“Jane joined us when she was six years old in July 2015. She is 11 years old this year. Her family lives in a two-room flat. Her father is incarcerated, and her mother is the main caregiver to Jane and her brother (13 years old).

Jane and her older brother often get into physical fights. Sometimes, I would see scars and bruises from their fights.

Because of this, she lived at Ahuva Good Shepherd Home for a period of time on weekdays as her mother works long hours during the day at a food store and is unable to look after her and prevent the physical fights when she is not around.

Her brother is also in our programme and his caseworker (also from Life Community) is working with him on this issue. After a period of intervention, mentoring, and counselling, her brother has stopped all form of physical violence towards her. They are working on managing his emotions and also healing deeper emotional wounds. He has shown much improvement as well which we are very encouraged to see.

Jane has also since moved back to live with her family, both weekdays and weekends.

Their mother’s working hours became shorter during the circuit breaker period and needed more assistance for essential items. To help them out financially and physically, we increased the quantity of our monthly food rations during these few months.

I am visiting Jane more often to ensure she is doing well. I am also looking into financial assistance applications for her. Jane has a full future ahead of her and we will do all we can, such as providing a stable consistent adult figure in her life for care and guidance, ensuring her physical safety, building her character and life skills through workshops and activities, all to ensure she grows holistically.”

-Jane’s caseworker, FOCY Programme

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“Raymond joined our programme in 2018. He is 11 years old this year. He lives in a one-room flat with his mother and younger sister. His parents are not married, and his father is largely absent from his life.

As I got to know Raymond, I discovered he likes attending school and has great motivation to study. He also mentioned he was struggling with his studies. We went through his past results and realized he was failing many exams, despite his positive attitude. I was puzzled and also realized his schoolteachers were when I contacted them to find out more.

Raymond then took a psycho-educational test and we discovered his literacy skills are below average, hence, affecting his learning and understanding of the subjects.

After this discovery, I signed him up for our English Tuition Programme (2019-present), so he can get extra help.

Tuition is a service that many families from vulnerable backgrounds are not able to afford, but much needed to not fall behind, and we can help by providing this academic support on our side.

At home, the siblings access the internet using their mother’s internet hotspot when she is home.

This became a challenge during the Covid-19 circuit breaker lockdown as school and classes were brought online. He was able to obtain a laptop on loan from his school, but he needed more internet data.

When I learnt about this, we bought him extra data so he can continue attending classes.

His mother is also currently unemployed so this will help them save on the extra expense.

I believe that our monthly food rations, which we have increased the quantity, will help them reduce expenses. I’ve also helped link his mother with government-assisted financial schemes to receive more support.

To help relieve caregiving stress for his mother, we had sent an activity pack and organized online social and educational activities to engage Raymond.

We are currently assisting the family to apply for a PC and long-term home internet broadband through the IMDA PC Plus program.

I am always encouraged when I see Raymond improve, even in the smallest ways. I am glad we can help during this challenging period. As we continue this journey together, my wish is for him to have good foundations and ultimately excel later on in his life.”

-Raymond’s caseworker, FOCY programme

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“Growing up, I only had my father. In 2016, he was incarcerated and has to serve for 5 years. He will be released next year.

I was often picked on by my classmates after they found out about this. They taunted me by saying I had no father or mother, that I was unwanted.

When that happened, I started to have suicidal thoughts. My teacher caught me once when I tried to jump off the school’s rooftop. There was nothing good ahead, and there was just no reason to be motivated for anything.”

It was a hard season of my life, I was only 9 years old.

I came to know Life Community in 2017 as they look after children with parents in prison, and joined their Friends of Children and Youth (FOCY) programme.

A caseworker was assigned to me and he visited me regularly.

Over time, we became more like friends. We talked about various things, from how I was coping with the situation at home, my studies, my friends, and also any negative thoughts or fears. Through sharing, I became aware of how I felt and what I thought, and was able to release the hurt and shame slowly. My caseworker also guided me on how to approach and handle situations in a better way where I would feel I am empowered. 

He also brought food rations each month, which helped me and my grandmother out financially. My grandmother has been caring for me and my sister after my father was incarcerated. 

I don’t know when the shift happened, I think it was after 6 months to 1 year. I started feeling better about myself with regular participation in the mentoring sessions and workshops organized at Life Community. They taught about character, values, and skills such as entrepreneurship! I had lesser suicidal thoughts and I was surprised that I did not cry anymore when my classmates insulted me.

I also did better in my studies after attending weekly tuition at Life Community (Chinese and Math). I even started liking these two subjects. Things in my life are starting to improve.”

-Charles, FOCY Programme (Name has been changed for confidentiality reasons)

Towards the middle of 2019, Charles’s caseworker noticed Charles’s growing rebellious attitude towards his grandmother, most likely due to him entering his adolescent years.

Adolescence is an important transitional stage from puberty to adulthood. The tendency to be influenced by peers and surroundings is high. 

Youths from vulnerable backgrounds may not have a parental figure present in their lives, hence, an adult role model’s care, guidance, and empathy is essential to help them navigate the challenges of this particular season, and also steer them away from negative influences and vices. 

With this in mind, Charles’s caseworker and mentor will continue to journey with and empower him so he is strong and ready for the next phase of his life.

Update as of June 2020

A year has passed, and Charles has matured over the last twelve months. 

With regular attendance at Life Community’s tuition programme, his caseworker and mentor are encouraged that he has passed his PSLE in 2019. He is now attending secondary school.

Charles has grown to be self-motivated. He has shared he can do better and has desires to excel academically, so he can transfer to another school which is nearer to his home. This would save him much travelling time which he can then use for studies, soccer and fishing.

His caseworker has also noticed that Charles is showing more consideration towards others. When he first joined Life Community in 2017, he was easily distracted and would disturb anyone near to him. Today, Charles is able to sit through an entire mentoring session, focus, and hold deeper conversations about his emotions and values, as well as his thoughts on his visits to see his father.

He is able to empathize and understand that his actions can affect others and as a result, is more mindful of his behaviour. 

During this circuit breaker period, Charles has also mentioned the frequencies of his quarrels with his grandmother and his sister has reduced. This is a great improvement in his ability to control and manage his emotions as more quarrels tend to result from being in one space for a long period of time. 

His grandmother also shared his classmate had recently punched him due to a small misunderstanding. Charles simply walked away and informed his teacher. In the past, he would have retaliated. Again, this is a great improvement from his previously impulsive nature.

Life Community is encouraged to see so much improvement in Charles after continued and ongoing intervention. We will continue to walk with him on this journey until he is stable and equipped for the next phase in his life. 

Even at the age of 10, I was not able to read simple words like “Chair”, “Walk”, “How”. I was falling behind, and I would also get into fights and squabbles in school. I could not control myself.

It was also the year I joined Life Community. I had mentors assigned to me who tutored me in my studies, especially in the area of phonics. They were so patient, caring and encouraging; I felt they accepted me for who I am and truly wanted the best for me.

With their guidance, I took interest to learning. I was also growing in my self-confidence; could control myself more; started respecting others; and begin to share what I have with others. My mentors say that I am a more sensible and teachable boy now!

I also passed my PSLE! I am happy, my parents are very happy, so are the mentors at Life Community.

I am in secondary school now and I know I will do well. I have also been appointed as a Student Councillor, something I did not think I could be three years ago!