Support Group Activity – Pop Up Cards
Hi all! I’ve finally had the time to write about the great time we had on 15th March at the Cleft and Craniofacial Centre (or CCRC) making pop up cards. This support group activity was a little different from the rest because we had seven students from Outram Secondary School joining the four of us from USP – Shi Zhen, Kenneth, Qing Zhang, and me. The activity committee decided to allow for secondary school volunteers this time round because we wanted to let them interact with the people they were raising funds for.
The day started off with a presentation by Jo, one of the CCRC staff members, about the different types of cleft and craniofacial conditions. There were a lot of photographs accompanying her presentations so we could see what the different conditions looked like before and after reconstructive surgery. There was silence as we looked at the photographs. I think most of us were shocked by how debilitating some of the conditions could be, especially Apert syndrome which causes the patients’ fingers and toes to be fused together, so they’re unable to do most of the activities that we find easy like holding a pen. What also struck us was the social prejudice that the patients with cleft and craniofacial conditions face. Because they look different, they’re often targets of mockery by their insensitive peers. Listening to the different stories about bullying and low self esteem was a good reminder to all of us to be empathetic, and to judge others not by appearance, but by character.
Jo also introduced us to Operation Smile, a non-profit volunteer medical services organization that provides reconstructive facial surgery to indigent children and young adults. More information about Operation Smile can be found here: http://www.operationsmile.org/
With the presentations over, it was on to more light-hearted things! The tables were already set up and covered with paper to prevent the itchy-handed from vandalizing the table tops. We all gathered around one table and I briefed the students on how to make pop up cards. There were four designs in all – the Christmas Tree pop up, Angel pop up, Butterfly pop up, and the L-shaped pop up.
1: Learning to make the different pop up cards
2 Angel Pop Up
3 Sample L-Shaped Pop Up
The children arrived not long after. There were about six of them, and it started to get noisy and rowdy. Paper aeroplanes were thrown, jokes were shared, and a love story was discovered when one of the children made a card for a girl he admired.
4 A lovely card for a lovely girl named Felicia
Not all the time was spent on pop up cards though. When the children were tired of cutting and pasting, it was time to have fun with the volunteers with paper aeroplane competitions and games. One of our volunteers, Qing Zhang, had the dubious honour of lifting kids off the ground and spinning them around.
5 A tired but happy Qing Zhang
The secondary school students also made their own pop up cards and wrote reflections on them. These cards will most likely be displayed at the CCRC stall that will be set up during our WAFF carnival.
6 Hard at work making their cards
Besides reflections, the students also wrote encouragements for all those working hard at making the carnival a success. Here are some quotes:
Denise:”加油！努力！Continue to work towards your goal!”
Carol: “Be Happy! We must work together to organize the carnival.”
Ian: “This is a good way to raise awareness about cleft and craniofacial conditions. This will enable patients to move on with life and ignore mockery. Persevere!”
Dion: “I hope that all of you will have fun. Persevere and do not give up because I know all of you can do it. All the best and I hope that it will be the best carnival of the year!”
Sin Ni: “Dear volunteers, you are doing a meaningful job here, keep it up. You are worth my admiration! Work hard and make the carnival a success!”
Qiu Yan: “Dear volunteers, remember!! What you are doing may seem insignificant but it is a great deal to the children, don’t give up!”
Nur Syahirah: “GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! Continue to succeed!”
With these encouraging words, how could anybody feel weary or down? Go volunteers! May WAFF be a huge success!
Yours truly,
Boon Pin
Activities Head
