Community impact at Yale-NUS College

At Yale-NUS College, many students are passionate about creating social impact and volunteering their time to contribute to local causes.

Go With The Flow (GWTF) is a non-profit organisation co-founded by several Yale-NUS students that aims to improve access to menstrual health for low-income families in Singapore. As part of their work, GWTF collects sanitary pads from donation boxes around Singapore which they then repack into care packages for beneficiaries.

“At GWTF, we believe that everyone should have equal access to menstrual products. Many of our beneficiaries had to resort to makeshift pads like toilet paper, and Go With The Flow believes that the provision of menstrual products is a way to provide them the dignity they deserve,” shared Kristina Gweneth (Class of 2024).

Beyond eradicating period poverty, GWTF strives to dismantle stigma surrounding menstruation. For example, GWTF participates in outreach events and creates educational content for their social media frequently. One of their first events was held at Yale-NUS College, where they set up a booth for the public to learn about period poverty and their work.

“During the baby days of GWTF, we needed a platform to try out a donation system for period products. The Yale-NUS community was very supportive and allowed us to place our first-ever donation box on campus – and this was where it all started.” Kristina shared.

Since their inception, the group has been featured on Channel News Asia and is currently raising funds for their beneficiaries with a merchandise sale on their website. The group shared that even beyond graduation, they hope to continue their work with GWTF.

ComPact is an official student organisation at Yale-NUS College dedicated to increasing student involvement in off-campus community service. Recently, they organised a fundraiser for Dementia Singapore, where they encouraged students to donate a minimum of one dollar to buy a piece of origami paper to fold into a paper crane. These cranes were then collected and displayed at the foyer of the College’s performance hall as an art installation.

Dementia is a cause Elizabeth Ong (Class of 2025), Exco member of ComPact, cares deeply about. “One of my best friends in Junior College used to tell me about how scary and difficult it was for his grandparents to keep waking up and not knowing the faces of their children and grandchildren. In Singapore, many elderly people with dementia don’t even have basic support systems, which can accelerate the deterioration of their basic abilities,” explained Elizabeth.

Elizabeth shared how she was inspired by community’s contributions to the fundraiser. For Elizabeth, ComPact is a bridge for an eager student body to contribute to the less privileged.

“It’s not possible to care for every cause without exhausting yourself. What we can do is to make sure that the people who want to contribute have a space to do so, and to bring the community together while we are at it,” Elizabeth said.

Billy Tran (Class of 2024), is an active volunteer with Project X, a non-profit organisation providing social, emotional, and health services to workers in the sex industry. Billy participates actively in the outreach activities organised by Project X.

“While I enjoy volunteering, I’m not expecting any large-scale impact with my work at Project X. I just hope that I’m able to help make a small difference in someone else’s life, be it assisting their legal troubles, advertising a free service at Project X, or just being a listening ear,” Billy shared.

As a Vietnamese student, Billy decided to volunteer more with the workers from Vietnam, as he empathises with them in their migrant experience. “I really wanted to help support the Vietnamese migrant community in Singapore, especially since I knew the language and wanted to make use of it. When the workers realise that I can speak Vietnamese, some open up and are rather happy to just talk with me.”