Most Aidha students and alumnae will recognise Ting Claravall as the energetic emcee at our graduation ceremonies and events (both virtual and in-person!). But did you know that Ting has been with Aidha since the early years? A long-time volunteer who started in 2009, one of her first volunteering projects was producing Aidha’s first-ever graduation video! Ting was instrumental in spreading the word about Aidha, helping to grow our Facebook page and newsletter, together with the Aidha team back then. Ever since, she has played an active role in the Aidha community – as a mentor and also as an emcee for Aidha events and graduation ceremonies.
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Going the Distance for Aidha!
At the beginning of 2021, Singapore based Australian expat Andrew Smith decided to set himself a challenge – to cycle 5,000km for local charity, Aidha.
Andrew had always enjoyed cycling but took it up more seriously during the 2020 Circuit Breaker. He was going through a tough time with anxiety and started to cycle out in the mornings to see the sunrise. It allowed him to appreciate the little things and added routine to his life during a challenging period, something that he feels has improved his general health and mental wellbeing enormously.
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Volunteer Spotlight: Laura Zaccaria
As a passionate supporter of women’s empowerment and financial education, Laura Zaccaria was moved by Aidha’s mission and recognised that she could use her skills to support our programmes. Laura has been a volunteer mentor since 2015 after finding out about Aidha through her friend Prerana, who is also a seasoned Aidha volunteer. At the time, Laura was at a point in her life where she was trying to find something meaningful to spend her time on and channel her energy and volunteering with Aidha was just the right fit!
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Volunteer Spotlight: Niky Sakhrani
Aidha was officially launched as an independent entity in 2006 with our first intake of 25 students taught by Aidha founder, Dr Sarah Mavrinac, in a condominium function room. Chanchul Sakhrani, better known as Niky, is a very special volunteer who has been part of Aidha from those very early days.
Read MoreFriends for Keeps at Aidha!
Meenakshi Sanghi and Belinda Fowler became friends while studying to be English teachers and both joined Aidha as ‘Improve your English’ mentors soon after. Passionate advocates for women’s education, they love that as Aidha volunteers they can make a practical difference in students’ lives.
Meenakshi and Belinda are also office volunteers and they’re a great help in Aidha’s events and marketing campaigns.
Volunteer Spotlight: Will Teoh
Will Teoh started volunteering at Aidha eight or nine years ago. “I’d just graduated and decided that I should make good use of my time during the weekend with meaningful activities. Volunteering at Aidha was one of them”. Will shares one of his earliest Aidha memories, “At Aidha’s first school-house, students actually cooked in the house and they would simulate selling the food. I got the chance to taste some really good, local food from their home countries!” he laughs.
Written by Belinda Fowler
Volunteer Spotlight: Azmeen Ansar
Written by: Cynthia Luo
Since 2015, Azmeen Ansar has been mentoring classes that provide valuable basic computer skills to Aidha students. It is commonly the foundation that kickstarts many to overcome their lack of confidence in using computers and opens them to a whole new world of IT tools and the resources available on the internet.
An “Unspoken Life” Finds Its Voice
On December 15, 2017, Aidha launched its second photography exhibition under the banner of “Unspoken Life”. The opening night returned to the intimate Intersections Gallery on Kandahar Street, seeing members of the media and representatives from the Indonesian and Philippines embassies come together with corporate partners and Aidha supporters to celebrate the artistic creativity of foreign domestic workers in Singapore.
Written by: Alex Campbell
Chandni Chellappa, an All-rounder Volunteer!
Chandni’s enthusiasm for education can be seen when she’s mentoring in her class
Chandni Chellappa has long felt a desire to level the playing field for women. Born to progressive parents in Chennai, India, Chandni counts herself lucky that she was “allowed to grow in ways that perhaps other girls weren’t given the chance to.”
Written by: Sarah Datta
Meet the Team: Jeanne Bellec and Ida Supahat
The marketing duo of Aidha! They work closely to come up with ideas and strategy to improve Aidha’s brand awareness, outreach activities and fundraising. Read more and learn what kind of superpower Jeanne would like and what Ida aspires to be in the future…
Written by: Ida Supahat and Jeanne Bellec
