (I can’t imagine what would happened if I was made to run it). The organizer definitely has a good hold on things, with activities catered to both the young and the old. Kids were having fun with each other in the bouncing castles, the boys were enjoying dancing and having a hell of a time with the Kinect, while parents had the chance to reminisce about the old days with games involving marbles and a life-sized snakes and ladders. Of course, a carnival would not be complete without something to fill empty, growling stomachs. Food will always be the main attraction, and the wide variety of Kacang Puteh (don’t we all just love the white sugery nuts), candy floss, hotdog buns and bento sets didn’t disappoint (it actually made my trip from Tanjong Pagar to boy’s home pretty worthwhile…free flow food. Hehehe)

The stage event was another draw. It was quite heartening to see 8 of the boys going on stage to perform emcees role (most of us have problems even speaking to a class or girls), and thus, it was an extremely laudable effort on the part of these 8 boys. As a parent, I would be very proud to see my son out there addressing a crowd of hundreds. Doing the gangnam-style with one’s parents proved to be the crowd pleaser, with everyone on scene tickled with laughter.

For us, it was one of the rare occasions that we got to see the boys as themselves with their family, without the strict supervision of the guards. It was a great opportunity to also catch with boys that have left our individual blocks and went to other blocks. Without a doubt, we had a great time there as well. Kelvin’s paternal instincts were literally oozing out as he picks up that one year old Malay girl inside the bouncing castle (When BTO?). Shawn’s dance was just plain awkward and horrible (unlike Yeh lin’s and mine…I’m sure the people who were there agree with me). Some of us also had the opportunity to interact and expand our network with the event organizers (wink wink* Shawn)

But as the cliché goes, all good things must come to an end. Time flies when you are having fun, and scenes of separation are always the most poignant.

But I guess for the boys and their families, long-term reunion is a matter of when, not if.

Cheers,
Kramie J

PS: Everyone jiayou for exams! :D:D:D      

16th June 2012

16^th June 2012 is Father’s day.

On this Saturday, 7 fathers and their sons decided to spend their morning participating in some activities organized for them. For the first part, they head towards Bishan and tried their hand on prawn catching. That took most of the morning. After which, they proceed to Bishan park and that is where we come in.

The first game we had with them is just a classic marble shooting game. Players try to shoot and hit marbles out of the required boundary to win more marbles. The boys were teamed with their parents and they compete to see who are able to get the most marbles. Some of them were pretty good at their marbles throwing skill and can finish the game quickly. I guess this may not be surprising as some parents may have mastered this skill from their childhood. The second game played was chapteh. Marbles were awarded according to how well the teams are able to play with the chapteh. Yet again, we can spot some amazing chapteh players among them almost straight away. It wasn’t that hard. The event ended with a small prize presentation and lunch.

It was just a simple affair for the boys to spend some precious time with their dad. There are no expensive prizes or elaborate performance. In this modern hectic society, I guess time has become the most precious commodity. What can be more precious than time? It is heartening to see that people are willing to take time off for this activity. And I am quite sure that this is time well spent. For everyone.

Darren