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Over the June holidays, some Year 4 and Year 5 students went to various ASEAN countries as part of their Overseas Service Learning (OSL) and Global PerspectiveS (GPS) expedition programmes. The GPS is an extension of their year 4 OSL experience.

From teaching the children in the villages to concretising pavement, creating a garden and cooking for the villagers, the students learnt to appreciate what they have in Singapore and learnt how their talents can be used for the larger good. They also learnt to respect social-cultural diversity, and demonstrate respect and care for the communities there.

     

    
Student reflections

“In Naxai Village, I was amazed at how well they pass on their traditions from generation to generation, and how great they are with their craftwork. They have a very deep-rooted culture unlike Singapore where we have people with many different cultures, and we are struggling to find a Singapore culture. I have also learnt to be more appreciative of the essentials I have in Singapore, such as clean water and electricity and will do my part to lessen the carbon footprint of Singapore.”

- Vinny Lai, Year 4, Dance student, Naxai Village, Vang Vieng, Laos

“The children were very hardworking; some even studied in the canteen till 10pm at night. I taught them some Mandarin, and they taught me some Khmer in return. They were so excited to learn from me, and that made me feel more inspired to learn their language from them.”

- Ouyang Yingli, Year 5 Music student, Kandal Province (COSI), Cambodia


“To test the nutritional value of soil, I would have thought that we needed some complicated expensive machine. The local villager made a simple contraception out of a recycled plastic bottle, a light bulb and a piece of wire. It worked as well and cost only about SGD$1.  This made me realise that sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. In my theatre productions, I had always tried to create more intricate or complex moments, often overlooking or missing simple moments."

- Varsha Ravi Chandran, Year 4 Theatre student, Timbang Lawan, North Sumatra



Check out the album on the GPS trip to Pa Bong Village in Vientianne, Laos here.