Stories
All of us start out with great potential, yet for some children and youths, difficult life circumstances present numerous challenges to fulfilling it. It has been our joy to befriend, nurture and guide them. Lakeside Family Services connects them to various opportunities while providing their families with the assistance they need.
Indeed, our children and youths are capable of achieving great things and creating a positive impact on society. We are proud to share heartfelt stories from our current and past beneficiaries, and the dedicated staff and volunteers who believed in them when they said “I can!”
Today, Wei Zhen’s bubbly personality and confidence shines through, but this wasn’t always the case. When he first arrived at Lakeside Student Care (LSC), he was struggling with his reading and homework, especially with spelling tests at school. When encouraging him in his studies, teachers often hear him saying “I Cannot”.
Over time, the teachers at LSC observed that the reason behind his struggle may be due to dyslexia. With that realisation, he was able to seek professional support, which helped him cope with his challenges better. By patiently familiarising him with difficult words, keeping track of his weekly spelling, and providing him with more guidance and attention, Wei Zhen started to see progress.
These days, he consistently scores full marks in spelling, and has even received the ‘Good Progress Award’ at school recently, as his school teachers recognised the great improvement in his studies. These achievements have really boosted his self-confidence.
Before, the Hadif brothers tended to shy away from reading as they were unfamiliar with phonics and letter sounds.
Our social worker shared with their mother about our reading programme. The children started attending the programme in April last year and within the span of 2 short months, they gained good foundations with phonics sounds and were able to read all types of English books suitable for their age.
They now read consistently, at least 2 books every session, and their confidence shines through smiles of exhilaration when they are able to read independently!
“I started as a young social worker in 1992. Besides serving families in the FSC, I also had the privilege of pioneering Children and Youth work at Lakeside. I taught creative writing and speech & drama to the children at our student care centre twice a week and ran math tuition programmes every Wednesday evening.
In the afternoons, I was in charge of our youth drop-in centre for the children and youths in our neighbourhood. We played table tennis, carrom and board games. Every Thursday evening, I ran a Youth Cafe where we served snacks, played games and watched movies together. Occasionally we would have interesting speakers come to give talks on coping with stress, boy-girl relationships, and career guidance. I also managed the Lakeside football club. We had great fun and made many friends.
Through these programmes, we were able to reach out to many children and their families, and in the process helped them with issues and challenges that they faced. We gave guidance to a youth who might have dropped out of school, and had to retake his ‘O’ levels and eventually he graduated from polytechnic and later university. We helped a number of them leave gangs and follow a better path. We also helped a number of them overcome depression and recover their confidence and self-esteem.
Through these experiences, I have come to believe strongly in the importance of investing our time, energy, love and patience in the lives of the children and youths, because they have so much potential for good in them. No matter how disadvantaged or challenging their situation may be, I believe that it is always possible for them to overcome these obstacles and to make something good out of their lives.
At Lakeside, our mission is to nurture and mentor the next generation of children and youths, so that they will lead meaningful and productive lives and be a blessing to our society.
Join us in changing lives and transforming communities. Together, WE CAN!“
Tee Loon, Executive Director, Lakeside Family Services
Our staff at Lakeside Student Care (LSC) are committed to enabling our young ones not just step up, but rise above their circumstances.
Felicia, a teacher at LSC (Jurong East), initially started as a part-time staff, but eventually chose to go full time after realising her passion in working with children. She finds that the most fulfilling part of her work is being able to witness a child growing up and conquering his fears and weakness. When she first met Samantha, a new student, in 2017, she remembered that it was difficult for Samantha to make friends, as she was shy and quiet. But over time, she is now able to speak up more and bond with others at the student care.
“Being able to work hand in hand with parents to help their children, and seeing their children grow and improve, really gives me a great sense of job satisfaction.” – Felicia
In her past one and a half years at Lakeside Student Care (Jurong East), teacher Sherie has had many wonderful memories guiding the students at the centre. Her day-to-day work ranges from classroom management, to homework coaching and also developing workshops that can build up creativity, socio-emotional and educational abilities for the children.
“I see the importance of investing in the emotional and social aspects of the students during their primary school stage. With the experiences that I faced in the past, I want to be a positive role model who will be able to influence and impact the students.” – Sherie
More stories coming soon…