The Gift of Gold
A testimonial delivered by Ms. Melanie Ng, CIE Parent during the CIE Commencement Rites last April 4, 2008. Published with permission from The Village Centrex.
In the movie Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks said, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You will never know what you're gonna get." Life is indeed full of surprises and so we have to be prepared to face the things that will come our way.
My husband and I have always encouraged our children to not to be afraid to try new things. We have also taught them not to be afraid to fail. To try and fail gives us the opportunity to try again and increase the probability of succeeding.
Our family sees the Gift of Gold project as an opportunity for our kids to learn, grow and have the chance to experience the feeling of triumph or failure which are necessary ingredients to become better individuals. At the same time, through the Gift of Gold, they can help others improve their lives.
Honestly, when the school first introduced the Gift of Gold, my husband and I thought this was the regular charity event that we normally engage in especially during Christmas Time.
But when my eldest son, Earl, came home one night and said "Mom, the Gift of Gold this year will be different. It will be an important project. We will run our own business and this will be part of our requirement." So we said, "Ok, that's great because your school is really gearing you up to become leaders. What better time to start than now. Then he said, "You know, Mom, the teachers will be the ones to choose our products. You know what else, Mom? Our product is UKAY UKAY." I said, "Oh my gosh, Earl! How will you do it? That's so difficult to sell!
Then he said, "Its ok, Mom. It's our adopted family, the Pullan family, who will sell. We just really have to BE THERE for them and HELP them.
Earl and his classmates really came up with a plan and seriously started to help their family sell. Thus started Earl's commitment to the Gift of Gold two years ago. This school year, our second son, Dale, also started to help his adopted family, the Famador Family, in their flower business.
For our family, the Gift of Gold project has helped our sons become more mature and more enlightened as responsible citizens of our community. They know that not everyone is lucky like them. Not everyone always has food on their table every meal time. Most people live on a day to day, hand to mouth existence. They have seen this though their families.
To top it off, they have also experiences first hand what a responsible leader can do and must do.
For us, the experience they have gained because of the Gift of Gold will help them become better individuals, will strengthen their spirits and will hopefully bring out the best in them. Encouragement and cooperation is key to their success too. We have always given them our full support and encouragement.
For Earl, we encouraged him to go out and sell the ukay-ukay clothes himself. We said to him. "Earl, you have to do it to know the business. You cannot be a CEO and not know how to sell your product properly.
We know that the school can still do a lot of things to improve how this project is run so that the children and their parents will truly realize the full potential and the benefit of Gift of Gold. Just like any new business, our children are all going through birth pains. As they say, "No Pain, No Gain."
If we start our kids early, they will realize that they can become better individuals by enriching their knowledge, by helping others with what they know, and by being there to lend a helping hand to those who are in need.
Then and only then will they know how to appreciate the true taste of the chocolates in the box when opportunity knocks.
Labels: beneficiary, business, children, CIE, family, gift of gold, parents
posted by Centre for International Education @ 1:37 AM
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