It all began in December 2020. Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a non-profit organisation (NPO) was looking to partner with a student team to support Singapore’s migrant workers. TWC2 needed resources to deliver daily necessities care packages and bring the workers out of their dormitories for a meal.
Inspired by the migrant community’s COVID-19 stories, three Year 3 and one Year 2 Faculty of Science students, Soo Zheng Ying Joel, Wong Hui Xin, Eunice Wong Siying and Nathan Ang Wei Xun, answered the calling and partnered with TWC2 to boost their efforts.
The foursome put up their cause online and collected donations totalling $1,600. The team rallied the support of a sponsor, Levi’s – a casualwear brand – to produce 200 care packages for the migrant workers and 120 care packages for domestic helpers from two other Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), the Humanitarian Organisation for Migrant Economics (HOME) and the Indonesian Family Network (IFN).
Heartened by their sponsor’s generosity, the team distributed the care packages and clothing. Nathan recalled: “I had a heart-warming encounter when a worker said to me, “Thank you, my child,” when he received his care package.” This made Nathan and the team realised how happy a simple gesture can mean to the workers who are physically away from their families.
Following the distribution, the team organised a lunch for 24 migrant workers. Despite the language barrier, they communicated with ease with the migrants.
“When I interacted with them during lunch, I found them to have willing hearts and are humble,” observed Eunice. Eunice and her team thinking: “How can we help to make the workers feel more at home, despite being away from home?”
Igniting actions after their face-to-face interactions with the migrant community, the team held an informal information session in January 2021 to share their experience with like-minded peers. More than 60 students attended the session. Through the session, students were briefed on a range of issues, including learning that workers were in need of common pharmaceutical drugs such as Paracetamol and health supplements like Vitamin C. There were also interest from the migrant community to learn simple business knowledge and other educational topics .
This project has opened a new door to other student groups to sustain partnerships with NGOs and NPOs alike. There is now a continuous effort by NUS students working with TWC2 for subsequent events.
Looking to carry out your community engagement project? Check out OSA funding here.
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