On 1 May 2023, volunteers took chance of a public holiday to clean a rental flat in Ang Mo Kio for a single mother and her child who have limited abilities to do it themselves.
How did you spend your Labour Day this year? With the arrival of the public holiday, most people would look forward to relaxing themselves. However, twelve volunteers from the central zone chose to dedicate their time to the community. They spent three hours at a rental flat of a single mother with poor eyesight and her child cleaning up their house and replacing the wardrobe and bed frames, giving their home a new look.
After getting divorced, 44-year-old woman Fatimah (pseudonym) lives with her 11-year-old son in a 33-square-metre rented flat in Ang Mo Kio.
Fatimah has been suffering from diabetes and was diagnosed with kidney failure at the end of 2022. Due to that, she has to undergo dialysis every week, adding to the burden of her existing health issues. Despite being in her prime, she cannot work to earn a living to support her family.
Through a hospital referral, Tzu Chi Foundation (Singapore) has provided financial assistance to Fatimah to cover her dialysis expenses in December 2022 and subsidised medical supplies such as blood glucose test strips for her diabetes management. Additionally, several home visit volunteers visit Fatimah's home monthly to offer care and follow up on her condition.
Due to diabetes, Fatimah has extremely weak vision in both eyes. Although she can still bring her phone close to read messages, managing regular household chores has become difficult. With her eyesight severely impaired, Fatimah's primary five son has become her eyes, and he helps with all the household tasks.
After several home visits, the volunteers noticed some conditions in Fatimah's home. From the outside, the walls inside the house were painted bright pink, giving it a cheerful appearance. However, inside, there was a build-up of clutter and mess, and not only had the bed frame collapsed, but the kitchen and bathroom were also dirty and disorderly. Overall, the living environment was far from ideal.
In March 2023, during a home visit by volunteers and staff from Tzu Chi Charity Development Department, they noticed that items in Fatimah's home were scattered on the floor, and the living environment was messy. They then suggested helping with cleaning and organizing the furniture, as well as replacing the bed and wardrobe to improve the living conditions for Fatimah and her son. Fatimah gladly accepted their proposal.
Volunteers move Fatimah's belongings outside the house to facilitate the cleaning process. (Photo by Koh Soo May)
While talking about Fatimah's recent situation, the deputy manager of the Tzu Chi Charity Development Department Goh Leay Ying also mentioned, "As Fatimah needs her son to be her eyes, he often misses school, which has affected his academic performance and raised concerns from his school teachers."
Fatimah's 11-year-old son appears quiet and shy, interacting very little with the volunteers. He seems more mature than children his age, lacking the usual innocence and cheerfulness of an elementary school student. He also struggles with obesity and has many old and new scars on his lower legs.
Fatimah explained, "My son has had skin issues since he was young, and his classmates would make fun of him. Therefore he resisted going to school. Occasionally, he would hide at home and not go to school."
Fatimah's son is heavier than boys his age, with many scars on his lower legs. He also has the responsibility of caring for his mother at home. These might be some of the reasons why he often misses school.
The child is also a beneficiary of Tzu Chi's Seeds of Hope Programme. Goh Leay Ying mentioned, "We hope to help him rebuild his self-confidence gradually, so we started by tidying up his home environment."
Cleaning up diligently while Paying Attention to Household Details
The lead of home visit volunteers, Joel Low Chee Wah, invited volunteers to participate in the household cleaning activity through a chatgroup. To everyone's surprise, the eight slots on the list were quickly taken.
This small unit is only 33 square meters in size. Initially, the volunteers thought it could only accommodate a few people for cleaning, so they opened only eight slots. Unexpectedly, at 8:30 in the morning, about 15 people gathered downstairs at the HDB flat to clean up Fatimah's house. After they finished cleaning, they were thankful for the presence of more volunteers; otherwise, it would have required more time to complete the task.
The volunteers were unsure how to start cleaning when faced with the cluttered living space, so they started by moving the bulky items to the open area outside the elevator. Joel Low suggested, "Let's lay a plastic sheet on the floor, then place the items on it."
The male volunteers then removed heavy items like sofas, cabinets, and tables to create more space inside the house.
The volunteers work diligently to clear the clutter in the small kitchen. (Photo by Koh Soo May)
Working in the scorching heat, volunteer Seah Bee Yeng who participated in the cleaning work, had sweat pouring down her back. She rolled up her pants and scrubbed the toilet until it gleamed. She then sat down in exhaustion and said, "We cleaned the toilet more than ten times as it was so dirty!"
After multiple rounds of scrubbing, the kitchen and the bathroom took on an entirely new look, and everyone was incredibly pleased.
The volunteers discover a clogged kitchen sink and carefully unclog it from underneath the sink. (Photo by Yang Wen Ting)
62-year-old Toh Ah Lian working hard to sweep and scrub the floor, wholeheartedly thinking of giving Fatimah and her son a clean house. (Photo by Koh Soo May)
Fatimah is unable to clean her home as how she used to due to her poor eyesight, resulting in residual stains and accumulated food everywhere in the house. Goh Leay Ying and Jong Pei Ching were in charge of sorting expired food. In the end, they found more than a dozen cans of expired tuna and packets of dried dates without expiry date labels.
The staff from the Charity Development Department, Goh Leay Ying (left) and Jong Pei Ching (right), crouching down at the elevator entrance to sort the stockpiled food in Fatimah's house meticulously. (Photo by Koh Soo May)
Improving their Living Environment is the First Step to Settling their Body and Mind
Goh Leay Ying shared, "When we saw that Fatimah's son didn't have a conducive study environment, we all wanted to improve their living condition. We have also devised a long-term assistance plan to settle their home to a habitable environment, followed by providing further assistance."
In addition to cleaning the house, the volunteers purchased a new wardrobe, bed frames, and mattresses for Fatimah and her son. Previously, they shared a small closet. Fatimah expressed her happiness and said that her son has decided to use the old one and let his mother use the new triple-door wardrobe.
Besides a wardrobe, Tzu Chi provided the family with a dining table, two beds, and a washing machine. By placing a decent table in the house, Fatimah's son can at least have a good study corner and do his homework and reading.
After cleaning, the sight of a clean and tidy bathroom brings joy to everyone. (Photo by Yang Wen Ting)
Two days after the home cleaning, Tzu Chi purchased and delivered two beds, a triple-door wardrobe, a dining table, and a washing machine to Fatimah's house, making the house cosier. Fatimah and her son were deeply grateful and delighted. (Photo by Chong Yu Jia)
Home cleaning is not a frequent activity in Tzu Chi as it requires the consent of the care recipient, and the volunteers need to establish a good understanding and trust with the recipient for the process to go smoothly. That is why Tzu Chi volunteers highly value the opportunity to do home cleaning, as they understood that they could create a cleaner, tidier, and more habitable home for the care recipient through cleaning and tidying within a few short hours and bring about tangible changes and hopes.
Having improved the cleanliness of the environment, the volunteers gave their well-wishes to the family before leaving, hoping that Fatimah and her son's physical and mental well-being would gradually improve.
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