The Singapore premiere of the documentary about a sanctuary using animal therapy to help troubled youths is part of a new initiative supported by NVPC that aims to bring people together to do good.
Singapore, 7 August 2017 – A Good Space, a community-curated initiative supported by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) will host the Singapore premiere of an independent documentary called Teach Me To Be WILD: A story of hurt children and their animal healers. Organised in collaboration with local startup, PlayMoolah, the film explores the work of a wildlife sanctuary in Northern California, where a team of injured wild animals help in the healing of at-risk teens.
This screening is one of eight events this month hosted by A Good Space, a new community engagement initiative supported by NVPC that aims to encourage people from all walks of life to come together to do good. It offers a refreshing calendar of events and programmes for the community to reconnect, refuel and be inspired. Past events include an interfaith and peace dialogue, a self-development session through playback theatre, a micro-volunteering project to make cards for hospital patients, a discussion that aimed to break down social-economic class barriers led by deaf facilitators and a youth-led conversation on race and the Singapore identity. Co-founder and Curator of A Good Space, Anthea Ong shared that A Good Space is a community-led effort to transform ordinary public spaces across Singapore into places of purpose. According to her, “A Good Space is a placemaking movement for integration and inclusion by the community, for the community – I see it as crowd-sourcing meets citizen engagement. With a diverse group of partners serving different needs of community, we are experimenting with the spaces in NVPC first for this seeding phase, focusing on the theme of ‘Expanding Perspectives, Inspiring Perspectives’. Our really big vision is to see A Good Space in different spaces across Singapore so that anyone anywhere can come and be in a good space anytime!”
Melissa Kwee, Chief Executive Officer of NVPC, says, “With the trend of co-working and co-living spaces, we thought it would be so nice to have a co-doing good space, and that’s what A Good Space is all about. We want to provide a platform for people to experiment with different ideas for doing good.”
Filmed over the span of three years at Wildlife Associates, a sanctuary to animals with traumatic histories, Teach Me To Be WILD: A story of hurt children and their animal healers shows the unexpected bonds forged as the animals and the troubled teens that visit them heal one another. The screening, will take place on Saturday, 12th August, 3.30pm. Attendees will also get to meet the youths who had volunteered at the sanctuary, and learn about their experiences.
Co-founder of PlayMoolah, Lee Min Xuan said that a visit last year to Wildlife Associates as part of the company’s MoolahExplore programme, an experiential learning programme that nurtures volunteerism in youths, made her realise that mental health issues faced by youths are seldom talked about in Singapore. She hopes the film can be a reminder for people to pause, reconnect with nature, with themselves and with each other.
A Good Space @ NVPC is centrally located at NVPC, 6 Eu Tong Sen Street, #04-88, The Central, above Clarke Quay MRT. It comprises of two multi-purpose halls and a cosy reception area,that are available for A Good Space community partners to use.
The film screening is free for the public to attend and can accommodate 60.Those interested can find out more here.
About A Good Space:
A Good Space is a new community-led initiative supported by NVPC with a vision of transforming ordinary public spaces into places of purpose. It offers a refreshing calendar of events and programmes by the community, for the community, to come together to reconnect, refuel and be inspired. To stay updated on our events, please connect with us on www.facebook.com/AGoodSpaceSG/
