Sharing to students from Raffles Community Leadership and Citizenry Program


This morning, hundreds of children did not wake up in their own beds within a family setting in Singapore. There are currently 1166 children in care, of which 535 are in foster homes. The remaining 631 are still in residential care. (Statistics from MSF website as of December 2018.)

Choa-Tan Ai Cheng and Joyce Too Yip were invited by Ai Lin Lim to speak to her students from the Raffles Community Leadership and Citizenry Program in August.
Ai Cheng shared about the work and need of child protection and foster care in Singapore. She explained how having a primary care giver for every child in a home setting is fundamental to the healthy growth of every child. Joyce shared examples how Dora (not her real name) a very sick child and assumed to be developmentally affected, has grown to the bubbly and cheerful preschooler she is today. She also highlighted how her special needs foster child could learn to identify and differentiate her own emotions and feel safe in a home environment.
The students were concerned about the emotions of birth children in foster families. They also asked the reasons for reunification and how foster families can help themselves cope with the transition along with the foster children.
Ai Cheng and Joyce encouraged them to continue to reflect on how they could help promote support for this often forgotten group of young fellow citizens of Singapore in their midst, through projects or personal engagement.
We hope that this has helped more of our young people have a heart for fostering!




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