Community Service
tEnPower - a Tembusu Service Learning Project to Myanmar
tEnPower is a 3-year-old sustainability-focused Overseas Community Involvment Project (OCIP) that aims to empower children at Youth Development Centre (Shwegyin, Myanmar), to gain access to better opportunities through improved English literacy.
Our Work encompassess long-term, regular engagement with the students from YDC, taking the form of weekly online English classes over Skype, supported by self-developed resources.
In addition, a highlight for many of us is the annual Winter trip to YDC, where we finally get to meet our students in person and form deeper connections.
As one of the co-heads of tEnPower, I led the team to focus our efforts on improving student-engagement, especially during COVID. In addition, we managed a near two-fold increase in students and teacher volunteers during our tenure.
I have personally been inspired by the sustainability-focused culture in tEnPower - focusing not only on long-term engagement (rather than touch-and-go), but also constantly challenging ourselves to think of ways we can empower the community by tapping on their strengths rather than breeding reliance on our services. In the same vein, I strive to achieve sustainable, meaningful social impact with the products I create.
In view of the current political situation in Myanmar, tEnPower is currently taking steps to pivot and work out how we can continue to support Myanmar and our beneficiary during these trying times.