Project Angel Background

Project Angel is an overseas community service project initialized by the NUS Students' Science Club. Our primary objective is to provide relief and help to disaster-hit areas or third world countries. In the process, we hope to enrich the lives of volunteers through experiences and reflection.

Like all other overseas community projects, participants return with an experience of a lifetime and depending on how they look at it, this will certainly change their perspectives towards ‘volunteerism'.

Over a hundred volunteers have participated in our projects in Cambodia , Laos , Vietnam , India , and some other countries. In addition, our extended help have benefited thousands of locals. It is a written success with not only completion of the various projects in the past, but also with the friendships forged and bonds cultivated with the locals.

Project Angel has helped volunteers develop a sense of independence while honing their communication, cooperation and leadership skills. The volunteers returned from their trips with a better appreciation of life. They have also become more aware of their potential to make a difference in their own life, as well as the lives of others.

Project Angel VIII Introduction

Project Angel VIII's mission was to enter Siem Reap , Cambodia and assist in 2 school building projects in Ang Chagn Chass village and Kampong Phluk. A team of NUS volunteers embarked on this project from 12 Dec to 29 Dec 2006 .

Kampung Phluk

Kampong Phluk is a cluster of three villages of stilted houses built about 16 km southeast of Siem Reap. Our mission in Kampong Phluk was to build wooden chairs and tables to furnish the new school building and to introduce English to the school children there. It was a village where we experienced great hospitality, where they welcomed us with open arms into their homes where we stayed for the duration of our stay in Kampong Phluk.

We learned many lessons, lessons that we could never learn from our textbooks. We did many things for the very first time in our lives, things that we would not have done if we remained in Singapore as there was no need to do so. Killing and plucking chicken feathers from the chickens we bought for dinner, mixing cement, laying bricks, giving English lessons to the children in a classroom setting were among the many things we did.

Perhaps, the most memorable thing for most of us in Kampong Phluk was our interaction with the children there. The children there touched us, touched us with their eagerness and their enthusiasm to learn English when we taught them. Perhaps, they taught us more than what we taught them. They were poor and life was hard, yet they were happier than us Singaporeans who had so much more compared to them. They taught us the beauty of simplicity and within this simplicity is where true happiness lie.

An Chagn Chass Village

In An Chagn Chass village, our main aim was to build up concrete flooring in the classrooms so that the classrooms would not flood during the rainy season, to build an additional school building of a single classroom as well as improve the standard of English of the students there.

One memorable thing that we did that was not in the original plan was to do mural paintings on the walls of the new school building. It was fun painting the murals, a legacy that will remain even when we have gone back to Singapore .

At times in both villages, we questioned ourselves whether we were actually making an impact on the students since we stayed only a week in each village. Our greatest fear was that the children would forget all that we would have taught them during the English lessons we gave them. It was possible as language is something that you have to continually use to learn it and they do not really have anyone to speak to in English though they take English lessons as they speak to each other in Khmer. In the end, I suppose our main objective is to create awareness among the students that learning English is not useless, that through learning English, they can communicate with many people of different nationalities as English is a international language and spur them on to work harder during their English lessons.

Project Angel 8 has ended. For many of us, it was an experience of a lifetime. We have learnt to be more appreciative of the little things in life and not to take things for granted. We have discovered much more about ourselves, about Cambodia and even Singapore . We have realized the importance of education. We have explored issues about poverty, about education, about how we could continue to extend help to the local communities or third world countries. We have all been touched by the angels in Cambodia . New dreams are unfolded. New hopes are created. New directions are found in life. We would like to thank all who have contributed to the success of this project in one way or another. Our chapter has closed. As we move on to write a new chapter in our life, the chorus of our theme song “ It's the little things ” continues to run in our minds. “it's the little things that we share, the love and joy that's in the air, the children's laughter everywhere and all our favourite things…”

Please visit http://phraeb.zenfolio.com/f227560212/ for more photos.

Should you have any queries about Project Angel 8, please feel free to contact us at sciclub.projectangel@gmail.com.

 

Project Angel 9

Myanmar

Myanmar is one of Asia 's poorest countries despite its rich natural resources such as offshore oil and gas deposit, abundance of fertile soil and jewellery rich earth. Forty five years under the ruling of the military junta has crippled the country's economy and all other social aspects. The government has little interest in improving the basic amenities towards the people, such as the health care and education systems. With 10 US dollars per a person per a year for healthcare spending by the government, it is no surprise that 150,000 children under the age of five die every year of malaria, acute respiratory infections and diarrhoea. Hospitals, which are filled with patients but with inadequate medicine supply and proper health care equipments, and schools, which are filled with enthusiastic students but without proper text books or facilities, are the common characteristics of a city in Myanmar . Even though the situations are not in favour of the children to pursue education, parents work hard to send their children to schools and tuition classes, trying to provide for their kids to the best of their abilities. Moreover, every young Burmese knows that the only hope to get out of poverty is through education. All they wish for is a promising education system equipped with adequate facilities. As they are powerless to leap out of poverty hole and therefore, they need helping hands, caring thoughts and best wishes from the international community.

Primary School in Win Kyan Village , Hpa An

Win Kyan Village lies in Kayin state and is located more than 6 miles away from the capital of the Kayin state, Hpa An. Win Kyan village is home to more than 3000 people. The people are rather poor, but they led a simple life with their main livelihoods as farmers. The primary school in the heart of Win Kyan village caters to170 students from Grade 1 – 5, in the care of 5 teachers. The current school is in a run-down state and is too small to cater to all the students. There is also no proper partition in the classroom so all 5 teachers have to teach in close proximity to one another.

Some of these very young children have to travel long distances, some even have to row a boat along the river to reach their school. They are constantly burdened by the need to supplement family income or help out in the household. Furthermore, there is lack of proper infrastructure and a conducive learning environment. Hence, many kids are deprived of education.

After discussion with our host partner, the school headmistress and the village head, plans were made to build a new school building of 30 feet by 100 feet with partitions to make up 5 classrooms in the school. We will also help to refurnish the school such as a small library and set up basic amenities such as toilets. The headmistress of the school also welcomes our volunteers to teach basic English to the students and teachers.

Education is very important in the impoverished country of Myanmar . We believe that the children should be provided with a more conducive learning environment that can help to motivate them to continue to seek for higher education.