Seva Updates for Singapore
The youth of Singapore have been very active in reaching out to the masses of the community in various ways. Every month the youth get together to engage in Seva as well as Satsang in accordance with Swami’s guidance and messages.
Project Home Meals
There are nearly one million low-wage migrant workers in Singapore. They make up about twenty per cent of the total population and are mostly employed in construction, shipyards, sanitation services, manufacturing and domestic work. Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a non-profit organisation, is dedicated to assisting these low-wage migrant workers when they are in difficulty. Migrant workers on work permits contribute immensely to Singapore society and the economy, yet they often suffer unconscionable exploitation. Swami’s message of ‘Serving Humanity’ became the guiding light and a community of like-minded individuals was quickly formed. Today, with 20–30 chefs and five to six drivers, 300 home cooked food packs are delivered every Sunday to the migrant workers.
Project Homework
This is a home rebuilding project organised monthly by Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit Christian housing organisation, with a mission to eliminate poverty housing worldwide by building simple, decent houses with the help of the homeowner families themselves and volunteers. Project Homework takes place in Singapore and aims to improve the living conditions of the elderly and friends in the community with physical disabilities. In particular, their living spaces often lack safety and sanitation. The youths had the opportunity to help with cleaning up the elderly homes they were assigned to and painting specific areas of the apartments that had undergone rust or decay over the years.
Project Meals with Love
As a starting base, the Singapore youth decided to start a Meals on Wheels initiative. The programme run jointly with Swami Home, an elder care facility, distributes cooked meals to approximately 180 needy elderly residents in the area every alternate Sunday. Besides delivering food, the youth are also encouraged to interact with the elderly recipients and lend them a listening ear.
Nanthini Pillay, a youth volunteer, says that while many of these elderly residents may be staying with their families, they don’t have anyone to talk to. “The Seva is not so much about the food, but about the way you talk to them and love you give them.”