“A few days before the trip, I was so afraid that I might not be able to lead and meet the expectations of the TDT participants! I searched for information regarding turtles and terrapins from the “almighty internet” to prepare myself for any questions that might be raised by the participants.”
It was an amazing experience, being able to witness the nesting of a Green turtle. First, the turtle digs a body pit big enough for her to be comfortable in. Then, she carves an egg chamber for the eggs. When she is ready, she lays her eggs, 2-3 eggs at a time, and then she covers her egg chamber. Before leaving the nest behind, she sand bathes for about an hour, in an attempt to camouflage her nest. The entire nesting process may easily take 3 hours to complete!
I have never been good with kids. I’ve always thought that kids were annoying. I couldn’t even bring myself to carry a baby. They will never listen to you and they wouldn’t do anything except play. Putting my ego away, I challenged myself to join TCS as an intern and SURPRISINGLY it was the best decision that I’ve made for my life.
To many people, it is actually quite a “crazy” thing to do, i.e. to go to another country and spend time volunteering for a local NGO. For me, I just felt that it was a very “natural” decision that my instinct told me to make as soon as I found out that TCS was looking for a few interns. I was so excited when I was shortlisted!
We organized a 3D2N programme for the students of People-To-People-International (PTPI) from Sri KDU Secondary School in conjunction with their annual Global Youth Service Day. Our activities included a gotong-royong (community service) and a Turtle Awareness Programme, and it was facilitated by two teachers, Ms. Chuah and Mr. Davey.
