Walk With HOME

By Juliet Ugay

It was an energy filled day as HOME celebrated its 11th year anniversary with a walkathon held at Garden’s By The Bay on November 29, 2015. Nearly 400 participants comprising of HOME staff, board members, volunteers, and migrant workers attended the event. The “Walk with HOME” event is the organization’s way of symbolizing the journey taken by each migrant worker that chooses to come to Singapore in search of opportunities to provide for their families. Since 2004, Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME) has provided assistance, advocacy and social integration services for migrant workers in Singapore. There are approximately 1.1 million migrant workers here. Every year, an estimated 3000 migrant workers received direct assistance from HOME. Their toll-free hotline, emergency shelters, vocational training, legal aid and health education are some of the important support services they are offering to migrant workers. However, HOME, a non-profit organization depends on donations from the public, as they do not receive any funding from the government to run its programs.

The ladies from the shelter rocked the stage with their opening dance number followed by an opening remark from HOME’s director, Jolovan Wham. The event was also graced by the presence of HOME’s founder Bridget Tan, who is now recovering from a stroke early last year. Natalia Goh, HOME’s President led the walkathon. It was a 3km fun walk. The excruciating heat didn’t stopped participants from enjoying the walk. Free lunches and drinks were served to the participants. There were also other activities to make the event more exciting and fun like the giant Jenga, giant snakes and ladders, photo booth, tug of war, balloon sculpting, spectrum art, ice cream and ice sticks booth, popcorn and candyfloss booths and a booth for JC Premier, who is one of the sponsors of the event. The afternoon activities include performances from different HOME groups. The event ended with happiness as HOME staff led by Jolovan Wham entertained the audience with their Hawaiian dance number. It was ended a fun day!