From the 15th to the 21st of November 2009, a group of students went to Bintan with the aim of helping a local village school, the Sri Bintan School. That was the 10th Bintan CIP undertaken by ACJC students. We spent 5 days teaching students from Primary 3 to 5 various words in English according to themes such as body parts, actions, and occupations. The lessons were spiced up with games and interactive activities that enabled us to make the lessons more interesting and enjoyable for the students.

Initially, we faced the problem of a language barrier as we did not speak their language and it was hard to convey our ideas and intentions to them. It was not easy to conduct our lesson plans, as often they did not understand what we required of them. We had to constantly modify our lesson plans so as to cater to the limitations we faced. This taught us to be innovative and welcome to change, resulting in us having an extremely fulfilling time teaching them.

We really had a great time interacting with them and they were very eager to learn from us and this was something that we have to learn from them. Below is a group photo which we have taken at the school where we have taught the young children English. From the smiles on all our faces, we can really say that it was very satisfying to have such a teaching experience.

Farlin and Yetong teaching English in the Primary 5 class

Besides teaching, we also did other community involvement projects such as mangrove planting and landscaping. Mangrove planting was an interesting experience, transporting the seedlings and burying them in the soil, all in the rain! It truly tested our ability to work as a team. We also worked together to place flowers and potted plants around the Sri Bintan School, brightening it up.

Mangrove planting - part of ACJC's green project in Bintan

We also helped tidy and maintain the up-keep of the school library which was first set up by the previous years’ ACJC Bintan OCIP teams.

Re-arranging and cataloguing the books in the school library

We also went on several learning journeys in Bintan, namely the Jamu factory, Kerupuk factory, Tempeh factory and the traditional fishing trip. We have definitely gained a lot more insights from all the things we have seen. For example, looking at how the people in Bintan work hard for their living is really heartening.

This seven-day experience was truly an enriching one where we learnt valuable lessons of working together as a team, to be open to change and also to appreciate how blessed we are in Singapore. These are the memories that will no doubt last a lifetime.

The most essential thing that we have taken away from this project is to cherish what we have in Singapore. From the picture below, we can see that the children in Bintan do have a simple lifestyle and they are easily satisfied with a simple dance that we have taught them. The smiles that we have put on their faces were indeed encouraging and this had brightened up our days in Bintan. This project has indeed exposed us to many new experiences and we have grown to be more mature by being empathetic.

Doreen Tan

2AA2

The ACJC Bintan-10 team