This is my first time volunteering at T.H.E.S which I must say is pretty different from my usual dealings with youths at YRS. Lets start with my first home visit to Mdm Cheng's house. I was kind of don't know what to say as I am not Cantonese trained. But when I first saw she was wheelchair bound, I was kind of shocked as she was alone at home, I kind of can feel that she is very happy to see us there as she stopped what she was doing to welcome us in her living room. Her house was relatively quite dusty, so we split up and swept and mopped the floor and cleaned the surfaces. Mdm Cheng wanted the floor to be dry after mopping, initially I was thinking what is the reason behind this. But I guess it is because that wet floors are not easy for her to move around with her wheelchair. The next thing that hits me during the visit at Mdm Cheng's house is that she is living with a couple. But when we asked if they took care of her and cleaned the house, she shook her head saying no.... I was thinking why are they so selfish. Luckily her son is living right opposite of her and can come and visit her when required. We continue listening to her while Camy do the talking and translate to us and left as she looked like she wanted to rest. I imagined myself being at her situation.no internet, wheelchair bound. I have been through a similar period after I went for a ligament operation. Luckily I have internet and entertainments. Or else I think I cant survive for long as things like bathing became a challenge.
Next, we went to visit Mdm Lim. I was told she do not like to stay at home, so we went to look for her at her block void deck. Initially we could not find her and started going to the coffee shop and market to look for her. Luckily we found her under another block with her friend. She is a cheerful lady and thankfully she speaks hokkien which I can partially understand. She is very funny as she said she will go wherever there is wind and thats the reason why she do not stay at home. She bought durians from the market as she said her grandsons are coming to visit her. I bet she is very excited about it and it is also great to know that her family is showing lots of care to her. ^^d What's interesting is that Mdm Lim's friend (nvr get to ask her name). She bought 1 whole durian to feed cats around their neightbourhood. One of the cat name is called LuLu. No wonder Mdm Lim said that they call her 猫妈 which is so funny. Mdm Lim is also a very "anything" person as we asked her what she likes to eat, she said no preference. When asked when will she be heading back home, she said she will go back when she feels like it. She even tried to lied to us about her age which tricked most of us especially Camy HAHAHA! We continue chatting with her and eventually we went back to gather with the rest of the group.
Next part of the activity is to go to Mr Lee's house for some bee hoon and 汤圆. And guess what, Mdm Lim is back to her block's void deck and as usual, sitting and chatting with her friend. (I guess the wind blew her back) XD. So we went to Mr Lee's house, can tell that he is a very fun loving and someone that cherish every moment in life, as he has lots of photos with all the different people he had come across with. He display the photos in a special formation which actually means something. first is "吟敏“ & ”爱心“. I guess he is very grateful about all the people that interacted with him (Especially the T.H.E.S people) and he even had nicknames for the different volunteers. This is a very heartwarming sight as Mr Lee definitely has a very young heart as he keeps joking with us and keeps offering his bee hoon to us. Although this is our first meeting, I can totally feel his gratefulness and his likes for people to come his house, as if I am his good friend. Too bad that I did not get to eat the 汤圆 that Jeremy and the fellow volunteers prepared as I have an appointment. But this visit definitely allow me to know more about volunteering in elderly sector. You feel more like you are their family member or friend instead of just helping. I guess that is why many of them is willing to sacrifice their weekend mornings, as to them, this is very enjoyable and refreshing ^^d
Benjamin Tan b^^d
23rd Dec 2012
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