The Team
The 'Be a Hero to the Homeless' project is for Gawad Kalinga (GK). It is the effort of 12 undergraduate students from Nanyang Technological University's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, with the support of the Wee Kim Wee Legacy Fund. The students are led by Assistant Professor Fernando Paragas and senior lecturer Tim Clark.
Having spent an entire semester, including 9 eventful days in Davao City, on this project, the team has gathered a wide range of information from visiting the Pablo-hit New Bataan to conducting interviews with GK residents freshly relocated from slums. Beyond this, we had the fortune to be accompanied by GK volunteers who brought us through several villages, served as interpreters and let us in on their takeaways from volunteering with GK. We got both hard facts and Filipino-style hospitality that melted our hearts.
The team would like to thank the School and Gawad Kalinga for this opportunity to reach out to more people who have the capacity to be heroes to the homeless. To be able to do what we do best for a humanitarian cause is our honour.
"It's not only more fun in The Philippines, it's a lot warmer too and we hope to ignite that same warmth in Singaporeans."
- Tan Yi Xin, a member of the team
"I went to Davao with the intention to learn, and came back with the motivation to give the GK beneficiaries a better life through this project."
- Er Qi Jian, a member of the team
"Filipinos are not to be messed with. While the typhoon can take away their homes, take away their everything, it can't take away their willpower to live on. It's an amazing nation."
- Sharon Lok, a member of the team
"It touches me most that they always say 'thank you' and 'welcome', not out of courtesy, but sincere appreciation."
- Clara Loh, a member of the team
Having spent an entire semester, including 9 eventful days in Davao City, on this project, the team has gathered a wide range of information from visiting the Pablo-hit New Bataan to conducting interviews with GK residents freshly relocated from slums. Beyond this, we had the fortune to be accompanied by GK volunteers who brought us through several villages, served as interpreters and let us in on their takeaways from volunteering with GK. We got both hard facts and Filipino-style hospitality that melted our hearts.
The team would like to thank the School and Gawad Kalinga for this opportunity to reach out to more people who have the capacity to be heroes to the homeless. To be able to do what we do best for a humanitarian cause is our honour.
"It's not only more fun in The Philippines, it's a lot warmer too and we hope to ignite that same warmth in Singaporeans."
- Tan Yi Xin, a member of the team
"I went to Davao with the intention to learn, and came back with the motivation to give the GK beneficiaries a better life through this project."
- Er Qi Jian, a member of the team
"Filipinos are not to be messed with. While the typhoon can take away their homes, take away their everything, it can't take away their willpower to live on. It's an amazing nation."
- Sharon Lok, a member of the team
"It touches me most that they always say 'thank you' and 'welcome', not out of courtesy, but sincere appreciation."
- Clara Loh, a member of the team