nEbO youth and U Live active agers join hands to share happiness in the annual nEbO’s W.I.S.H.
Five Do-Good initiatives under nEbO Ways In Sharing Happiness (W.I.S.H.) bring joy to 450 beneficiaries throughout the month of January.
Singapore, 7 January 2017 – nEbO, the youth membership arm of the Labour Movement is once again sharing happiness in their annual event, Ways In Sharing Happiness (W.I.S.H.). This year, they gathered seniors from U Live, the community for active agers aged 55 and above of the Labour Movement, to join hands and serve the community through five Do-Good initiatives. Spreading across the four weekends this month, W.I.S.H. brings together 500 youth and senior volunteers, benefiting more than 450 individuals and families. Besides signature initiative, Paint A New Hope, W.I.S.H. will also have a newly introduced youth-initiated project, Heritage Snapshots.
A platform for youth-initiated projects
Heritage Snapshots would see youth and active ager volunteer stylists give 30 seniors from SASCO Senior Citizens' Home a simple makeover. Besides putting on make-up, seniors would also get their hair done up by the volunteer stylists before going on a tour and photo-taking session on 22 January 2017 at National Gallery Singapore.
The idea of Heritage Snapshots was conceived when one of the three youth organising committee members,Mohamed Firdaus B Anwar, wanted to do something different and memorable for the seniors. As a half Malay and Chinese, Firdaus loves celebrating Chinese New Year with his maternal side where he gets the chance to spend quality time with his relatives as they usher in the Chinese New Year together.
“Sometimes when youth talk about seniors, we think of them as people who need help. These seniors may have been retired for many years and they may be lonely and feel they can’t contribute much, but in fact, seniors are assets in our society. They have so much skills and experiences to share if we are willing to listen. We hope that through Heritage Snapshots, youth get to learn from the life experiences of the elderly, make friends with like-minded youth while volunteering, and gain skills and knowledge in befriending and engaging the elderly,” said Mohamed Firdaus B Anwar, one of the youth in the organising committee of Heritage Snapshots.
Making a difference together
Since its inception in 2009, nEbO’s W.I.S.H. which provides volunteering opportunities for the youth, has grown from having just 80 volunteers to over 500 this year.
The eighth edition of nEbO’s W.I.S.H. kicked off today with signature initiative, Paint A New Hope, where 250 youth and active ager volunteers visited 44 households in Marsiling and Taman Jurong to help low-income families with basic cleaning and provided their homes with a fresh coat of paint.
“Initiatives such as Heritage Snapshots and Paint A New Hope exemplify how youth and active agers in Singapore can use their ideas and energy to contribute to society. nEbO’s W.I.S.H. aims to make volunteer experience meaningful by involving our volunteers from the ground up, enabling them to gain a deeper understanding of the needs and how they can care for others and to make a difference. Over the past eight years, we have seen how some of our leaders developed a true passion for community service and inspired their friends to do the same. As we continue to do good together, we can grow as a caring and cohesive community,” said Mr Lim Eng Lee, NTUC, Alignment Director (nEbO).
Other activities lined up include a gardening workshop with Chinese New Year crafts and performances, and a mini sports day for over 50 children beneficiaries. Please refer to Annex A for the full line-up of nEbO’s W.I.S.H. 2017 events.