During the Circuit breaker period, the school started a fundraising drive for migrant workers as they may not have the basic necessities to pull through this outbreak, especially when they can’t work to earn a living. The school came out with the idea of getting parents, children and staff to donate Jing Si Instant Rice and Jing Si Instant Noodles as these foodstuffs are convenient to prepare and cook. It was a plan that allowed everyone to take part even from home.
The donation drive was supposed to be only a week long as we wanted to get the rations out to the migrant workers quickly. With the economic downturn, our initial expectation was that we would probably raise around a total of 150 packets of Jing Si Instant Rice and Noodles due to the short amount of time given. The preschool staff decided that having received the kindness of Tzu Chi Foundation through the care package in February, they should also pay it forward. Most of the staff were very supportive, not only donating on their own, they even asked their friends and family members to donate. Some parents were very generous, donating over 10 packets of instant rice & noodles each, to help these migrant workers.
Within the span of a fortnight, the donations exceeded 600 packets of Jing Si Instant Rice and Instant Noodles. All the donations were sent to the Migrant Workers Centre within 3 weeks from the day the donation drive started.
The staff and children not only wanted to provide material support to the migrant workers, they also wanted to let the migrant workers know that they are not alone. The preschool staff and children performed and videoed the song “We Are One Family” in sign language and came up with a combined music video to share with the migrant workers. Parents and children were asked to decorate origami hearts with messages of encouragement for the migrant workers. The donation drive coincided with the celebration of Master Cheng Yen’s birthday. Parents and children were informed that their efforts in making the origami hearts and performing the song “We Are One Family” is the best present for Master Cheng Yen as it is Master Cheng Yen’s wish for preschool children to learn to give of themselves, to be of service to others.
On behalf of all the staff, children and parents, we took all the hearts that they made and pasted it on the packets of instant rice and noodles. We also made a note which had a QR code link to the video we made. The note were in English, Chinese, Tamil and Sinhala. We hoped that anyone who receives these gifts could feel the love of the staff, children and parents of Tzu Chi Great Love PreSchool.
With the help of community volunteers, we delivered the donations to Migrant Workers Centre (MWC), which is a non-government organisation whose mission is to champion fair employment practices and the well-being of migrant workers in Singapore. All donations from the general public were sent to MWC, where owners of dormitories could come to pick up the rations for their workers. Our mission has not ended there after we deliver the goods to them. Our mission only ends when the food is collected by the dormitory companies and passed to the workers affected by COVID-19.
During this time of crisis, we are happy to see that there are many people out there who still care about others and they are willing to contribute their time, money, and effort to help people in need. The children are very supportive as well. It’s very heart warming to see the heart origami that they fold and how they practised hard for the sign language music video. We hope we can continue to do more for the community when school reopens. #SGUNITED
Link for the video report on Sending Love to Migrant Workers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTVOW2CeJEg&feature=youtu.be
