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About Me
Q1. What is your role in Project Aeipathy?
As a Core Member in 2019, I founded Project Aeipathy with Avelyn and Dayna. The three of us wanted to initiate a VIA project to give back to society, and after much discussion, we settled on working with MS Care and NUHS Fund Limited for our project. We found that not many knew about Multiple Sclerosis, and hoped that we would be able to raise awareness and funds for these MS patients through this project. As a result, we galvanised our friends from many different schools in Singapore, who then called more of their friends over, and that's how we have expanded to what we are today.
We planned for the various activities that would happen over the course of the year, such as the merchandise sales as well as Concert Kalon. This came not only in the form of getting our student volunteers to help us but also in contacting the various sponsors and performers we had needed in order to execute what we had planned.
In 2020 and 2021, I still remain a passionate Organising Team member, helping with the designing of merchandise for this project, not forgetting to help spread awareness about this project to the people around me. At the same time, I help the new core out should they wish to ask about how we handled certain issues when we had planned this in 2019!
Q2. Why advocate for Multiple Sclerosis and not any other disease?
To be very honest, when the three of us started this project, we knew that we wanted to help the less fortunate in the community, or those who needed assistance in some form or another. To us, we wanted to do something that would make a difference in our community, but we didn't really know where to start. That was when Avelyn suggested that we advocate for Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that the three of us had not been too familiar with. Yet, the more we researched about the disease, the more we wanted to raise awareness for this disease that not many knew about.
As we researched, we found out more about the severity of the disease and how expensive treatment had been, which fuelled our passion to raise awareness and funds even further. Although we had not personally met any MS patient before, we could empathise with them, and with this empathy, we were able to come to where we are today. The moment that made me really sure that this is something that I am really passionate about was when the MS patients had come for our concert and I could see such radiant smiles on their faces. That was what truly made me certain that Multiple Sclerosis was what I wanted to advocate for.
Q3. What is something you have gained from this project?
One gain would definitely be my leadership skills! My experience in Project Aeipathy has allowed me to grow into a much better leader, one that is more caring and loving towards those she serves. I've learnt the importance of collaboration, communication, courage, and so many other soft skills that I might not have mastered this well if not for the project!
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Another gain would be knowledge about MS. Previously, I had not known about the disease at all. Yet, through this project, I was able to learn more about MS, and even find the passion for advocating for such a cause. I'm so proud to be able to be a part of this project to bless the MS patients who benefit from this project and it makes me happy to know that I am making an impact on those around me!
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Lastly, I would say that I've made so many new friends over the course of these few years. Through this project, I've been able to find like-minded individuals with the same purpose - to help these MS patients! It is indeed heartwarming to see so many of us come together to do good.
Q4. What challenges did you face while you were running this project?
I think one of the biggest challenges faced when I was running this project was communication with those working with me. This was the first time that I had carried out such a large project, with so many volunteers under my care. Hence, in the midst of all the busyness, the three of us would occasionally forget that we had so many students waiting for instructions from us. It was only when some of the Organising Team members had given their feedback that they were unsure of what had been going on did the three of us realise that we had been communicating wrongly with our Organising Team members. Once we had realised that we were communicating wrongly, we thankfully managed to solve some confusion by making sure everyone was in the loop!
In addition, it was not surprising that even the three of us had different points of view at times. Though all the suggestions brought up had been considered from the point of view of the various stakeholders involved, we had different opinions regarding this. However, through talking it out and communicating well with each other, we managed to find a middle ground which helped us solve this challenge.
Q5. What are your hopes and aspirations for Project Aeipathy?
I really hope that we would be able to expand to reach out to different age groups in Singapore in the future! Currently, we only focus on Secondary school students as these are the people closest to us. As we continue with this project in future years, I hope that we would be able to target audiences beyond this age range, and maybe even expand our target group to young adults in the community, to raise even more awareness for these Multiple Sclerosis patients.
I also hope that we'll be able to adapt to our changing environment, such that we can better cater to the needs of our target group, and come up with innovative solutions to the situations presented to us. This way, we can ensure that our project can last in future years, and would be able to impact the lives of many others - both the lives of patients and our student volunteers.
