| Republic
Polytechnic explores engaging trainees from SIA-MINDS
as part of its community outreach efforts as well
as its efforts to best source for optimal results.
 With keen concentration, Mee Fong folded the letter
taking great care not to crease the paper edges.
She repeated this again and completed her task
with quiet focus. In front of her, a stack of folded
letters grew readily as the minutes passed. In
the assembly line, Ming Wei, another MINDS trainee,
took on the task of slotting this letter into an
envelope, and retrieving the relevant mailing label
before sticking it on. That done, he then dropped
it into a box filled with similar envelopes.
This is the process of lettershopping, a task
that is usually considered tedious and time-consuming
but a welcome break for these trainees as it is
a change from their usual routine of sorting out
entangled audio headsets from SIA.
 Mee Fong and Ming Wei are both trainees at the
Movement for Intellectually Disabled of Singapore
(MINDS). They are part of approximately 2400 persons
that are under the non-governmental organisation
that caters to the educational, vocational, social
and welfare needs of the intellectually disabled.
One of the objectives of MINDS is to provide training
and employment opportunities for such individuals.
For many of us, these tasks are mundane and tedious
activities but to the trainees at SIA-MINDS Employment
Development Centre (EDC), it is a form of livelihood
that enables them to earn their own living and
take a step towards being independent, functioning
adults. Every job that they undertake goes directly
into the 'pay' that they take home monthly.
 EDCs provide vocational training, social skills
training and sheltered employment for the intellectually
disabled above 18 years of age. This training further
develops their potential and prepares them for
open employment and integration into society.
Other SIA-MINDS employment initiatives include
operating a Manual Car Wash service with its trainees
to wash cars at the BP petrol station along Pasir
Panjang road, which is a project supported by BP
Singapore and Merrill Lynch (Singapore). Putting
hands to creative use, MINDS also explores ways
of creating decorative and useful home accents
and ornaments for sale. These range from stained-glass
suncatchers to bookmarks and coasters.
Republic Polytechnic is exploring various ways
of providing MINDS trainees with opportunities
to be enriched and economically productive. Engaging
in such community work projects is potentially
a win-win situation for both parties.
|
