First Visit

So here's my blog entry about my first visit with T.H.E.seniors. It was the first time I have done volunteer work with elderly, and I feel that it has been a truly enriching experience.

The elderly that has left me the deepest impression would be Kam Por. It was the second place we visited after Mr Tan's. When we reached, I saw Margaret sitting on the floor, chatting animatedly with Kam Por. Turned out that none of us could speak Cantonese, except for HanYu, so he was busy being the translator for the rest of us that day.

I thought that Kam Por was very cute, in that she tried to keep the conversation going by speaking Hokkien (and then alternating between Hokkien and Cantonese when she couldn't find the words) and repeating some of her stories. It seemed that she enjoyed our company, although we couldn't really communicate "fluently", but I felt that our presence there really did make a difference, especially with Margaret & another girl (sorry my memory is like dory's..) who entertained her by talking about food haha!

I also learnt some interesting stuffs, like using vinegar as a substitute for detergent to mop the floor, and the correct way of mopping the floor haha! But I do have some questions, do these elderly choose to live alone by choice or what? I know they have children who visit, but why are they staying alone? As mentioned by Kam Por, she can't really cook much since she's staying alone, luckily her friend who lives in the same block brings food for her sometimes.

Another thing I have noticed is that all other volunteers really put in effort to interact with these elderly. Like when we reached Mr Tan's, PinChuan asked about his health etc, and at Kam Por's, HanYu was really observant, he noticed Kam Por kept rubbing her leg and asked if it hurts and stuff. And at Mrs Tan (um, the third place..), some guys attempted to sing Hokkien songs for her and after that Amelia suggested something like downloading and learning a Hokkien song so that everyone could sing along during the next visit. Gestures like that really touched me, and it's really good that everyone cares so much :)

Okayyy time to go back to work =.= cya

-jiamin