21 Aug 2014

Random Public project

 The kids and I decided on a random public project. Together with some friends, they created lots of bookmarks with encouraging words such as "Your life is precious", "You are worth it!", "Life is beautiful." etc.

Then together with a few friends, we set out to give these bookmarks to random strangers in a mall. We never expected the reactions we received from public. A lot of people waved their hands in rejection when they saw children approaching them. Some, especially people who were well dressed, more dramatically as if the girls had disease.  One even took a bookmark, laughed at the children and returned the bookmark.

This really discouraged some of the children, and even made them very afraid.

They didn't know why people reacted so negatively when all they wanted to do was to give a bookmark.

In the end, the ones who accepted our bookmarks were people who worked as cleaners, waitresses, people behind counters. One waitress accepted the bookmark and said very excitedly...
"For me...you mean for me?????" And she smiled, so big, so wide, and began showing off her bookmark to her workers. Oh, that smile was so precious to us.

A cleaner lady accepted the bookmark, smiled a quiet smile, and said "Thank you so much, this is very special" and kept it in her pocket, taking it out from time to time to look at it.

A lady sitting on the stairs alone, smoking, rejected their bookmarks at first, then suddenly said, "For free? I'll take it." We walked away, and from a distance watched her reading the same bookmark over and over again as she sat there alone, smoking her cigarette. We only hope that bookmark brought her some encouragement.

We realised that day, how cynical and afraid people have become, perhaps because of the high crime rate in our society. Well, we hope little projects like this will make a difference in society. At the same time, my children have learnt to be a little braver, even in accepting rejection.

In the end joy and smiles of the few people who accepted their bookmarks made it all worth it.

If you happened to read this post, why not do a similar project, make a difference! :)




@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2014
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The Witches and Ballet

Early this year, Jo auditioned for the part of Bruno in the Witches (By Bubblegum Project) and got it! It was about 3 and a half months of intensive rehearsals, during which she had to work very hard on voice projection, diction, memorization of script, actions etc. I never thought she'd make it, considering her playful personality, but hey she did it!! The Witches showed for one week, (20/5-23/5)10 shows, back to back, and daily she had to be up by 6am. It was a struggle, but I think my little gal did well! She received great reviews, and some people came up to her and told her that she was their favourite character! She even got paid. Out of the pay she received, believe it or not, she gave some to me for driving her up and down! :)
As for Nel, she was involved in her ballet school concert, which also meant weekend rehearsals. My not so little gal anymore did well! The teacher says she's come a long way. Nel is an introvert, and when she started, she wouldn't even look the teacher in the eye at all. She still finds it difficult but is improving. She's been involved in the church dance production and ballet school concerts. The fact that she's able to dance on stage and smile is great victory for her.


I'm proud of both my girls. Little steps mean big celebration for us. :)
@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2014

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