It is a pleasure for me to have this opportunity to share my feelings and experiences after more than ten years of service at the Small Group Homes. Looking back, there have been happy days and not so happy days here. Every child or youngster transferred into the Small Group Homes has his or her own personal or family problems. There have been quite a few challenges as everyone tries to cope and live together. Guidance has often differed for different individuals. We are flexible and accommodating; with patience and love, we try our best to tackle each problem we encounter. It is a joy to see them grow up healthily, leave the home where they were nurtured and integrate into the community, develop their careers and become pillars of our society.

Here, I would like to share with you an impressive and joyous experience where we witnessed the changes a child underwent as he/she grew up in a Small Group Home and graduated to become a member of the society. Due to the influence of an unusual family background, the child was aggressive, stubborn, self-centered and filled with rage. After the staff’s persisted with guidance, the child has morphed into a youngster who knows how to love and care about others, is enthusiastic about work and willingly participates in charity work. It is a great comfort to know that many boys and girls who have had a difficult life in the past are now practical and responsible citizens of our community who may now possess their own families and careers.

Small Group Homes are wonderful places where love and warmth are nurtured under a family atmosphere. Thanks to God’s grace, I was blessed with many gifts in my work. The care and love these youngsters show make us a very close family.

Finally, it is my wish that the young shoots from the Small Group Home family tree will become a thoughtful, loving and caring force of our future, being thankful for what they have and contributing to our society in the most positive ways. In our life, there are so many things to be learnt, as the scripture says, “Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.”

There is this parable about sowing seeds from the bible – “As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 13:4 – 9)" This parable tells me that different people respond differently to lessons from the bible. Somehow, when we teach children, we are like farmers sowing seeds (lessons) in their hearts, hoping that they will remember and make changes from their hearts. I was very happy to take part in a wedding banquet of a girl from the past last month. When the bride was to give her thank-you speech, we all thought that she would first thank her parents, but instead, she first thanked the ‘parents’ from the Small Group Home she stayed at (my colleagues) for taking care of her! My colleagues were surely very happy, but what I thought was: this was probably the result of their seed-sowing!

~ Candy