Wednesday, April 9, 2008

It's not the End

The OLE campaign has been concluded some time back and we sure hope that you will continue the support to fight AIDS and fight the HATE.

Although the campaign is over, it doesn't mean that the problem is solved as yet. There are still so many people out there who need our understanding and acceptance. Recently, I was watching this korean drama and it struck a cord in my heart.

In the story there is a small family of 3 in a rural village of Korea. A little girl was infected with HIV by accident and her single mother kept this a secret from her and the rest of the village. The mother was afraid that the little girl will be discriminated against if this was known.

They were a happy family, well-liked by the villagers. The grandfather in the family had dementia but did not forget the love for his family. The mother was the kindest soul who led the toughest life trying to keep this a secret. The little girl was taught from young to take care of herself even if she falls and not let others touch her blood. She was bright and lively with a kind heart.

It was heart-wrenching to see her in confusion when her disease was known to the villagers. The other mothers took their kids away from her, the villagers shunned the family. The grandfather was locked in the house, the little girl couldn't go to school. And she couldn't understand why the attitude of those around her changed overnight.

Until she began to understand what happened.

She didn't despair or give up on life. What was touching was that she wasn't angry and spiteful. The first thing she did was to hide herself, for the fear of infecting another. The little girl was only worried for those around her - her mother, grandfather, friends, neighbours. She didn't dare kiss her mother goodnight, she backed away when someone came close. She didn't see the fact that HIV is not a disease that can be spread through touch, kissing or sharing the same space. Even living with HIV, her life has never been short of happiness for the past years till the secret is out.

The only difference between the past and now is knowing that she has HIV. For the past years, no one around her was infected. Everyone had liked the family.

It was the result of stigma and discrimination that stemmed from ignorance. And even if they knew the facts about the transmission of HIV, the attitude didn't change. It's simply does not make sense, does it?

I was watching the drama and I thought of OLE. I'm glad that young people like you have supported the campaign this far. Many of you have emailed us your thoughts on this matter and we appreciate it. I think this is only a small start of a new revolution. The campaign may have ended, but the fight continues.

Remember, you have one life, do something.

P.S. The OLE campaign went into our neighbour, Malaysia, recently. :)

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Incredible India (through Jingyi's eyes)

This entry is not as timely as I hoped it will be cos I've been swamped by work ever since returning from India four days ago. But here goes the saying... Better late than never right?

About the workshop. I went to New Delhi, India for a HIV/AIDS regional training workshop for the Commonwealth Youth Ambassadors for Positive Living (CYAPL) -- I know, what a mouthful. Was feeling rather excited about going since it would be my first exchange yet at the same time, I was hesistant for 2 reasons. First, I did not know my Singapore counterpart at all before the trip. Second, it didn't help that I was going to spend Valentines Day in a foreign country.

However, it turned out that I was thinking too much. Ultimately,I had a great time over there, where I learnt a lot and made new friends.

Alright, back to the workshop proper. It was a fruitful experience and I'm very impressed with the works that many of them had done. We had people coming from WHO, UNAIDS, UNDP etc coming to talk to us about the technical aspects of HIV/AIDS, the implications of not controlling the epidemic, stigma & discrimination and ways to advocate to policy makers. Also, we had sharing sessions by the other Commonwealth countries (Brunei, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Malaysia) and many discussions, in which I could really see the passion in many of them when they try to fight for the cause.

On top of all these, we had the opportunity to go on field trips. Visited a NGO where they are trying to contain the spread of HIV/AIDS through Intravenous Drug Users (IDUs). And I actually saw, for the first time, addicts injecting drugs into themselves on the streets. Also visited a pediatric hospital where they care for HIV positive kids. It was heart wrenching and I understood the dilemma mothers faced when deciding whether to breastfeed their child.

Through the workshop, I made several new friends from a strategic regional alliance between Singapore, Brunei and Maldives. Without them, my time in India would not have been as amazing. Since a picture speaks a thousand words, scroll down to catch a glimpse of my life in the land of butter chicken and butter naans.






Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Eunice Olsen

This is one of our ambassador Eunice Oslen. Although the campaign as ended, we hope that the message of fighting the hate goes on.

Pass it on with this link:
http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/562327745prCUAa



ambassdor videos

As this is a video, pls wait a while for the streaming to load...

Monday, February 18, 2008

St Anthony Roadshow

So sorry for the delay of your photos, St Anthony girls...
As our team member Jingyi just came back from a HIV/AIDS conferences in India, we can only upload these photos today.
Feel free to download them!



St Anthony




Thursday, February 14, 2008

Virtual tour

The One Life Experience exhibition has officially ended.

If u missed visiting the exhibition or want to experience it again, click on this link now to take a virtual tour around OLE.

http://www.worldvision.org.sg/onelifevr/onelifevr.html

Friday, February 1, 2008

**Last 3 days to visit OLE**

This is your last chance to visit OLE! Come on down to campus green at SMU today for the multi-sensory experience. The exhibition will end on 3 Feb, Sunday. So hurry down to OLE today!!!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

schools visiting OLE

For the whole of January, One Life Experience exhibit welcomed many students and teachers at Campus Green in SMU. We are glad that teachers are enthusiatic about bringing their students to visit OLE. Isnt it cool to learn about the epidemic out of the classroom? We have been students ourselves too... so we understand how different our brains absorb information in such a hands-on, outdoor lesson as compared to lessons in classroom. =)

Hope u have enjoyed ur journey at OLE! Should you have any feedback regarding the exhibit, please do not hesitate to email us too!
Oh and here are some of your photos!
And the journey begins....

The OLE team wants to thank all the schools for being so supportive!
If your school has yet to bring to OLE, why not go down with your friends today?

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Back in Action!

After a short hiatus from the last event, the OLE team is back again with more plans for the coming month! That means more school visits and more students getting to know the One Life Experience. If you're looking for something significant to do on your free days, do head down to visit the exhibition (we're at SMU now) :)

Walking through the exhibition trails and listening to the heart-breaking real life stories have given us greater motivation to tell youth like you and me about OLE, and to do something for the cause. It is easy to talk about these issues, but what is more important is taking the initiaitve to pledge to not discriminate, to see these people for who they are, to accept them fully.

Although the exhibtion is only here in Singapore for a short period of two months plus, we hope that what you've learnt after walking through it will stay with you.

Thank you all once again for your support for OLE so far!

Friday, December 7, 2007

Tanglin Trust School

This morning, youth OLE team went down to Tanglin Trust School. It's the first International School we visit. Stepping into the school was like leaving Singapore behind for a few hours and be surrounded by a United Nation of students, from ages 6 and up.

Needless to say, the ladies of youth OLE team lost control in the presence of young cute children doing cute stuff like blowing soap bubbles and running around with their colourful mini-windmills. The only male member had to literally pry their fingers away from the fence seperating our booth and the field, where the kids are playing. Well, I can't say I blame them for being so maternal cos the kids are really...cute...

Anyways, back to the purpose of our visit. Response has been fantastic for TTS. We don't just have eager students pledging their support, a number of teachers have come down to our booth expressing interest as well. Students actually take time off while travelling in between their classes to come pledge their thumbprints. We even distracted a class doing PE in the field behind us to the extent that the teacher had to come drag her students back to class. Sorry!

With TTS, we've come to an end for school visits in 2007. But we're not slacking! We'll be contacting schools again in the coming week to arrange for visits. If you're interested in getting OLE to visit your school, juz drop us a mail or leave a message on our tagboard!

In the meantime, do click on the slideshow below to view the action at TTS and download your photos!



Tanglin Trust School

Thursday, December 6, 2007

OLE Bins along Orchard Road

If you happen to be walking along Orchard Road, please keep a lookout for OLE bins!
These bins are part of a Singapore Design Festival event named Creative Home: Art is Rubbish (Bins)

"Apart from artsy designs to liven up Orchard Road, the dustbins will also carry an environmental or social message. This is one of the highlights of project Creative Home, which hopes to promote public appreciation and ownership of the environment." -- Youth.sg



Together with the help of our "fifth member" Grace and her sister, we painted these bins. They will be displayed along the busy Orchard Road and if you happen to see them, please do help us take a photo and send one to us!

We want to thank the organiser for supporting our cause!
If you want to find out more on the event, here's the link to the event website: http://www.creativehome.youth.sg/

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Friday, November 30, 2007

The OLE Run! What you saw and what you didn’t…

Our day of reckoning actually came on Thursday. That’s because it was the first time we saw everything come together. The goodie bags, the arch, the stands, the tentage started appearing throughout the day. The people piecing everything together into a coherent whole? Yup, Team Youth OLE!

Daylight hours were spent packing goodie bags and scrambling to buy the things we forgot to get. One trivia about the goodie bag. Did you realize the food items had one point in common? They all had the healthier choice symbol. Healthy run followed by healthy breakfast….sure makes one feel good eh?

Night time was when all the action starts. Kudos to the workers who helped us set up the arch and tentage. They worked in the darkness and under the rain to make sure everything was up and running for the big day on Friday. The whole process took merely 3 hours and all those who walked pass the arch that night were super curious about how that structure popped up in the middle of the pathway. Remember the platform the speakers were standing on to flag-off the run? It was black in colour originally. We had it painted like only 3 hours before the run started to match it with the logo…thank goodness it dried in time.

From 9 to almost 12 midnight, the 4 of us sat down for a good and thorough run-through of Friday’s events. Calls were made to reconfirm attendance, wet weather issues were ironed out and rain dances were performed in hope that it won’t rain the next day. After that, on our respective trips home, we experienced that calm before the storm…the die has been cast and it’s too late to do much except praying for the best, while preparing for the worst. Most of us slept at 2 or 3am, but the night proved to be long nonetheless.




THE BIG DAY…

0500
Four sleepy head knocked ourselves hard to roll out of our comfy bed. Getting up at this hour was difficult, especially since we only get to sleep at 2.30am the night before… but at the back of our mind, we knew we can’t afford to laze in bed today. Time is already running short. This is our BIG DAY!

0600
VIC met JING. After the final check, both head towards Woodlands Civic Center in the rented vehicle.

0620
At the Woodlands Civics Center bus stop, JEN and JAN were falling aslp while stretching their neck occasionally to look out for the car…

0630
Soon after, the car arrived. We started unloading all the barang barang while JING went to park the car. Together with the help of JEN’s brother and JAN’s sister, the five of us moved the tables, the wooden cut-outs, goodie bags and all the loads to their respective venues. Even though we had one trolley, we were all panting like crazy after shifting all these heavy loads because Woodlands Civic Center is still a distance away from the start-off point for the Run.

0720
The first marshal arrived. VIC, the head marshal started to gather all his men and gave a detailed briefing before handling them their lanyards and tee-shirts. At the same time, JEN was busy setting up the registration booth while JING drove off to buy ice.

0750
All the marshals were dispatched to their respective locations. Runners were also starting to stream in. JING came back with the ice.

0800
Registration officially started. Meanwhile, the ambulance also arrived and stand-by along the road. JAN briefed the Emcee of the day and was busy making sure that the ambassadors and the VIPS were well taken care of.

0830
Heat was rising. JEN was busy calling all the runners who have yet to turn up.


0900
At the sound of the air-horn, Runner As dash passed the starting line!

0930
Emcee JJ informed the runners to do cool down exercise and not to sit down immediately as their hearts were still pumping hard. Those who have finished the run cheered on as the last team crossed the finishing line!

1000
Headed by JACK and RAI from EIC, the runners marched to the OLE launch site in high spirits.

1100
After all runners collected their goodie bag, we joined in the on-going photo taking sessions with our runner friends. It was really heartwarming to know that so many of our friends came to support us.

1115
We started packing up. Exhausted and dehydrated, the four of us downed bottles of water before heading to return the heavy barang barang…

Thank you all for making OLE RUN such a success. –kow-tow-
Download your photos below



One Life Experience Launch

Sunday, November 25, 2007

The Start of a New Movement

Well folks, it’s official. The call for Singaporeans to join us in the OLE movement has officially started. Over the last 2 months, certain schools and special groups of people have heard about OLE through our road shows at various places. For these people, you can proudly call yourselves the vanguard of the One Life Movement. For those who have signed up as volunteers, we thank you for joining us in changing hearts and minds.

But now, we’re going nation-wide with this advert in the Sunday Times today…



As was said somewhere before on this blog, OLE isn’t only about AIDS affected people. It’s for people like you and me to do something for them. What can an individual do? Well, start by learning about them from the exhibition. Place yourself in their shoes and hear their stories. Share their lives with them and I’m sure we’ll change enough mindsets to transform the movement into something bigger than all of us combined.

I’ve got one life and I’m doing something with it today.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

LIME SONIC BANG!

The day started out great with a great weather perfect for a day out at the beach. It was great to see people from all ages, from 12 to 30, all in support of the one same cause. The James and Lina standees was a sight to behold being black silhouettes right under the blinding sun. People walking passed would stop and take a second look, and for those intrigued, thanks for finding out what One Life Experience is all about down at our booth!

The roadshow this time round was a tat different with our team lugging a lifesize OLE frame around the beach. Kudos to those who are sporting enough to take a picture with it. The photos are downloadable below!

Let's cross our fingers and hope for an equally great weather for the OLE Run next Friday. Meanwhile, remember you have One Life, Do something!




LIME Sonic Bang @ Sentosa

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Hectic Week

It has been a busy week for the OLE team! We are now into the final stretch of preparation for the official launch of OLE. With our major exams around the corner and the tremendous amount of logistics to ensure a smooth run, our schedules are all maxed to the limit.

These days, the routine for the OLE team consists of meetings to sort things out for OLE, seeking approval for proposals, mugging for exams and catching up on sleep. This is where our multi-tasking skills are put to test. Oh well, no one said life was easy.

We will be contacting all peeps who signed up for OLE run for confirmation. For those of you who are interested, hurry up in sending us your team details! We will be closing all applications very soon.

Not only is it a good chance for u to DO SOMETHING for the HIV/AIDS affected people, you will also get to participate with well-known celebrities like Eunice Olsen, Victor Wong, Jaymee Ong, May & Choy and EIC! Yes, you will be running with them if you sign up now!

By the way, we will be setting up our booth at Lime Sonic Bang @ Sentosa this Saturday. Our ambassadors - EIC and May & Choy will also be present. So do come down to support us! See you there!

Monday, November 5, 2007

Marching On

The past few months have been a blast, going around schools and institutions to share the OLE experience. We sure hope that you guys have learnt something about One Life, like we have learnt about the passionate side of young people with regards to this cause.

Following the roadshows at NTU and NUS, we are now moving on to the tertiary institutions. For those who are already having your holidays, do check out the upcoming OLE events like the run happening on 30 November.

Before jumping into the next phase of OLE, we'll also like to take this opportunity to thank all who have helped in one way or another - the students, teachers, friends, principals and of course the various organisations who made this possible.

See you guys next at the LIME Sonic Bang at Siloso Beach!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Star appearance @ NTU

For 2 days, the OLE team is back to our own school! Not only did our fellow course mates come to show their support, the rest of the NTU population also pledge their support at our booth. Play e slides and find your own pretty faces!



Nanyang Tech University

On the first day of our roadshow in NTU, we had a pleasant surprise! MediaCorp Channel U came to our school to record Campus Yummy Hunt 美食大专攻!!!! Check out FELLICIA CHIN pledging her support!!!!!!






Gosh, she is so gorgeous... everyone present was charmed by her beauty. Not only was she warm and friendly, she encouraged others to join her in supporting this cause! We were thrilled by her actions. Thank you Felicia!!!