Project Sprout 2011 will be a 14-day Youth Expedition Project (YEP) (www.yep.nyc.sg) to Village 8B, Dien Nam Trung, Quang Nam Province, Central Vietnam, planned and led by students from Singapore. It is endorsed by Mercy Relief, a non-governmental organization based in Singapore that is actively involved in providing timely and effective assistance to disaster-stricken locations and in uplifting t
he lives of impoverished and disadvantaged communities in Southeast Asia through long-term developmental projects. Over the course of the project, the team will engage both the Singaporean and Vietnamese community in three phases: the pre-expedition phase, the expedition phase, and the post-expedition phase. In the pre and post-expedition phases to be carried out in Singapore, the team will engage underprivileged children in understanding the importance of Singapore’s water resources through educational tours and visits and interactive hands-on lessons. In the 14-day expedition phase, the team will get to interact with villagers of all ages. Highlights include the installation of a communal water filtration system, the inculcation of the importance of hygiene to students in the village school and the refurbishment of a kindergarten. While serving the community, the team will also learn how to interact with the locals, experience the unique culture of the Vietnamese, and forge strong friendships between themselves. Each member will understand himself/herself better through frequent facilitation and reflection sessions. The team will embark on this journey with a primary goal to serve the community, but will also return richer from the invaluable experiences they have gained during the trip.
