Who does Project Yangon serve?
We serve villagers in Shwe Pyi Thar, a few years back there was a fire and they had to relocate to Shwe Pyi Thar so a lot of them missed out on basic health facilities. A lot of them are factory workers, or children who financially speaking don’t have the resources, so we thought we could just provide some basic services to them health-wise so they’re more aware of their health and they know how to take care of themselves. We provide health education and screenings, and carry out a health ambassador programme. Through the health ambassador programme, we hope that Shwe Pyi Thar will eventually become self-sustainable.
Can you tell us about the ongoing donation drive?
The donation drive has already started and it will continue till one week after CA3. We don’t only target the medical faculty, we also want to target the other faculties such as nursing so that we can maximise the donation. We do not have any restrictions on size. Apart from clothes, we won’t mind soft bags and non-soft toys. We are hoping that people can donate over this month. The clothes and items collected act as an incentive to get the villagers to come and listen to the health advice and health education that we offer.
How can someone donate?
We have collection boxes inside the house rooms because we are not allowed to place boxes outside. Based on experience, people who had a lot of stuff to donate contacted us directly so that we could go and collect the clothes from them. We also have booths set up in MD1 Level 2, within house rooms 6, 7, 8 and 10 tentatively. We will probably make another announcement to confirm the location.
What are you looking forward to this new year?
My plan for 2017 is to not only do well in Med, but to also give time to cricket because I have been playing cricket since the age of 7. Towards the end of last year, I got a chance to represent the national team, so I hope to get the opportunity again this year.
For me, it was a dream come true because I’ve never thought that I would be able to be part of the national team since it was really competitive. I felt really honoured. I have been living in Singapore for a really long time and have been given a lot of opportunities. Hence, being able to give back to the country through something that I’m passionate about feels really good. Right now, I’m playing for the NUS cricket team.
Fun fact: Abhi didn’t have a surname until 2013 so it was just Abhinav and he was always register number 1. In 2013 he decided that if he were to go to the US they might be suspicious about his lack of a surname, hence he got a new passport with a new name (that included his dad’s surname).