Tzu Chi Love Charity Fair 2011

heya~

It's 2011 and Tzu Chi is organising a charity fair for 15.1.2011 and 16.1.2011!
The venue is located just right next to Pasir Ris MRT and I'm sure you'd be able to see it when you turn right from the MRT ticket check-out counter.
What I want to say is, I'm seriously impressed with this!

All the stalls (bout 50 stalls!) were sponsored, tables and chairs, whatever you find there, all were fully sponsored! You can find a variety of food (all vegetarian!) from sushi, chicken rice, rojak, lontong, to pastries and ice creams). I would say, many of those were really yummy~

They promoted  vegetarian food as less meat consumption could significantly harm the earth less. So, eating vegetarian is not only healthy, prevent animal cruelty but also being able to contribute positively to the environment! They have pledges around too, and I'm pledging 5-meals of vegetarian a week. In fact, I've been trying to pledge on this lately (bout one month plus ago, hehe) but I'm just trying my very best at the moment)

What amazed me more is with super high technology, those recyclable PET plastic bottles (those drinking water bottles that we buy now and then) were all fully utilised by the Tzu Chi volunteers in Taiwan to save the environment, by turning them into clothes! Can't believe it? Check this out!

Green colour comes from green 7-ups PET bottles

 

coffee colour from coffee

All from:

left (bottle) to right (thread!)

All these products were made from Taiwan's dumps by Tzu Chi volunteers (@ Taiwan based) through the following love and hard work: From those PET bottles that we recklessly dumped into recycle bins without proper cleaning:

1. caps removed 
2. ring removed (ring of the water bottles, which consists of different material/ colour) 
3. labels removed
4. washed properly (many people who have the 'heart' to recycle never wash their bottles prior to dumping those into recycle bins!)
5. sent for recycling

So, the message here is: Please clean your PET bottles before recycling! It saves much of their hardwork in doing these!
 Thank you!!

They also introduced the production of eco-enzymes.
In fact, my mom has been practicing this at home for more than half year and the product can be so multipurpose- from dish washing, floor cleaning, clothes washing, to skin treatment!!
My mom’s friends are also promoting this awareness among housewives to prepare these and dump it into rivers with high pollution.
Can suddenly feel that the love for the earth has increased tremendously eh?? :D

Well, if you’re wondering how to produce eco-enzymes:
This is it:
(very simple)

1. Stock up brown sugar
2. Throw any leftover food in the bottles (any fruits skin, vegetables leaves, etc, usually vegetables and fruits but not meat)
3.  Remember to have sufficient brown sugar to be utilised by the fermenting bacteria to produce eco enzymes
4. After 2 months, yay, you can use these!! They're odourless, non-sticky and trust me, really useful in anything =) 

It's so much better than using detergent which is harmful to our skin, and polluting to the environment too!

So long~

Enriching experience- Mindsville

I went to Mindsville@Napiri yesterday, located at Ang Mo Kio. The committee in-charged was always so busily head-counting us as most of us had never been to this place before. Our travel includes bus-MRT-bus-and walking to this place, which houses intellectually-disabled people. So, as we took bus, the much honored person-in-charge, Z would head-count, be the last to board the bus and be the last to leave also in everywhere that we were going. I feel like budak kecik, but I don't know if the rest felt so.

Being a committee member in any society is always sacrificial (seeing his worried expression all day long before reaching the house) and recalling our past experiences=) But it was definitely worth it.

Anyway, what I want to highlight here is not about being committee member or not (though many of us were brain-washed slightly yesterday). It's about teamwork and satisfaction and lessons from what we had yesterday.

Before going in, we had a temperature screening to prevent H1N1 outbreak in this house. We had to sign some declaration forms. Strict.

Most of the occupants worked from Monday- Friday by packing utilities for SIA (Singapore Airlines) and on weekends, they have some other activities such as trainings for sports. So, only certain weekends, they get to join activities like what we had yesterday- arts and crafts, station games and some light exercises.

We started off in the Arts and Crafts session. It was on butterfly mosaic yesterday. Funny, but we (the volunteers) seemed to be more shy than them. Lol. I helped a lady to paste torn magazine pages to a beautiful butterly picture. We were very quiet at first because I heard her humming like whining (and I thought that she didn't like doing it). I later realised that she enjoys the arts session so much that she finished one mosaic and enthusiastically coloured the second butterfly picture with provided colour pencils within minutes. Boy, she was so fast! It was her who broke the ice first by pointing to me the blank butterfly pictures and telling me to do one too:P I didn't because I told her that we'd be doing it together. I didn't know what language she was conversing- was it Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew or Fuchow? I kept on guessing whenever she spoke some few words. In fact, I also got paiseh to ask her to repeat. And, I still don't know until now. Before leaving to the second activity- game station; this lady actually took 2 blank butterfly pictures on the table, silently folded them under the table and kept it in her small pouch! Then, she turned to me and pointed to me if she can have more. Then, I was like, okay, and gave her two more pieces:P Conspiracy shhhh!
=.=" Am I encouraging her to steal take without permission??

In fact, I really could see many personalities among them which varied greatly. There was an occupant whom was very shy. Always quiet and shy. However, another student and I managed to ask him for his name and some simple questions. LX (a 2-year volunteer student at this centre) literally raised her eyebrows when he spoke to us!

Another one was even funnier. In one of the games- musical chair; there was one occupant whom actually wanted me (only, according to another volunteer) to play balloon with him. Even during the exercising session, he insisted me to accompany him. Then, when few of us (the volunteers) were resting at one corner after all the station games and exercising sessions had finished, this same occupant wanted me to sit next to him. And me, being a shy one, didn't agree at first. Hehe:P Then he asked again bout 5 mins later and this time, I gave in, walked and sat next to him. Frankly, it kinda scares me a bit. Useless hor? haih.. And the rest of them were laughing..what an experience..

Overall, it was a very fruitful and enjoying experience to me. I learned to be thankful, emotionally and physically. It definitely reminded me of my past experiences during Fespic games (which was one of the most memorable experience I've ever had!)

Nostalgic...

I'll definitely go back there.
Perhaps, I'll search for nearer homes also because this is a bit too far (unless I managed to find a shorter and easier way to go there).

By the way, due to privacy, we were not allowed to take any pictures of them.
And so, many of us took this before leaving:


So long~

Blood donation in NUS

Anyone interested??

It's called 'Blood Donation Drive'
-organised by Red Cross Humanitarian Network for NUS chapter.

Date : 17th-20th Feb 09, Tue- Fri
Time : 10am-4pm
Venue: MPSH 4

Criteria:
age 16-60 (parental/guardian consent is needed for 16 and 17 years old donors)
Weight : at least 45kg
NOT suffering from any sickness (flu, sore throat,..in short: feel well and healthy-lah)

For registration: Please email bdd09sigup@yahoo.com.sg

with: full name, matric number, handphone, email, and which time slot you are interested.

Slots are available from 10am to 3.30pm, and slot lasts for 30 mins each.

I got this brochure today and the student who gave me the brochure said thanks in advanced:P
Okay, I'm at least helping to promote this. Please donatee!!

Then, I overheard the group of students who walked in front of me taking this brochure and complaining "Everything also want to donate!"

Hmm.. I wonder how many things they've donated then:P