There is always something that strikes me hard in Singapore and I would think how can we Singaporeans help them? Have you seen people with disabilities (of different kinds) trying to make ends in the society by selling sweets, tissues or sometimes even begging? How does this impact you or affect you? For myself, it’s disheartening and as much as we want or can help them, there is only so much we can do for them by buying something from them or donating money to them. Today, do you know you can make a difference to their life and help them reach their full potential?
Even though these people have disabilities, it do not make them any less talented or less hardworking than any normal human being. In 2010, I was introduced to the Infocomm Accessibility Centre (IAC) and involved in TweetMeetSG 2010. Visiting IAC was an eye-opener for me, there were courses and training available along with special digital and IT equipment that caters to people with different disabilities. This year 2011, I was very honoured and humbled to be invited back by IAC and Dice Studio, for TweetMeetSG 2011, playing a greater significance and effort to the TweetMeetSG movement, by volunteering to visit a person with disability at his home, along with my partner, good old blogger friend and one of the nicest guy around, Keropokman, delivering gifts and our social media knowledge and guidance, that includes a NetBook and we helped them to setup, hook up and connect them to the internet, the social media community, family, relatives and friends.
The photojournalistic journey of our volunteering and blogging @ TweetMeetSG 2011 can be found here! We had a very enriching and humbling experience, happy that we were able to help out and make a difference in a person’s life and seeing the smile on his face, is simply priceless. The power of social media channels and networking can give a person with disabilities to connect better
From my TweetMeetSG 2011 volunteering and blogging experience, a personal quote that comes from my heart ~
“With IT skills, PWDs are given an opportunity to connect, interact and work with the society like any other people, allowing them to have higher self-esteem and self-confidence, thus helping them to integrate with the society better, contributing to the growth of the society and country.”
Moving forward ahead, while Singapore progresses ahead in prosperity and economic growth, we are in a better position to help people with disabilities in more ways possible. We can Pay-It-Forward and make an impact to their life, by introducing them to the NOTHING LESS project at IAC, tell them about this wonderful and noble movement, encourage them to step forward and submit a video or write up telling IAC of an IT course from their list, and what they hope to achieve with it, followed by what does “NOTHING LESS” means to them. They would start their training at IAC and given a chance to intern with Tribal DDB, places are limited and the call for submission will end on 12th August 2011.
You, yes, You can make a difference in the life of a person with disabilities!
Personal Quote from my TweetMeetSG experiences and thoughts ~
“We never realize how social media networking can help a person to connect,interact & socialize, opening new doors for them #tweetmeetsg“