Sophie: Engaging kindergarten children

We met up with Sophie Chia, who has been volunteering with her school's Community Service Club to engage young children in storytelling every week for the past 2 years. Here is a summary of her story:

"What do you do during your volunteering sessions?" Every week, I go to the CC and take part in a reading program for children. These children are in kindergarten and P1, and typically come from lower income households, so we spend Friday evenings with them, engaging them in storytelling and activities to cultivate an interest in English language. We also take this time to provide them with a listening ear and let them speak their minds. Of course, because of Covid-19, many of these sessions have to be adapted to align with health and safety considerations, such as hosting the sessions over zoom. This helps us to stay connected as a community to tide over this difficult period. "Why do you do it?" It is fun talking to little kids and hearing what goes on in their minds like talking about the public bus, eating ice cream and getting puppets from the mall. Their innocence reminds me about the small joys in life. It is also very satisfying to see them smile after hearing them talk about their day. "What made you sign up?" Honestly, it is because my friend asked me to sign up with her through the school's Community Service Club. I also happen to love children, so I agreed to join. It ended up to be one of the best decisions of my university life. Closing Statement: To all the people who always struggle to occupy their time over the weekends, why not try out volunteering? You might like it and form a small community with people from different walks of life. You can start by getting in touch with various organisations and try something new, or just keep a lookout for opportunities by your school's Community Service Club!