My 1st time writing here too. :)
Today we visited Mdm Tan Ah Kim (haha, I knew her name from peeping at the lunch box they delivered), Mr Ong and another senior (by the cantonese group).
Was pretty apprehensive about what I could contribute at first or how I was going to interact/communicate with the elderly, but the experience turned out to be fantastic. :)
Fairly surprised by how receptive and hospitable they were, considering that we arrived in such a big group and was taking up so much space in their houses.
The other thing that touched me was how even though some of the seniors (i mean CSC seniors here! ) have graduated, they still came to visit the elderly (... and surprise surprise, there's even an NTU guy in the group haha). You guys were amazing the way you could joke and connect with them so effortlessly and being so thoughtful (checking Mr Ong's fridge for food turned bad, cleaning up of his house and offering to buy necessities).
That would be the spirit we newbies would hope to cultivate as we interact with the elderly more. :)
It was pretty heart-aching though, to hear Mdm Tan lamenting how the worsening of her eyesight has affected her and Mr Ong mentioning how he had fell down once along the corridors/stair and luckily, was carried back up to his apartment by someone.
It opened me up to the possibilities that we could just be facing the realities that these elderly face (a worsening eyesight/mobility problems or being left alone) when we grow old ourselves one day. I guess having a positive attitude when faced with these challenges would be crucial to our mental & emotional health. :)
It didn't feel like we were doing much (asking repeated questions) but the faces on the elderly showed how much our presence meant to them. Mdm Tan's 'huh?! ' face when we told her we had to leave definitely left a huge impression on me. What these elderly really yearn for is accompaniment.
Anw, I do have some questions and suggestions...
The estate that they are living at looks pretty new (or maybe its the paint), where did they stay prior to living here? Some of the elderly have surviving family that doesn't seem so distant (at least from what i gathered), y are they living by themselves then? Do their families visit them?
On the bus back to Kallang MRT I began thinking about what games we could play with the elderly despite their physical limitations and 2 ideas came to mind (u guys probably have thought bout them already though).
With Mdm Wang, we could perhaps play Pass The (hokkien) Message and the ppl who got the message wrong would have to sing a verse in hokkien.
With Mr Ong, haha, maybe something related to Spore. eg. word games ( sg food item names) or true/false questions..
just some suggestions that probably can be refined and acted out so we wouldn't be faced with sitting around and not knowing what to do sometimes.
Paiseh, this post sounds more lyk a personal reflection than a post about the happenings. my train of thoughts tend to work this way. :\
haha, so in conclusion, it was an eye-opening and definitely fruitful session n i look forward to joining u all on future visitations!
C u guys around! :) - Amelia -
