'Breakfast With A Soul' - 26 June 2010

To RSVP, please email Alexandra at alexandra@iva.org.sg by 21 June 2010

Link to Facebook Event Page

More details about the speakers

Speaker 1

Bridgette See

Bridgette was a broadcast journalist with Channel NewsAsia for 4 years. She became involved in adventure travel and youth work in 1998 after a 3-month expedition in Chile organised by Raleigh International (UK).

Upon her return, she was actively involved in the protem committee, that formed the basis of the new Raleigh Society. She also helped Raleigh Society to organise 2 school building projects, one in Myanmar (Operation Mingalaba 1999) and in Tibet (Operation Tashi Deleg 2001). Although she enjoyed her job, she quit the corporate world to focus on adventure and volunteer work in mid-2004, and she was involved in the initial stage of Raleigh Society's post-tsunami efforts in Nias, Indonesia.

In August 2005, she became a full-time volunteer with the Singapore International Foundation and was seconded to UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) in Timor-Leste, where she volunteered as a Communications Consultant for 10 months. In early June 2006, just a week or two shy of completing her stint, civil crisis broke out in Timor-Leste and she was evacuated back to Singapore. A month later, she returned to work, in her personal capacity, with UNICEF once again, until November 2007.

Bridgette will be sharing with us on her 10 months volunteer experience in East Timor.

Speaker 2

Willy & Sharon Ong

Willy and Sharon Ong embarked on a long journey to explore the world after getting married in 2009. They found themselves in charming Uganda where strangely, people know quite a bit about Singapore, watch our “Growing Up” TV series, and claim that their English textbook has a “Strongest Man in Singapore” story. The last has yet to be verified. Willy has been in the non-profit sector for almost 6 years and is currently with the National Council of Social Service. Sharon is a water engineer with a passion for pit latrines. Their adventures are currently localized in managing the diaper disasters of their newborn baby, Astrid.

Abstract of Presentation
Things you seldom experience in Singapore – mud-house classrooms, animal auctioning, appreciating pit latrines, and of course, death from preventable diseases. Willy and Sharon Ong found out about these and more, through a 2-week volunteering stint with an NGO in Uganda, East Africa. Through the heartbreaking and heartwarming stories of villagers, we catch a glimpse of their everyday struggles and hope despite crippling poverty and ravaging diseases. Uganda also remains a fascinating and safe place to explore and experience. Even the dictator Idi Amin would agree, since he is no more.