Nurturing a Heart

Nurturing a Heart 

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.

                                                         Ralph Waldo Emerson

Education starts at home and from the heart. As part of our Literature Based Learning(LBL) of the book "The Giving Tree" (the activities for this LBL have not yet been uploaded), I worked with Lion Befrienders and organized a door to door distribution of essential food items to senior citizens living alone. 

Anyway, the main objective is for us to do what we can and give back to society. I want my children to experience the joy of giving. We have previously done a distribution to an orphanage at Bandung and my children were happy that they made other children so happy as well. 

This time, I roped in 6 other mummies - Jacqueline, Ai Hua, Shu Wen, Serene, Veron and Lin Ying to join me. 

The process was rather tedious. We had to hunt for the appropriate food items with the right price. We wanted to give as much as we can to as many household as possible. 

Finally, thanks to the research done by Ai Hua, Jacqueline and I managed to purchase the items for 60 households. 

To make things more efficient, we purchased the items and I had to delivery the items to my house on my own. It was a full car load. 

It was really heart warming that everyone played a role in making this possible. 7 families came together for a common cause. 

Lin Ying [Bumble Bee Mum] , Serene [Xavvy-licious], Xavier (Serene's son) Veron[Confessions of a Mumzilla], Andy (Veron's hubby), my hubby (Augustine) and I packed the items into 60 packs in half an hour.

Finally came 23 December, the day that we are doing the actual distribution. My little minions started work right after lunch at 1pm. The children helped to move all the items to the corridor and waited for Shu Wen, Clara (Shu wen's daughter) and Poh Heng (Shu Wen's hubby) to come help transport the items to the actual venue. 

Finally. all 7 families met at the venue. As you can see in the photograph, we were outnumbered by the kids. 

Anyway, we quickly collected the number of packs and went to our assigned units to do the distribution. 

The children were very good helpers. They were useful in carrying the items. 

Very strong and enthusiastic little helpers. We packed each pack, ensuring that it was light enough for a child to carry. 

Then we were our separate ways  to the different blocks to start the distribution. 

It was a good bonding time for all. 

Everyone did their play and carried what they could. 

Even Faith did her best at helping. She carried a packet of 2.5 Kg rice every time. 

Emmanuel fell down a flight of stairs and hit his back while carrying a sack of rice. He had to sit and rest at the stairs for a while. But after he was able to stand up and walk, he simply stood up and said he wanted to help distributing again. 

Natalie was our navigator. She was in charge of telling us which unit to go to next and she led the way to the unit. She was a little sad to learn that these uncles and aunties live in a small house with no bedroom and some of the houses were in bad condition. However, she felt happy that the food items that she delivered will at least keep these uncles and aunties full for a while.

This photography was taken at .30pm. 1.5 hrs since we started distribution and they are still all smiling and happy. 

At the end of the distribution, while waiting for the rest to come back. A photograph of the tired but happy kids. 

The most amazing thing about the day is that none of the children complain that they were tired or that they didn't want to walk anymore. They were in very high spirits all the way. The only time where they got upset was because they were fighting over who to carry the rice. All the children were very enthusiastic to carry the rice. 

Our final group photograph at the end of the distribution.

I hope our little act brought some joy and hope to those lonely elderly. The whole process was tedious and tiring, but the smiles of the aunties and uncles made it all worthwhile. 

When I came home, I asked the children about their thoughts for the day and they all said they felt happy. 

Happy that they have helped someone and made their day a little better, a little brighter. 

For me, I'm glad I've sparked a little passion and a little light in my children's heart. Now, they find more joy in giving rather than receiving. To me, they have learnt an important life lesson. Nurturing a heart is the most important to me. I plan to make this an annual affair.  

Read about Veron and Serene's blog post on the distribution. 

A little effort on our part can make a big difference to someone's day. 

I really want to encourage all the parents to bring the kids along and do something to make someone's day a little better. It really doesn't take much. Perhaps, just a kind act or a packet of food for someone in need. 

Parents are doing, children are watching. We can make this world a slightly better place through our simple action. Our children are learning and will pass it on.