It's A Small World Afterall
11 March 2008

Date                          : 11 March 2008
Time                          : 10am to 5pm
Venue                        : Sculpture Square

Trust.
Making new friends.
Learning to open up.

For the 40 BT BAF beneficiaries from Chen Su Lan Methodist Home, Henderson We Love Learning (WeLL) Programme and Kids United Home, the task ahead that lay ahead of them at It’s a Small World After All seemed challenging: to create portraits and collages with personal pictures, objects and letters that were important to them.

In fact, one of the children, Nurul from WeLL started off the day feeling nervous and by asking aloud: “Do you think I have talent?”

Jointly organised by Seagate Technology International and the BT BAF, the day long event was based on personal objects brought by the beneficiaries, relating to people who are important to them. The children had to talk these people and construct portraits of these persons with the help of instructors and 20 volunteers from Seagate.

The core purpose of the programme was to enable beneficiaries to express their own personalities and identities using objects from their surroundings, such as things they like or own. Through this activity, they gained a better understanding of themselves and became more articulate of their feelings.

As the children talked about those who were important in their lives during this creative process, they too learned to become more open and learned how to share their hopes and dreams.

Says Michele, a social worker who accompanied the children of Kids United Home:” The children really enjoyed making collages and the games organised by the volunteers. They said they learnt about teamwork, how to form a picture and how to scan pictures.”

After lunch, the BT BAF beneficiaries created hanging mobiles assembled from the portraits, using cane and string to create hierarchies describing personal relationships and people who are important to them in their lives. Through this simple exercise, children also learnt about size, weight and balance.

In fact, it was not only the children who learnt about themselves. The volunteers too found the experience one that was enriching. Violet Samson, a volunteer from Seagate displayed great enthusiasm and initiative, printing the lyrics of It’s a Small World After All, distributing the lyrics and then taking the lead in gathering the children to sing the popular Disney hit It’s a Small World After All

Said Reza Nikfar, Vice-President, RMO Woodlands Media Operations: "We are glad to be able to together with the BTBAF to give these children this opportunity to improve their confidence by learning to express themselves creatively. Our employees are also very enthusiastic about interacting with the children and are such excellent role models."

It’s A Small World After All is the third such BT BAF programme which Seagate has supported. Seagate’s work with the BT BAF over the past 3 years has helped many financially disadvantaged children gain access to professional training in the arts and giving them the opportunity to discover their artistic potential and gain confidence through the arts.

Seagate’s support for this year’s visual arts workshop once again reinforces the importance of community partnerships, reassuring the children they are not alone for there are those like Seagate's volunteers who care about them and want to help. This strengthens the community as a whole as companies and the underprivileged work together to produce the final collage, proving once again that art can heal and bring people together.

Watching volunteers and children play, sing and create art pieces together, one could clearly see children come out of their shell and starting to believe in themselves.

This was evident in Nurul, who although may have started the day with diffidence, at the end of the seven hour visual arts programme and with ample encouragement, the 9-year-old found the confidence to create 6 self-portraits and it was clear that she had discovered a new found ability within herself. ”I want to be an artist when I grow up,” Nurul quipped proudly.