Roger Chua

Project Luminaire 13 was best defined by two words: hope and content.

Our team bubbled with optimism. Before the trip, there was already visible enthusiasm to impart knowledge to students and illuminate the walkways at our assigned village. Lesson plans were meticulously drafted and logistics were comprehensively prepared. Even the camera gear which were meant to capture us in action had been thoughtfully selected. This eagerness lingered for the full duration of our service. Lights for the village streets were spontaneously assembled by motivated team members. Each day we greeted the kids at the village elementary school with joy. Despite the onset of fatigue, we ensured that we had smiles on our face and an excited voice when interacting with the children at Alao Elementary School. Everyone experienced an intense wave of sorrow on the day we parted ways with the kids. Owing to the language barrier (they spoke Tagalog with some understanding fragments of an English sentence) and the outpour of emotions, all we could muster were simple bye-byes. What we had really meant to say was: “We hoped that we have taught you well. You have a bright future ahead!”

Contentment was much less outwardly expressed. It registered internally through a sequence of events. Foremost, the conditions at the village reminded us sharply that familiar amenities we had at home were really first-world privileges. During this project, one learns to make do with a hand-pumped bucket of water for the morning shower. One learns that life can be as rudimental as rearing livestock beside a modest unfloored hut nailed together from fallen bamboo and zinc sheets. The village’s pervasive austerity would provoke thought about how ignorantly endowed we really were as residents of a well-developed country. Such contemplation had been initially sober. However, as the days pass, it morphed into a firm sense of gratitude for the comforts that we are blessed with. These may be showers that flow abundantly when turned on at any given minute or the sturdy homes of concrete and steel that were immaculately tiled with glazed ceramic.

From a different perspective, Project Luminaire was an experience where one’s baseline for subsistence is clarified and a credible basis to serve the less fortunate emerges. One may initially boast, “A roof over my head is all I need.” Through this project, one would realise that life in the city has conditioned one to desire more than a shelter — one would barely cope without tapped bathing water and would wince at the prospects of living in a mud-floor hut. This project guides one out of the masquerade to confront and admit that as an urbanite, one in fact wishes for a long list of amenities. Following such introspection is the consciously humble acceptance of one’s material needs and blessings, which forms a sound foundation to nurture aspirations for serving the underprivileged. This is underpinned by the belief that aid ought to be well-calibrated and thoughtfully rendered, which then demands for one to be distinctly aware of one’s own standing and that relative to one’s beneficiaries. Project Luminaire builds awareness of the former.

If you have read all the way here, Project Luminaire will probably be a rewarding community service for you. Be a part of the team if beaming, energetic and purehearted children have a soft spot in your heart, or if you find the journey of self-realisation compelling.