Eleyn, a full-time NUS PPE undergraduate, shares some behind-the-scenes insights gleaned from supporting Project Haikun 2022 as a facilitator.
Representatives of the SMU Project Haikun II team, Vicky Qu from Team A and Theron Tham from Team B, also share their reflections on their experiences in this project.
How do we impact lives beyond local borders within pandemic restrictions?
Project Haikun, a virtual overseas community service experiential learning programme, enabled us to do just that. Building on the success of last year, this year’s run saw the participation of 37 Singapore Management University (SMU) scholars and approximately 30 students from BEAM Education Foundation in Thailand, an organisation that seeks to provide educational access to marginalised people, many of whom are Burmese refugees living in Thailand. As part of Skillseed’s mission to build trust-driven, collaborative communities, Project Haikun aims to empower SMU and BEAM participants by leveraging their assets towards building a learning community over the course of 10 engagement sessions. Capitalising on the virtual nature of interaction, the SMU students shared valuable technical and professional skills to the BEAM participants. In turn, the BEAM participants exchanged cultural insights with their SMU peers during the third pre-equipping and final engagement session.
Impacting lives through a virtual window, however, was no easy feat. Language barriers, power cuts, packed schedules - how could we accommodate them while creating a safe space for learning? Through supporting the Skillseed team in the backend planning and facilitation of this programme, I had the opportunity to experience how Skillseed practises the he(art) of community-building, taking care of even the smallest details.
With relationality being a key goal driving Project Haikun, analysing the needs of SMU and BEAM participants was paramount. As the overall project organisers, Skillseed took the initiative in analysing last year’s feedback from SMU students to improve the design for the pre-equipping sessions. This allowed the SMU students to better facilitate the engagement sessions based on their current knowledge and experiences. Similarly, Skillseed invited the BEAM participants to complete a pre-engagement needs analysis survey, enabling both Skillseed and SMU students to design programmes that suit what they actually wanted, instead of riding on assumptions of what they wanted. Gathering participants’ inputs empower them to be partners in the project design instead of seeing them simply as passive beneficiaries. Based on their partners' preferences and needs, the SMU students were then ready to begin planning their respective engagement sessions. Along the way, the Skillseed team also held clinic sessions to refine the curriculum plans together with SMU students based on their needs analysis. To ensure that sessions run smoothly, practice sessions were also organised for SMU students before they facilitated the actual engagement sessions with BEAM participants.
Yet, there was only so much both sides could predict based on prior analysis. To truly relate to our partners, the technical design of the sessions needed to be complemented with the “heart” to adapt accordingly. This required the Skillseed team and SMU students to actively observe and communicate individual participants’ needs; debriefings became especially important in devising programme improvements. For instance, while the sessions were designed to be conducted in basic English, we noticed during breakout room discussions that a few BEAM participants faced challenges in communicating their ideas in English, which affected their participation during the discussions. To make discussions more engaging, the BEAM participants were paired up so that they could help to translate content into Burmese for one another. These efforts to nurture engagement between participants paid off and by the final session, everyone knew each other so well that a game of “Who’s this?” from distorted images became a breeze!
Team A enjoying a game of “Who’s this” in the final engagement session
A key insight I gleaned from the engagement sessions was this: Building relationality begins with being intentional about details, and consistent with how we engage with our BEAM partners. As both Skillseed and SMU students strived towards making each session better than the last, so did the BEAM participants grow to trust, reflecting in them being more open to share about themselves. Ultimately, not only did we create a community of learning, but also shared memories of gratitude with each other.
Team B’s Gratitude Board
Here are two excerpts of what the SMU students shared about their Project Haikun experience:
“My experience with BEAM and Skillseed has been overwhelmingly enriching. Skillseed was the bridge between both our communities, ensuring that all volunteers from SMU are well-prepared and adaptable to the unpredictable circumstances over in Myanmar and Thailand, as well as being able to effectively communicate with the BEAM students.
A key takeaway from these sessions would be the lesson on dignity and stereotypes as we learn how to uphold dignity when conversing with people of different cultures and backgrounds. I am grateful for this whole experience and though it was hard work to plan and execute a curriculum from scratch, it warmed my heart to see the BEAM students open up and apply the skills we taught. I am also very appreciative of Skillseed for always checking in and encouraging us in our planning and execution of our sessions. I am truly thankful my first experience serving an overseas community went smoothly and was highly fruitful, thank you Skillseed!”
- Vicky Qu from Team A -
Team A’s final group photo
“In our pre-equipping sessions, Skillseed enabled us to identify our inherent characteristics and biases while introducing us to the local culture of the beneficiaries, allowing us to better appreciate the challenges faced by the BEAM participants in their everyday lives, such as the lack of consistent electricity or the daily threat of war. Additionally, in our review sessions with Skillseed, we were able to formulate tailored workshops that conveyed content while incorporating cultural nuances, ensuring engagement with and sensitivity towards the students.
Through the feedback sessions, we were gradually able to improve the workshops to not only convey targeted and effective learning content for the BEAM students. Our conversations breached the work barrier, expanding into personal topics which allowed us to form friendships even after the programme had ended. In conclusion, Project Hai Khun was a stellar volunteering opportunity, where I was able to interact in-depth with the BEAM participants and the fellow SMU volunteers too. At the end of the program when I received a diary entry from one of the students which detailed how I had impacted his life, I realised that I was the recipient all along.”
- Theron Tham from Team B -
Team B’s final group photo
Indeed, connecting lives beyond screens, across borders, is possible. The smiles of the BEAM participants amidst the uncertainty of returning to their homeland, and the enthusiasm of the SMU students lighting up the zoom chat, were definitely highlights to cherish. Still, as everyone agreed, the opportunity to interact with one another physically would have been another amazing experience. Who knows what more we may be able to share and collaborate on, together in the same space?
With borders reopening, we may soon find out.
Through such virtual skilled volunteerism programmes, Skillseed hopes to leverage the unique skills and knowledge that our local students have, while equipping them with the confidence to share this knowledge and empower the host community in their endeavours. If your school or organisation is keen on virtual (or perhaps even in-person!) skilled volunteering programmes, do reach out to us at info@skillseed.sg and we look forward to co-creating this experience with you!
Check out some of our experiential learning programmes here:
https://www.skillseed.sg/virtual-skillseed-volunteerism-programmes
https://www.skillseed.sg/experiential-learning-courses