Sat 28th Aug

It was my first trip to the T.H.E Senior at Kallang that day. My friend and I met up to join the crowd at Kallang Mrt station to be led to T.H.E Senior. Honestly, I do not know what to expect. I do not know how we are going serve the elderly. And, I am kinda worry if i can communicate well with them.

Upon arrival at the location, we were briefed on our job scope and after which we are splitted into groups according to dialect. We move on from there to visit the elderly in their one-room flat.

We started off by helping to tidy up their room. After which, we settled down and have a chat with them. As verified with the CSC seniors, the care centre at the void deck closes on weekend. Our job there is important to keep the elderly accompanied and to lend a listening ear to them. It is actually quite surprising that the elderly are opened up to us. They could talk about almost anything. It is interesting to listen to their stories and their perspective of life.

It was an enjoyable trip for me and I believe this won't be my last visit.

-derrick-

My 1st experience =)

Hi all, I am going to depart for my 2nd orientation of T.H.E Seniors in few hours time. So just let me briefly share about my experience during my 1st orientation last week. =)

After meeting the senior volunteers at Kallang MRT station, actually I felt kinda nervous because that was the very first time I joined home visits. However, this feeling gone off when I found that the senior volunteers are very helpful. So do not feel hesitate to join. There are always seniors to guide us. =)

So after being separated into different groups, we started the home visits. =D

We helped them to do some simple house chores, for examples sweep the floor, wipe the windows etc. As I expected to see a very very messy house, so I am quite surprised that their house were actually clean enough (cleaner than my room?) LOL.

I found Madam Chua, the 1st elderly I visited very interesting. When she answered to our door, she started to grumble, 'come so early, I want to rest' (something like that), but actually I can feel her happiness when we helped her to clean her house, and ya when we talked with her, she is warm and friendly. She even teaches us poker card divination!

This went the same for the 2nd elderly we visited. She is a senior that very easy to get along with. =) During chit chatting session, she actually told us a joke, (if I did not interpreted wrongly) and she laughed so happily that even though I cannot catch the humour in it, I still laughed from my heart. Hahahaha..

I really (I mean really really) had a wonderful day with the elderly last week. Although at first I feel very odd, do not know what should I do, but our senior volunteers guided us and make me feel belonging. Again, do not feel hesitate to join us. =)

These elderly look very okay to live alone,and they seem to be fine with their life, but somehow I feel that they just trying to be brave. So I will keep joining this activity as I feel like listening to them and keep them accompany. I thought I am the one who will brighten up their day, but actually they make my day. A smile always carve on my face whenever I think of their smile. =) I am looking forward to organize and join them for the coming mid-autumn festival!

Thank you T.H.E Seniors! =)

Cheer,
Jun

Went for my first visit with T.H.E Seniors volunteers! :) It was my first time volunteering with the elderly, so I really didn't know what to expect. The elderly whom we visited live in one-room flats, some living alone. I learnt that just being there for these elderly and interacting with them made a whole lot of difference to their lives.

Initially, I thought that it would be difficult to start a conversation with them due to our big generation gap. However, I realised that they talk about almost anything under the sun, from their favourite pasttimes to modern TV shows. Mr Tan, one of the elderly we visited, was able to talk to us about a lot of current news which really amazed me! It was a joy listening to their experiences as well, such as the activities they took part in. The warm greetings received when we visited them, and seeing the cheerful look on their faces as they recounted their experiences touched me. Deespite the fact that some of the elderly experience loneliness, they never took it in their stride and instead spread warmth and cheer to those around them. This was a valuable learning point that I took home with me that day :)

These elderly are lonely and sometimes all they really need to be happy is to have someone to listen to their happy experiences as well as their woes. I'm glad I was part of T.H.E Seniors last week spending time with the elderly. It was a fruitful experience and worth the few hours off the afternoon. I wished I could have interacted more with them, and help them out in other areas as well, such as helping them with some chores as they are frail and need our assistance in these areas.

Also, thank you T.H.E Seniors volunteers for making that day a fun and enriching experience for us who went for the first time! :)

Charmaine :))

Orientation Visit on 21 August 2010

Today was my first home visit with T.H.E. Seniors. :)

Although I’ve worked with the elderly in the past, I still felt nervous (but excited) about it. Our seniors brought us to different houses where we helped the elderly clean their homes and chatted with them. I was unsure of what I had to do initially but as we progressed to the other houses, I got the hang of how things worked. Perhaps as it was my first time meeting the old folks, I found it hard to start a conversation with them. Luckily for their friendly disposition, they started the ball rolling and the atmosphere was less awkward. But I’m sure that after subsequent visits, we’ll get to know each other better and enjoy each other’s company.

After listening to some of the life stories of the elderly, I realised that some of them are more fortunate than others, in the sense that some had family members to rely on. Although they lived apart, I am comforted that at least their family members do visit them (though not frequent) and not leave them in the lurch. The elderly always tell us that at their age, they need to let go and take things easy. However I could feel that they were just putting on a brave front and actually trying to comfort themselves. This made me want to continue being there with them to give them a listening ear and set their minds aside from the troubles they may have.

It’s been a meaningful day for me and I’m looking forward to future visits! :)

Yinmin

Orientation Visits 2010

Hi all!

T.H.E. Seniors Orientation visits will be held on 21st and 28th August 2010. Meeting time and place will be 10am at Kallang MRT station.

Whether you have an interest in volunteering with the elderly or you're still undecided, do feel free to attend the orientation visits and experience for yourself what we do because there's only so much we can tell you.

Give yourself and the elderly a chance!

I dare say that it will be an extremely meaningful experience :)

Hope to see you all there!

For any further enquiries, please contact Darren at nuscsc.t.h.e.s@gmail.com

OMGZ. its already 1 year in T.H.E.SENIORS! really enjoyed my days with T.H.E.SENIORS ; beautiful memories from the regular visits, special events etc. Still remember i started out as a loner in t.h.e.seniors, joined the club alone without knowing anyone else... NOW. I THINK IM IN LOVE WITH T.H.E.SENIORS. wanna thank everyone in t.h.e.seniors.

• margaret - standby to receive my "I will be late for visit" sms every visit, then inform me which group to join after i've reached. thanks! (P.S. I HAVENT GOT MY CLAIMS!)
• zhenxiu - for being so naggy! ensure me n huiting will complete our work!xiexie! i rmb you were the first senior i talked to. then i got cheated to join the committee. haha!
• huiting - my first love in t.h.e.seniors! thanks for spending so many nights with me, trying to come out with fun games (okay we're not tt creative) for the elderly!
• karen (ken+darren) - wonderful ppl to bully. whenever need ideation and last minute logisitics you guys (erm,karen is a gal?) will help out! arigato!
• yewchin - haha! thanks for helping w the claims! and all the extra work you did beyond treasurer! never see you get angry before! can show it to me next visit? =D
• wenping- spending time to send emails before every visit (thanks! cos i will really forget when is the visit) and sign off as "see ya" when i dont get to see you (you know what i mean)!
• rongsheng - helping out as emcee! (you cld have rejected us!) . thanks!. eeeeeh.. you coming this sat?!
• shitien - making me curious about ur forehead so i'll go for every visit to investigate. (so are you baoqingtian or harry potter?)
• jerome - great minds think alike. HEY PEOPLE. JEROME N MY BIRTHDAY COMING! RMB HOR!
• chenhua - weeeeee. without you i wouldnt have so many curry chicken meals! thanks arrrrrh! (drooling now)
  

ARH! the list is too long! but yea! thanks to everyone in t.h.e.seniors - student volunteers, special project helpers, touch volunteers, and of cos! our wonderful elderly =D

okay, i sound like im leaving t.h.e.seniors and writting my last letter to everyone. choy. i will continue to force myself wake up at 9.30am to go for visits (so who can take over margaret to recieve my sms? darrreeen? peijen dont get bullied by him okay! hehehe). and yup! i wont 4get to attach my picasso-standard drawings to my post!

Regards,
Wynne
A+++++++ artwork again!

Visiting on 7th August

It was my first visit as I am new member of the THE Seniors. I first went to Mdm Poh’s house. She was fluent in Hokkien, Cantonese, Malay and she knows quite a bit of English. I was in charge of cleaning the windows. Within minutes, I broke the handle of the window and one of the screws dropped to the ground floor. Thankfully she wasn’t particular and she explained that it was already broken. After recovering the screw, I tried to fix it back but to no avail. We then spent the rest of the time chit chatting. She made an effort to talk to me although I was new. I guess I had already made an impression.

The next house belongs to Mdm Tan. Her house was bright, clean and tidy. I guess Mdm Tan likes to keep things in order. There wasn’t much to clean so we soon find ourselves talking to her. Looking around her house, I realized that her only form of entertainment is a radio. Furthermore, she has poor vision. One can imagine that her daily routine must be pretty mundane. Unfortunately we could not spend a longer time with her as we had to gather outside the centre.

Overall it was an enriching experience. I found it gratifying and worthwhile to have spent some time with the elderly.

Ying Cong