MKCC 2024

Title: Children's programme - Esprit De Corps (EDC)
Date: 08-Oct-2018

Tim and Raisa, the volunteers behind the EDC programme

 

The Awesome Five (TAF), Super Strikers (SS) and The Super Power Dragons (SPD)!

These are the team names named by the kids in Shelter 1 that are formed for a weekly, year-long volunteer programme known as "Esprit De Corps" (EDC), which is to promote "a feeling of pride and mutual loyalty shared by the members of a group".

Timothy, our volunteer, is driving this programme to help tackle the issue of constant fighting and disunity among our children at the home. On March, EDC was launched along with another volunteer joining in to help, Raisa. It is decided that it will be held every Monday evening.

 

Tim getting William* to talk about the idea behind his team's name and logo, "The Awesome Five"

 

On that day, we laid down the rules, expectations and roles. Each group would have a Team Leader (TL) and a Team Leader's Assistant (TLA). Navil*, Nelson* and William* as the older boys are TLs and Prem*, Rosa* and Prisha* are the TLAs to each of them.  To get the kids' buy in, we shared that their groups are to have a healthy competition with each other weekly a GRAND prize at year end. Besides points given in the competition, points will also be given for pro-social behaviour and deduction of points for bad behaviour during activities.

These activities would range from telematches, quizzes, doing creative arts and  etc. The idea is to start the motivation with an external reward that will eventually become an intrinsic motivation by seeing why unity and servant leadership is so beneficial in itself.

We learnt many things about the children and the TLs and as well as the TLAs as the weeks and months passed and many lessons were drawn out of it to teach the children. Team SS has always been consistently in the lead followed by team SPD and team TAF. The lessons were ranging from how to show good sportsmanship when winning and how to accept defeat gracefully. How to learn that everyone has their own unique strengths and why having good personality and character can be more valuable than skills. Through it all, Timothy and Raisa really did their best to encourage, correct, rebuke and journey with them in the programme.

 

Besides EDC, do look out for the other article, Sanus Vitae, another programme that is connected to this one!

*Names have been changed



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