Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow

Camp Rainbow. Still my favourite volunteer experience.

It was a refreshingly new camp experience this time round, being in the youths category and taking care of the two most independent kids in camp. As (self-declared) part-time camp photographers, they rampaged about with giant DSLRs and snapped down some of the most unglam shots of us befrienders (myself included). I imagine they have enough material to run a blackmail syndicate. But anyway, my challenge was in keeping my reins to a bare minimum, looking after their health and safety while letting them loose with everything else.

I loved catching up with old friends and meeting new characters. My ex-kids group are just as fun and energetic as ever, though i wish they could cut down on the relentless poking of me and Luke haha. Belle and RJ grew up to the youth group too. Oh, and Gary was in the same group too, and it was nice getting to know him better. Longtime GLs Smurfette and CK had an opposite leadership style from Ben and Pohlin, which i thought worked well with the youths. And who could forget the bubbly doc n nurse pair, perhaps too bubbly... i couldn't differentiate them from the kids, really. Haha.

The youths were a great bunch of kids, from the more restrained but still funloving Ed & Jas, to my two kids and Ira, Sarah etc. It's interesting to see this mix of characters sleep and play together, and though i wish they'd break into cliques less, i think they were still pretty close together.

I like the rebellious nature of our grp, always being the late one and skipping official programmes. We're truly deserving of our grp name, Black Sheep... well, the blackest of sheep might have the purest of hearts! I like to think we injected some chaotic fun and laughter into the camp, haha. Our mascot was universally adored after all (might post up a pic soon).

I think this year's camp had some interesting programs, such as the visit to the zoo, the ducktour and the photobooth during Carnival night. But somehow it felt messier, logistics and coordination-wise. Afterwards i heard that there were some politics going on, and a divide between the comm and the GLs. This kinda reminds me of the challenges i faced during my time as FOC chair. To me, intuitively i knew everyone had to be on board to change things for the better. That was what i thought was my greatest challenge, forging a team of diverse characters and getting everyone to buy-in on the same vision. Hopefully next year's team can move on as one after some rumored reorganization going on.

Anyway, it was a great camp as usual and kudos to everyone involved for making it happen! Looking forward to upcoming outings and next year's camp alr. Not sure which age group to go for - I might say i enjoy the energy and closer interaction with younger kids, but i relish the autonomy and deeper conversations with youths too.

Either ways, here's to more years of some of the most fun and meaningful times in my life.

A Comment

Kind words never fail to make me smile :)

From SG Cares' Alan:

Dear Sebastian, Thank You, NTU Student volunteers for the App.  

V aluable is the work you do, 

O utstanding in how you always come through. 

L oyal, sincere and full of good cheer, 

U ntiring in your efforts throughout the year. 

N otable are the contributions you make, 

T rustworthy in every project you take. 

E ager to reach your every goal, 

E ffective in the way you fulfill your role. 

R eady with a smile like a shining star, 

S pecial and wonderful - that’s what you are!

A long day (and night of volunteering)

Yawn... just woke up after one long, sleepless night up improving the mobile volunteering app, then one straight, tiring day volunteering at Highpoint Community Services.

It's surprisingly refreshing to go down to the ground and get our knees dirty in helping for a good cause! I had an interesting 'job rotation' as I carried sacks of rice with Meesala (an Indian MBA getting a job here), packed food with VL Jiaqi for homes of the elderly, being sent on a 'learning excursion' delivery route in a van with Ho Fai and Uncle Richard, and finally learning about high fashion while arranging old clothes with Anne. Along the way, I had a fun break drinking some weird ass drink some company donated crates of (for good reason i'm sure...) with Uncle Bernard, a 60 or 70-ish teacher who shared a couple of years of his life story and almost began proselytizing to me before i escaped =p.

I couldn't help smiling when I was doing some of the menial labour... guess I have a couple of bolts loose somewhere haha. I just felt a 'feel-good' sensation - and i guess it's the thing that keeps me going thru my past leadership experiences as well. Working for the sake of others cleanses the soul... it validates our common existence in this world of ours and makes you feel like you've gotten just a little closer to all the mass of human beings out there trying to eke out a meager living. It makes you feel alive - yes, for only when you are truly alive, do you think and care for others, do you share your love for the world. Otherwise, what differentiates you from a moving object, a machine?

It was invigorating, too, to get to share some of my thoughts and experiences with a common soul Ho Fai, whom I shared an hour or so on the delivery route! We really poured our hearts out, talking about our dreams and aspirations, our life stories that built us up. Amazing how a great connection just sparks like that, simply by being open to making new friends.

Ah well... I almost forgot my original purpose, to get more feedback for the mobile app! Still thinking about how to make it more engaging, more attractive towards users. How should we go about making people volunteer more? What makes people volunteer, and what makes them not volunteer? Will they do it if it's fun? If it's with friends? If they got recognition or rewards?

These are some of the questions i have been throwing around recently, to understand the real problem i'm trying to solve. It's not about thinking of what the app can do, but rather what people need or want. And there's no simple answer to this, so all i can do is to keep digging and digging, probing people, asking questions.

But truly, thanks to this project, I have gotten to thinking and learning a lot in more than one way. I like the new experiences i've been getting recently too. Even though there is much that doesn't excite me anymore, there is still a great part of the unexplored world out there for me to venture into.

After all, all we want is a reason to live.

Horizons

Back after a long hiatus!

It has been a refreshing blast of activity since the exams ended. I am actually hugely more busy now than during the exam period! I guess that hints at the mindset i hold towards taking exams now... haha. I studied maybe eight, nine hours total for each paper? The rest of the time, I have been indulging my passions...studying Go, reading Herman Hesse's books, taking long brooding walks, thinking about what I want to do.

After returning from overseas, I have been enjoying my new perspective on life.

Things like appreciating the simpler things in life, thinking up little projects like creative presents for friends, taking time out to admire a thunderstorm, and slowly chewing my breakfast despite being late for lessons.

Understanding and forgiving our weaknesses, observing people for who they are, and consciously giving praise and encouragement to close ones around me.

Dissolving my temper and negative feelings away, being more patient with things, seeing things from different angles, asking more questions about everything, and being thankful and amazed to know the answers.

Making dinner at home a priority, to talk more to my brothers, to cry more during sad movies, and laugh more during funny ones.

Taking charge in projects, learning to pay attention towards my teammates rather than the task at hand, giving myself hard chores and being hardworking for once... and rewarding myself after :)

Well.

Graduation is coming up soon, and job searching has been fruitless so far... ha. And i have just myself to blame... having applied to, say, 5 firms in total?

Guess i'm really stubborn about it. I swore myself to a life not of success, but of fulfillment. And I try to act on it. I realized that success-oriented, competitive environments or jobs that do not serve the greater part of society will not go with this. Hence I chose not to apply for financial, tobacco firms, etc.

I also aspire to be challenged in open and collaborative environments, to be pushed to reach new levels in my knowledge and skillsets... and so didn't apply for starting jobs in governmental, rigid organizations either. I'd love to hear from people who can share their experiences to refute my stereotyped views, but so far all my working friends have affirmed my beliefs in this.

Who's to say I won't conform to the rest of society and 'wake up' to reality? Nine out of ten friends around me absolutely adore bank jobs. The remaining one is already working in it. I've seen encouraging movements in the U.S., but the odds are stacked against me here in the zeitgeist of Singapore. I just hope to retain the new perspectives and mindsets I gained from my european friends, and be brave enough to fight for them.

Keeping my paradoxical aim of doing something challenging in a less success-oriented environment in mind, I have been actively tossing out competitive thoughts and ambition from my mind, and yet pro-actively seeking out opportunities to challenge myself in a fun, fulfilled way.

I find that strangely, my initiative towards things has actually increased as a result, while trying to be driven not by achievement but by fulfilment. To be pushed not by thoughts of myself, but of others as well. To be excited not by the chance to earn money but the opportunity to make a difference.

I set myself a midterm goal: to set up a nonprofit tech firm, something like Convio.

In the short run, I've recently made contact with Singapore's governmental agency in charge of volunteer orgs in Singapore, and managed to convince them to do a collaborative project with me and maran!

I have a dream of regular people, each and everyone of us, volunteering every so often for causes we believe in, people we want to help. I have a dream of reaching out to people, especially youths, to create a kinder, more caring society. It's an easy dream as far as dreams go, isn't it?

At least i know Technology can do this.

We're creating a mobile application that serves as a platform for people to freely logon, check out the latest volunteering events, and signup for them. Users can search for causes they're interested in, for events they have the time and energy to help out in. The best part? After using it for sometime, the app will smartly recommend the user what he's interested in, based on a model the app has constructed of him. That's what I call Artificial Intelligence :)

And to engage the youths and keep users going back to the app, we're making use of fun and social elements, such as achievements and reward points, and sharing on FB and twitter to invite friends to join the same event. How's that for viral marketing?

I'm really aiming to create something impactful and useful to society. We're in the heat of the action now, and some of my friends are joining me in this too, though we're still tight of manpower. Hopefully our creation will nudge up Singapore's volunteerism rate by at least 0.5% within the next six months. I'd really love to see that realized!

I don't think I would have gone this far in this project without my new perspective in life gained from my exchange in europe. I like that the lessons you learn, you experiences you gain, the people you meet, the memories you hold from traveling...they don't disappear the moment you leave, but simmer in your mind slowly, absorbed into your soul like little bits of your life.

Ah, what am i saying? Doesn't that apply to everything in our lives? Ha...

Anyway, that's all I have to rant for now. I guess it's a good enough update for these few months! Well, time to get back to work on my coding.

P.s.

It feels so good to realize that life is long, and meant to be good.

Thank you for teaching me that.