The Pre-YEP activity was one of the first few times that I was working with people with disabilities. Initially, I was afraid of working with them especially since I was one of the group leaders. But at the beginning when we were just interacting with them, I didn’t feel as nervous as I thought I would be! The session got better as time passed. While doing the plane activity, one of the guys was entertaining the rest of the table most of the time. We shared our dreams and resolutions that we wrote on the plane, and I came to realize that we should not look down or think lowly of PwD. All of us have about the same goals and want to achieve about the same things. It told me that PwD have hopes and dreams too, and I am sure that they will fight as hard as we will to chase after our dreams.
I feel that inclusion is very important because only when we are working with PwD do we get to understand them more. Therefore I am really grateful for this pre-YEP activity, because it made me feel better and more confident when going over to Cambodia to work with PwD there.
I think the people in Cambodia are more open to PwD compared to us here in Singapore. It might probably be because the ratio of PwD and people with no disability are higher. PwD would be a more common sight in Cambodia then.
Looking at how much I’ve learnt and experienced so far, I really can’t wait to work with the people in Cambodia, especially the PwD! I am sure that all of us will grow and learn together as one YEP team and that stronger friendships would be built throughout these 2 weeks.