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Project Report

I) Name of Organisation: True Hearts Connection

Name of Project: True Hearts Connection Camp '98
Date: 4 to 6 June 1998
Venue: Victoria Junior College

II) Number of participants

23 mentors (5 of whom are senior mentors) from Victoria Junior College and 20 mentees from Temasek Secondary School participated in the camp, making a total of 43 participants.

III) Number of youth volunteers

The camp committee is made up of 10 youth volunteers. Overseeing the camp committee is the executive committee of True Hearts Connection comprises 7 individuals.

IV) Brief Report of Project

This camp has met all four of its main objectives as put forward in the proposal.

1) To equip the mentors with the essential skills for successful mentoring.

Prior to the camp, there were two separate occasions on which the mentors were prepped for their roles. The first was a full-day training programme on communication skill that was held on the 9 May. The second was a pre-camp briefing on the 29 May.

Besides these two occasions, the mentors were given ample opportunity to play the roles of leaders and facilitators throughout the camp especially since the camp was held on familiar grounds for them.

2) To build strong rapport among the mentors and create a sustainable support group among them

The mentors were engaged in two pre-camp activities: the painting of a camp banner and the preparation of a special campfire item for the mentees. Despite being from different faculties, the rapport was clearly established among them. Not only did they work together to deliver both the banner and the item, they had taken the initiative to prepare personalised gifts for the mentees.

To further establish the support group created, an election was held on the 6 of June to elect a chairman and four group leaders that will lead the group in the following year.

3) To enhance constructive interaction and build rapport between the mentors and the mentees and give them an excellent kick-start for the mentorship

The camp has clearly met this objective. It is evident from the enthusiastic participation in both intra-group and inter-group games throughout the first day of the camp that the mentors and mentees have moved from being strangers to friends who play and work together.

All of the games, from the station games to Nite Warfare had effectively created team spirit within the groups by placing them in challenging positions in which they had to hold on to each other literally and figuratively. Quoting a mentee's response in the evaluation form, "I've made new friends, learnt how to work with people and I enjoyed it very much."

4) To introduce social work to the mentors and mentees so that they will develop a heart for the less blessed in our society.

On the second day of the camp, the participants brought out a group of 30 children from Grace Haven Children's Home. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the children from Marymount Children's Home were unable to participate in this community project and Grace Haven was approached instead. Through a morning of games at the beach, the participants were exposed to a whole new experience of having to take care of young children, some of whom were very energetic and hard to manage. The majority of the participants gave a positive feedback to this activity in the evaluation form.

Others:

The use of a Mongolian theme was well-received by the participants. Most found it an interesting and creative idea despite its unfamiliarity although some felt that the group names (which were adopted from the names of the 4 sons of Genghis Khan) were difficult to pronounce.

All the participants gave an above average rating for the camp. 55 % of the participants found the camp to be excellent.

V) Follow up Actions/Projects

This camp will be shortly followed by the official launching of True Hearts Connection on the 20 June 1998. In the pipeline is also a similar camp for the mentors of Tampines Junior College and their mentees.

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Mailing Address:
Tanjong Pagar Post Office PO Box 669 Singapore 910817
Tel: 322 9348 Fax: 4484590
E-Mail: truehearts@postone.com