20 students from Unity Secondary school paid a visit to the Willing Hearts Soup to help prepare food for the needy.
The students had taken part in a customised adventure learning programme at Outward Bound Singa pore (OBS) incorporating the renowned “7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” programme.
The students who were in the kitchen tried to put into practice what they had learnt from the programme.
The habits include being proactive; begin with the end in mind; put first things first; think win-win; seek first to understand, then to be understood; synergize; and sharpen the saw.
‘Sharpen the saw’ refers to the assimilation of lessons learnt to emerge more experienced and effective.
Ananda Yeo, 14, a student of the school said that he enjoyed the experience, especially when the end in mind was for a good cause.
He added: “I feel good because I can help a lot of people who are poor by the simple action of peeling the vegetables. I know I can make the other (regular) volunteers happy too by giving them a helping hand.”
His classmate Hafiz-Zul Hasif, also 14, revealed that he was comfortable helping in the kitchen because he has recently started to help his mother with the household chores after acquiring the 7 Habits. “I am taking more responsibility for my belongings at home now, instead of waiting for my parents to clean up after me.”
Mr Daniel Teo, a teacher from Unity Secondary School, shared “It was a meaningful and eyeopening experience for my students. They realised how many people it took to operate such a big kitchen when all of them were activated and given a task to do from the moment they stepped into the kitchen.
“They also could understand immediately how every small task they were assigned to do contributed to the lunch boxes that the needy people would be receiving.”
Source: Edvantage