In support of Project Hearts For a Roof (PHFAR), iPaLs organized and carried out another community-based event on 10 Feb 2007 in the Bukit Merah neighborhood. Deliberately and aptly named the ‘Garang Guni’ Recycling Programme (GGRP) - Garang means tough in Malay - team members literally joined hands to collect old newspapers and clothes from residents in an attempt to raise funds.

The idea came about as the team was brainstorming on fund-raising ideas that would allow us to engage the community and schools in our efforts. We know that at the end of the day, we have a duty of representing Mongolia in Singapore, and allowing the community to be part of our efforts was therefore only a natural course to take. PHFAR goes beyond being an ordinary community service trip - it is a service learning expedition with three core components of personal/team development, adventure and service to humanity.

And with that came more than 80 eager students from Bartley Secondary School, accompanied by their enthusiastic teachers, to join us for the event. We were delighted at having young Singaporeans join us in working for this meaningful course, and their determination to help was evident from the start. To top it all, this event offered a chance for the students themselves to engage and learn from the community, thereby boosting their self-confidence and ability to work in a team.

Volunteers covered a total of 24 blocks of flats (approximately 2500 households) and collected approximately 2,800kg of newspapers and 670kg of old clothes. The six-hour event raised $751, but more importantly, forged closer friendships and brought out the compassionate side of many Singaporeans which greatly touched us.

iPaLs thanks all residents of Bukit Merah who contributed in one way or another to our project, our friends and relatives who offered us their support, Bartley Secondary School, and Tanjong Pagar for approving this project. We take to heart that volunteers in Singapore have many opportunities before them; they only need to embrace them.

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