From the Electric New Paper in Singapore:Thanks to their teacher, what started out as a fun project is now a Co-curricular Activity (CCA) in their school.
And it has become a way for them to help the disabled by converting their wheelchairs into motorised ones.
Best of all, the students, mainly from the Foundation Course (formerly known as EM3), are enjoying themselves while learning new skills.
The students were the main reason Mr Teo Tee Meng, 64, a teacher in Jiemin Primary School, started the Rainbow Club in 2003.
About 15 of his Primary 5 EM3 pupils joined the club as their CCA then.
During the club meetings every Friday afternoon, the pupils would do science experiments and art and craft work, learn how to use simple tools safely, and even pick up domestic skills, such as making sandwiches.
Shortly after, Mr Teo's friend, Mr Steven Yeo, who was in his 50s, approached him to convert his manual wheelchair into a motorised one.
Mr Yeo, who had polio when he was young, found it very tedious to wheel himself in his manual wheelchair for 30 minutes to get from his home in Woodlands to Causeway Point to take the MRT.
Mr Teo agreed to help him and got to work with his pupils.
The project took about three months and during that time, they experimented with various solutions and finally came up with the idea of a second-hand electric scooter.
Modifications were made to the electric scooter before mounting the manual wheelchair on it. Two 12-volt batteries were attached to the scooter and the motorised wheelchair was completed.
The parts, inclusive of the second-hand electric scooter and battery, cost about $195.
This is really cheap compared to a regular motorised wheelchair in the market, which costs about $2,000.
Mr Yeo was overjoyed when presented with the motorised wheelchair in July 2003.But the group didn't stop there. The next year, they helped a wheelchair-bound teen, Daniel Seah, who was 13 then, to convert his wheelchair into a motorised one.
And two years after that, Mr Teo met Mr Lim Huat Tuan, who was with his daughter, by chance at Bishan Park.
Mr Lim, 56, became wheelchair-bound after surgery to remove a growth in his spine in 1997. His daughter, Madam Ann Lim, 34, a delivery woman, asked Mr. Teo to help build a motorised wheelchair for her father.
Mr Teo agreed, and three months later, presented Mr Lim with the motorised vehicle.
Mr Lim said: 'My life is better now as I could go further from my house without tiring myself.'
The battery for his motorised wheelchair, which costs about $60, can last for about 1 1/2 years.
Mr Teo said that the school helps to maintain the motorised wheelchair for Mr Lim.
Rainbow Club now has 20 pupils from the Primary 5 Foundation stream.
Mr Teo said: 'It is a way to keep the pupils usefully engaged in learning certain skills and in contributing to society. It also helps to raise their self-esteem.'
Bryan Lim, 11, a Primary 5 pupil, feels proud that he and his classmates are able to help the disabled.
Being a member of the club was better than 'hanging out with friends at their places', he said.
Zulhairi Zaini, 11, agreed. His parents support his Rainbow Club activities as 'they know that I am doing something good to help people'.
