Spreading the love on Children's Day

Organising a Children's Day Games & Food Carnival at the Grace Haven Homespacer, off Yio Chu Kang Road, was what the Workers' Party did this year for Children's Day. It was a whole lot of experience for a lot of our members; not the visitation, not the organisation, not the preparation, but the chance and patience to communicate with these children.

Gracehaven is a Salvation Army home for children who have social problems at school, home, etc...these children ranges from age 8-18. Hence, it was a group that we must approach with care and sensitivity. Everyone of our member played, had fun and enjoyed their time with these children.

We have Julia while playing 'dog & bone', fell in her eagerness to snatch a point for her team. David who is probably in his mid-40s chasing and running after children. Perry and Choong Yong who displayed brotherly love to their team, telling them the importance of team spirit as it is the key to winning the game. And the always quiet Grace whom one can hardly hear her talk and today I can hear her laughter from a short distance away :)

Somehow I managed to find the time to walk around, and I saw children talking to our members, some expressing their unhappiness and others were telling them about their school results. It was definitely an experience that money cannot buy.

From getting approval from the Home, designing games, buying gifts, packing of goodies bags to mobilizing manpower, took the Committee a month. Png, Swee Bee, myself, Joy Seng and Aaron make up this Committee. What a fantastic mix of ages :) We must be out of our mind to take this picture under the sun. (From left: Png, Swee Bee, Myself, Joy Seng and Aaron)

Team-building games, games stalls, art & craft counter, goodies bags, balloons, etc form the agenda for this carnival.

Lunch was ready at about 12pm, with mouth-watering pizzas, sotong balls, fried fishballs, spring rolls and ice-cream as the menu for the day. Our members weathered the scorching sun which was easily a 33 degree celcius this morning.


And as we were helping to clear things up for the closure for the day, boys about 12-18 years of age came forward to offer help. They helped to carry tables and chairs back to the respective rooms. Some helped to clear the rubbish. I looked on with awe as these children relished their sense of responsibilities.

What made me smile even more reassuring was when I saw this boy, about 13 years old, he was going around the entire field in which we had team-building games earlier on. He was picking up litter from the field and carpark into a big, transparent plastic bag which he was holding onto in his right hand. I went forward and offered him an additional ice-cream apart from the one that he was entitled to. The smile he gave me told me that he was happy that people recognized his hard work.

When we finally wrapped things up, we took a group picture under a big shady tree with the Home which house these children as back-drop. This is a group of our members who made this event possible and successful :)

HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY TO THE BIG CHILDREN OF THE WP!