HELLO ALL!!! (: it is going to be a long post from me again! =x
we are back at Blk 61 and 62 at geylang bahru on the 13th Dec, the first visit after our study week and exams! =D
volunteers turned up to visit the seniors, our greatly missed elderly, who were waiting for our company~
I myself joined the canto group today, oh, fyi, my dialect is teochew, but i can understand ABIT hokkien, and canto ah.. cant understand at all. But i joined the canto group on sat, so that i can visit seniors i havent visited before! You should try it too! (:
and, sincere apologies, i must admit that i am late. =( sorry! i will try my best not to be late again, i think i need a Personal assistant to buzz me if i am late. =( just kidding, i just need to sleep early.
But anws, my first elderly visit was Mdm Chow Moi.
For those who haven't visit Mdm Chow Moi before (just like me, it is my very first time seeing her!), she is REALLY VERY CUTE!! =D she can speak both hokkien and cantonese, and with the help of Denise and Jasmine, i can understand what Mdm Chow Moi was trying to tell us.
When i reached her place, i saw Jasmine and Pin Chuan wiping the windows, Li Jie sweeping the floor, Min Hui and Chin Wei tidying the place and Denise and Yun Cai mopping the floor. (: So i walk around to explore the place.
We were amazed by the "antique" green fridge in Mdm Chow Moi's house, and Mdm Chow Moi speak a little about it. Mdm Chow Moi couldnt really remember about certain happenings in the past.
Then Mdm Chow Moi took the photos and frames on the fridge and cupboard and showed it to us. Some are individual photos of her, and a couple are pictures of her friend(s) by her side. There was this photo, Mdm Chow Moi was smiling, and the backdrop was the sea. Her hair was blown back, by the wind. So we asked her where the picture was taken, she could only remember that it was an organised trip by touch but cant really remember the destination.
Later, she "unlocked" her cupboard, and share with us two photo albums. I observed that Mdm Chow Moi locked her cupboard with twine. She locked her cupboard but securing the cupboard handles with twine, forming the '8' figure. And when she passed to me the albums, she was beaming, yet alittle shy. At that point, i feel that she wants us to know more about her, know abit of her past, she wants us to be part of her life. All these, through her photos.
The photos are dated around 10 years ago. It shows pictures of her at a carnival and during a trip, and pictures on the ship to the destination.
And one of the albums contains a newspaper cutting. It was dated 10 years back, she was 77 then, so now she is 87 years old. Mdm Chow Moi don't look 87 at all, she looks younger. She is really cute, the way she laugh and respond to some of our questions and comments really tickles me. (:
the newspaper cutting had just a short para on her, "she wants a transistor radio for the sharity giftbox (that was 10 years ago)", and a photo of her taken in the kitchen, infront of the sink. She looks so natural, so pretty, so her. I dont know how to describe, but that photo just reflects her daily life.
Some things i found out... =P
1. Mdm Chow Moi placed containers of black charcoal around her house, under her bed. This is to absorb the moisture in her place. We asked her about the charcoal, and.. Mdm Chow Moi finds us "kapoh". =( hahas! no lah, this is just one of the ways for us to know more about her! ((:
2. Mdm Chow Moi do not have teeth, not even dentures. She doesnt want to make one anyway. She just "break her food into smaller pieces and swallow them". But i feel that this isnt very good, as it takes longer time for her to digest. I think this is why she feels full easily? just a guess. She keep lauging it off, saying she is "bogay". But she really looks so cute! Mdm Chow Moi, petite, with short greyish hair, and she hides her mouth with her hands when she laughs.
3. Mdm Chow Moi's clothes are quite old, but they are very durable. She claims that "she wants her clothes to tear, also cannot". =D It is just very strong, and she likes wearing them cause she feels comfortable and "liang" (cooling) in it.
4. Mdm Chow Moi's back hurts sometimes, so she prefers to walk around her house. She doesnt want to sit for too long, as her back will hurt.
5. She has this reminder written on the traditional chinese calender ( those types that users tear away daily), "包十点". I guess it was written by someone? to remind her to go down and get her breakfast, which is a bun? random guess..
6. Lastly and MOST IMPORTANTLY!!! i feel that Mdm Chow Moi likes our presence. BUT!! ALERT!! Most of the times, she is at home, but she cant hear the knocks at the door. So she didnt know that the volunteers are there at the visit.
So the everytime we are there for visit, we have to knock harder at the door, and be sure she isnt at home, before we leave!! Yeaps!
Before we go, we told her that we will be back two weeks later, and took pictures of the whole group before we greeted goodbye.
We took not just one photo, but quite a number! All because we want to capture Mdm Chow Moi's smile! I think because we set the camera on timer mode, so when Mdm Chow Moi was smiling, the camera did not capture it. But when her smile fades off, the camera capture her looking "solemn and cool". =D So we try a few more times, and this time we tell her when to smile! hahas! But i am realy happy that we can take a picture of her smiling!
I can tell that she 依依不舍, dont want us to go. But we have to visit Kam Por, and we are late.. opps.
So my next stop was Kam Por's place. we didnt manage to visit Kam Por cause she was at the void deck waiting for her friend. So we chatted with Kam Por at the void deck and Denise offered her the chocolate she bought from Taiwan. (:
So yeaps. This is my experience on the 13th Dec. I shall upload pictures when the photos are up on picasa! Xin Yan took a group photo of Mr Tan and the volunteers too! =D
Marg wants to do sth. Marg wants to take group shots with the seniors' smile captured! And Marg gonna print them out and pass it to the elderly. So if you have a digital camera, you can bring it and take pictures! Snap Snap Snap, and we can develop them, frame it and pass it to the elderly. Cause i realised most of the times, we did Snap Snap Snap, but we did not develop them to the elderly. So we can do that from now on! =D just a suggestive idea.. pictures of YOU~
For the volunteers that are there, i hope u enjoyed yourself~ and for those who couldnt make it that day, i hope to see you on our subsequent visits!
Our next visit, which is on the 27th, will be our Christmas Visit! Ho Ho Ho! (: Merry Christmas! The season of joy and we shall spread them to the residents of geylang bahru!! Yays!
If you have any ideas what we can do to spread the little love, the little care and the little joy to our elderly, please voice up here at our blog or the yahoo group! I really really hope you can provide ideas/items that both the elderly and volunteers will like to celebrate Xmas'08!! =D
Thank you!
Hereby wishing everyone Happy Holidays and Happy Christmas!!
<3,
Margaret~
