Project – Challenges and Opportunities

Challenges. Before we started volunteering, I always thought that everything would have a solution as long as you are willing and determined to do so. However, through the weeks of volunteer in PACE@MARS, I realized there are things we did not manage to fully overcome. 

One of the challenges I faced was the inability to change their perspectives I guess. In the centre, the youths there were in the age of around 13 to 17. It might probably the environment or the age as children at this age do not really have any idea of what they want to do in future. On one of the days, there was a girl who told me she wanted to buy food but she does not have money, and I told her that I would give her a treat. While we were on the way to the nearest shop, we talked about how her exam was, and what does she usually do at home. I also asked about what she wanted to do in future and she told me she wanted to become a doctor or lawyer in future. She was also keen to find out more about the course and job, so I talked to her more about what I know about doctor and lawyer.

Along the way, we also talked about our families and she mentioned that she has 2 elder sisters studying, their family condition and her parents having to work late and sometimes there is no dinner at home and she would eat bread or biscuits for dinner. When we reached the centre, we joined the others who were engaged in different activities. Just when I felt we were close enough to give her advice and discuss with her about the courses she was interested in and went over to want to talk to her about the courses, she was engrossed in watching movies from her phone and did not really want to listen, and she told me it’s okay, we can do that next time. At that moment, I was puzzled and thought through the possibilities of her lack of motivation towards something she is interested in. The only possibilities I could think of was that she feels it is still too far for her to think about or the environment was in a fun state that she did not want to think about the matters of studies. However, I believe that if I had more time, I would be able to talk to her about this.

Opportunities. When we first started volunteering, it was near their examination period and we tried to get them to move from Nintendo switch and board games to doing revision which they resisted initially. But slowly, In the following weeks, they brought their assessments and worksheets to study for exams. There was a day when I brought cookies to the centre as promised in the previous week, where almost all of them there brought work to revise. So, we sat down together to help them with Math revision as they were going to have Math exam the following day. I was happy to have this opportunity to help them. There was a girl who did not bring any of the revision materials so, we went through the formulas of finding the areas and volumes of the different figures, followed by some questions we found from the online paper. In the process, I can see that the girl was actually tired, but she did not request for any breaks. When I asked her to take a short break, she said she will after the question. I was happy to see her motivated to learn. 
Another opportunity we had that I was thankful for was to bring them out to buy food. The room has limited space and at times when it is rowdy, it was hard to speak to individual youths and go into deeper conversations. Thus, having the chance to bring them out individually was actually an effective method as the environment they are in is more conducive for them to talk about personal stuff, without having to be afraid that others might hear the conversation. I am really thankful to the centre manager for the permission to do so.