Hi Everyone!!

Today is my first visit for THES. My initial expectation for today is that I have to help up with the cleaning of the beneficiaries' house. I always have this impression that the beneficiaries' houses are messy and filled with scraps materials. Therefore, I was prepared to do some serious housework. I am also aware that I may encounter difficulties communicating with the elderly as I am only familiar with English and Chinese languages (though I try hard to speak a few words in Hokkien).

My group visited Mr and Mrs Tan first. Contrary to my expectation, the house was well maintained and the couple spokes mandarin. They are very friendly and we did not encounter any difficulties throughout the visit. We helped to mop the floor by following instructions from Mrs Tan. After that, we helped to remove outdated decorations, which are inaccessible to them. We then chat with the couple. Mr Tan displayed good knowledge of the past events in Singapore and gave us a 'history lesson' on Singapore's histories. It was a good refresher on the stuff we learnt in school.

Our second stop was Mdm Wong's house. There were no housework that was needed to be done so we spent the whole visit keeping her company, chatting with her. She could only speaks Cantonese and I could not understand her conversation with my group members. I made attempts to laugh (without knowing the context) at appropriate time, taking cue from my group members' laughter to show that I am listening. The elderly also offered us water chestnut to eat. We played cards with her also. Even though I could barely comprehend the conversation my group had with her, I could feel that she enjoyed herself today. This is our goal.

These visits are largely beneficial for the elderly to know that there are people that care for them. Our helps are also imperative to ensure their well beings when helping them with stuff that would be otherwise be a challenge for them.

-Wee Chong