Friday, January 22, 2010

Project L.O.V.E 2009: A total new experience!

Project L.O.V.E. (LDP Overseas Volunteer Experience) is an initiative undertaken by students from the Leadership Development Programme (LDP) set up by the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. In December 2009, a team of 20 members led by team leader, Yeoh Yee Teng and assistant team leader, Ngu Kee Kiat had departed to Gansu, Wen County to bring warmth from Singapore to the local community.

Our team reached Chengdu on the 12th December and proceeded to our destination, Gansu, Wen County by 14-hours public bus. On the 14th of December, we visited the local Minister of Education and their officers in the Educational Building of Wen County. We reinstated our objective of the trip was to bring love to the local community as well as to inspire the students to master the English language. The local Minister of Education gave us a warm welcoming speech and presented us with 2 flags as a token of appreciation.

During our stay there, we carried out various activities such as teaching, science exhibition, giving away stationery kits and so on. We taught in 6 different schools in Wen County. We introduced them the lifestyle, culture, climate and different races in Singapore. We also inspired and encouraged them to study hard and further their studies in Singapore. Besides introducing Singapore, we also taught them some basic English like transportations. From their responses, we could see that they were really eager to learn and were curious about various transportations like aeroplane, ship and train which they had never seen in their lives before.

Apart from teaching, we also held science exhibitions in the schools to spark their interests in science and technology. We conducted various experiments such as Water Rocket, Mentos Eruption and so on. During the exhibitions, we explained to the students about the basic science principles behind the experiments. The main highlight of the exhibitions was Water Rocket. This proved to be an eye-opener for the students. They gaped in awe as the Water Rocket soared into the sky. We also encouraged the students' involvement in our experiments. The students had a great time and learned a lot through the science exhibitions.

In addition to that, we distributed 500 stationery kits to the students. Each stationery kit consisted of a school bag, eraser, pen, pencils, ruler and notebook. The students were delighted to receive the stationeries from us. On top of that, we also gave away 200 blankets to the needy locals and students of a school which was located up on a mountain where the temperature was near zero. We hoped that the blanket could help the locals to keep themselves warm during the cold winter.
After all the work done, we rewarded ourselves by staying in the country for two days to explore the natural beauty and enjoy the rich cultural heritage as well as history of China. We visited Jiuzhaigou Valley and various historical places in Chengdu.

On 22 of December, the journey of Project L.O.V.E 2009 had come to an end and the team bade farewell to China, bringing back with us the memories and a broader perspective of life.

Our Team

Stationary Kits Distributions

Science Exhibitions (Water Rocket)

Science Exhibitions (optical Illusions)

English Teachings

Thermo Blankets Giveaways

No comments: