Author: seamless

Little Wafiy is a happy three-year-old boy who lives with his parents and three elder brothers. His father is the sole breadwinner of the family and works as a building technician to support the family while his mother cares for him and his siblings at home. 

All was well till one fateful day in April. Wafiy was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Wafiy’s parents were devastated when they heard the news. They did not understand how Wafiy could have Leukaemia as there was no family history of cancer! They were also worried that he may not survive the ordeal. 

To help them cope with their distress, a CCF social worker stepped in to provide counselling and support to Wafiy’s parents. CCF also matched them with a volunteer caregiver buddy so they could hear first-hand the experiences of other caregivers who went through similar situations. For Wafiy, it was difficult for him to understand why he had to be at the hospital and to go through the treatments. A CCF Childlife worker helped Wafiy cope with his medical procedures such as finger pricks and injections through lots of medical and distraction play. Since then, Wafiy has been mentally prepared and coping well with his medical procedures. 

Wafiy’s medical bills were steadily increasing with treatment and frequent hospitalisation. Coupled with additional expenses from lifestyle changes to cope with Wafiy’s condition, the family could barely make ends meet. The care of three other siblings also became a concern as Wafiy’s mother had to be with him whenever he was hospitalised. 

CCF provided Financial Assistance such as monthly food and transport vouchers to help Wafiy’s family cope with some of their day-to-day expenses. Our social worker also referred his siblings to a students’ care centre so that they could receive better after-school care and homework supervision while their mother cared for their youngest brother. 

Currently, Wafiy has completed all his intensive treatments. He is still undergoing outpatient chemotherapy as part of maintenance of his condition but is doing well. Wafiy’s caregivers intend to enrol him into CCF PALS in May 2022 so their little one can have some fun with peers his age.

Read more inspiring stories of our CCF stakeholders at https://www.ccf.org.sg/humansofccf/index.html.

In 2013, Nazri Arshad, was diagnosed with Leukaemia. He was only 16. Both his parents lost their cleaning jobs trying to stay by his side. After a two-year ordeal undergoing multiple surgeries, chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, Nazri was cancer-free in 2015 and returned to school. 

“To be honest, some people would be crying and upset about this,” said Nazri. “But for me, I didn’t feel anything. I just feel that this is just a test from God, and that I just need to respect what He is asking me to go through. I believe that if God wants to take you through this experience, He will guide you. It is important to think positive!” 

His optimism played a big part in helping him beat the illness. Despite hurtful comments from a fair share of his friends, Nazri’s indomitable spirit allowed him to look past their ignorance. “I had a friend tell me, ‘Go away, I’m scared you’ll pass your virus to me’ while another said, ‘Oh, I thought you died already’. But I ignored them. I refuse to allow their words to get into my head.” 

Fast forward to 2020: Nazri and his family’s financial situation was hit hard once again by the COVID-19 pandemic as his parents lost their jobs one after another. Nazri stepped up during the circuit breaker to help his family make ends meet, working as a food delivery rider by day and packer by night. 

Despite his hardships, Nazri found time to give back during the recent Hari Raya festivities. With what little he had, he baked and sent Raya cookies to low-income families who were also going through a tough time during the pandemic. He even got his delivery rider friends who had lost their jobs during the circuit breaker to deliver the cookies.

He explained: “A few families asked if they could pay me but I told them to donate directly to CCF instead. I refused their money because my aim is to help people. Many of my friends said I was wasting my money but I told them that I didn’t think of it that way.” Nazri encouraged others to reciprocate his goodwill with a donation to CCF because he appreciated CCF’s support at every step of his childhood cancer journey. 

Nazri used to visit the Family Resource Centre at CCF@KKH, a playroom with games and books, when he felt well enough. CCF volunteers would always be there if he needed someone to talk to or play with, something he is incredibly grateful for. Besides emotional support, CCF helped Nazri financially with his medical, transport, school, food and maintenance needs. 

As part of its Back-to-School programme, CCF also organised sessions with Nazri’s school to discuss his learning and schooling needs due to his medical condition. Nazri also received various CCF Education Awards for three years. Till today, Nazri still calls CCF his “second family”.

Read more inspiring stories of our CCF stakeholders at https://www.ccf.org.sg/humansofccf/index.html.

When Isabel developed an unexplained prolonged fever and an enlarged spleen, her parents, Agnes and James, were extremely worried. Their oldest son had passed away at the age of eight after experiencing the same symptoms. 

Upon the doctors’ recommendation, the Tan family underwent a series of genetic tests as they suspected that what Isabel had was Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a rare type of illness which is fatal if not treated. To their horror, the tests confirmed that Isabel had familial-HLH due to defective genes – one from each of her parents who are carriers of this gene. It was also the cause of her late brother’s passing. 

“We were devastated,” shares Agnes. “Everything was so overwhelming!” 

With a bone marrow transplant being the only cure, James stepped in as a donor, while Isabel underwent some treatments including chemotherapy in preparation of the transplant. Shortly after, her beloved waist-length hair began to fall out in clumps. To help her cope, CCF referred Isabel for play therapy sessions. Through role play with a doll, CCF play therapist, Joanne, helped Isabel come to terms with her hair loss and she eventually allowed a nurse to shave off her remaining hair. 

During the course of her treatment, Isabel had to go through a series of blood tests and managed to endure them without crying. “Even the nurses were surprised by how brave she was!” says Agnes proudly. 

Thankfully, the bone marrow transplant went smoothly and she was discharged after a month. While she was happy to be home, life for her changed completely. The usually active girl had to stay in a sterile room 24/7 and be kept away from her older brother, Joel. The separation was hard for the pair who were used to playing together.

Luckily, CCF was there for the family. From pre to post-treatment, CCF social workers, Esther, Sarah and Gabby, journeyed with Isabel and her parents, and surrounded Joel with special support for siblings of children with cancer. “We are so grateful for CCF. They showered Isabel with many gifts, supported Joel throughout Isabel’s treatment, and also regularly checked in on us to make sure we were okay,” says Agnes. 

Since May 2020, Isabel has been attending CCF’s Place for Academic Learning and Support (PALS) classes, which are held virtually over ZOOM. “It’s fun! I like the cooking and arts and crafts lessons, and Teacher Sophie,” exclaims Isabel, now six. Well on the road to recovery, the bubbly Shopkins fan is full of hope for the future. “I want to be a ballerina!” she shares excitedly. “I want to dance, dance, dance!” Reflecting on the last two years, Agnes has this advice for fellow caregivers: “Keep the faith. Pray and don’t give up because miracles will happen.”

Read more inspiring stories of our CCF stakeholders at https://www.ccf.org.sg/humansofccf/index.html.

Human complexity and diversity makes the social work industry a particularly challenging field to work in. TRIBUTE goes behind-the-scene with Ng Hwee Chin, Head of Direct Services at CCF to find out more about her passion to serve and insights of the profession!

1. Can you describe what your job entails at CCF?

As Head of Direct Services at CCF, my job covers a wide range of duties. It includes direct case management for the palliative and bereaved (P&B) families, development of programmes under the P&B Services, overseeing the overall service delivery in CCF, provision of in-house training and supervision (casework, clinical, administrative and on-site), streamlining work processes across the psychosocial teams to facilitate effective management of resources and liaison with working partners (inclusive of regional partners).

2. Why did you choose social work or what path led you to the profession?

During my six month stint at a vacation job in a multinational company, I met many highfliers who made work a priority and shared a common sentiment that they had money but no time to spend. Some of the staff even went back to work on the first day of Chinese New Year. I was a commerce student then and I started to wonder if that was the type of life I wanted for myself and “No” was the answer.

I thought I would like a more meaningful job where I could be of help to others so I decided to major in Psychology. I was not intending to become a social worker then. I was interested in Psychology and I thought social work was a good fit to Psychology since both subjects were offered by the same faculty. Hence, I chose to study Social Work.

I was inspired to become a social worker after my second internship in one of the restructured hospitals. I met a very good clinical supervisor who taught me a lot about the social work practices and issues in a hospital setting, and clinical considerations such as transferences and counter-transferences, etc.

In addition, I liked the learning opportunities available in the hospitals. I picked up medical, nursing and other illness-related knowledge beyond social work. Hence, I became a Medical Social Worker after I graduated from NUS and eventually started to develop my interest in working on cases in paediatrics.

3. What, in your opinion, is the primary role of a social worker? How does one lay the groundwork for that role and then deliver on that?

In my opinion, social workers are like the tug boats that help tow and navigate vessels in shallow waters to reach the shipyard for maintenance or other purposes. After the maintenance or completion of the task, the tug boats will send the vessels out to the open sea so that these vessels can continue on their own voyages.

We support the clients by walking them through difficult moments when their internal and external resources do not allow them to address their current issues. Once resolved and addressed, we send them off with our best wishes for them to continue on their life voyages.

For me, it is important for social workers to be equipped with the necessary aptitude and skills set to help others. The focus of our work is always on the client’s interest and well-being. As such, we must always keep abreast of clinical developments, exercise mindfulness on whether our services are meeting the client’s needs and look out for our personal well-being.

The development of social work skills is an art. It takes conviction and time to become a proficient helper. The former is very important as there will constantly be challenging and tiring moments. Knowing why and what we are doing are important for a social worker to continue to stay clear minded and persevere.

4. What changes do you think the profession of social work can benefit from?

I feel that the industry is facing a shortage of social workers and there should be more provisions to encourage more new entrants into the industry.

For instance, I have been wondering if existing tertiary institutions can introduce new social work courses or make exceptions in their entry requirements such as grades and minimum entry age to boost the intake numbers. We are building more health care facilities and scaling up our social services to address issues of a growing and aging population. We are, however, not producing enough new social workers to address the expanding social issues that come along.

5. Do you have any tips to share with those who aspire to enter and succeed in social work?

Every client is different with their own personality and a life story unique to them. Even siblings brought up in the same family are different. Hence, provision of social work support is never straight forward nor cast in a ‘template’ and that translates to the need for constant learning. One must be prepared for a steep learning curve in order to be a proficient professional helper. It is also important that we strike a balance with good self-care practices.

For me, this is a very challenging job but I am always thankful for the privilege to be able to journey with others.

6. Leave us with a quote that you live by!

Everyone should live life to the fullest!