Today was a good day.

A good saturday spent doing something different, something meaningful.
Snaps you out of the bubble that you stick your head in during the regular school days.

A day where we are all just humans, regardless of age or race, and merely wishing to help others in need.

My OCIP team went to Lam Soon CC in Choa Chu Kang this morning to carry out our pre-expendition CSP.
We were split into 2 teams, one team would paint murals at the HDB void deck while another team would head to a needy family's home to help clean up the place, paint the walls and bring in some new furniture for them.
I volunteered to go to help the family because it was obviously gonna be more meaningful.
Unfortunately the rest of my team begged to differ and only 3 of us seniors from the team went to help with the home along with other volunteers from the CC, but its ok because the murals turned out beautiful as well :D

The needy family was a family of 4.
Mr Koh was an elderly with a physical condition which caused him to have a lump on his back which inhibited him from getting a proper job.
His younger brother who is also in his mid years is mentally challenged and also suffers from a physical condition which caused his legs to be grown unnaturally and he can't walk properly and also is unable to contribute income to his family.
The younger sister is the sole breadwinner of the family, a lady in her 40s who pretty much sacrificed her time and her youth supporting her family and works as a beer auntie at a coffee shop nearby.
Lastly, the mother of the family is an elderly lady in her 80s who earns some money constructing plastic bags that many shops use by inserting the plastic handles into the plastic bag.

Their home was beyond my imagination.
They must have not done any cleaning at all for years, the floors were black and stained, dust and dirt particles stuck to the tiles and freaking hell loads of age old lizard shit stuck on the walls.
The whole house was cluttered with food donations and old items which perhaps they treasure deeply and don't wish to throw, but to most people it merely looked like trash.
Tons and tons of random old and dirty items that they kept, some because they had no time to clear and throw away and some they just couldn't bear to part with.

Cleaning up was the most difficult.
Rounds and rounds and mopping and sweeping and wiping and scrubbing.
And then came in painting, MOTHER SHAG but I thoroughly enjoyed it :D
Perhaps also cause I have a control freak side that likes to see things neat and like to see walls properly and evenly painted.

We also moved alot of furniture here and there, packed up alot of their items, brought in new cupboards, mattresses, pillows and fans for htem, changed their bedsheets and pillows.

All this was done along with a team of very kind and dedicated people.
Most of us were strangers to each other but there was a telepathic connection amongst us as we knew each of us was putting in our 200% to help make this house a better place for the family to live in and that was the best feeling ever :D

I foresee myself doing more of this in the future (:

Although I ended up skipped my 7pm Ethics make-up class, but seriously I don't need a class to teach me how to be ethical.