Hello, my name’s shurui and I’m a
new volunteer with T.H.E.S! My group, consisting of Jocelyn, Chaur Ann, Jia Qi,
Yingshuen and myself, visited Mdm Tan on 1st Sept. Upon entering,
Mdm Tan greeted us cheerfully yet a tinge of sadness lingered on in the
atmosphere, a result of her encounter that morning where she was reminded of
her partial loss of sight. She felt she was accused of being greedy as she
didn’t realize that her meal had already been passed to her and hence, was
waiting for it.
Mdm Tan’s flat was exceptionally
clean and not the least bit cluttered with unwanted items as I would have imagined
- a common issue with some elderly. However, she complained of her floor being
sticky and thus Jia Qi and I helped to sweep and mop the floor. In addition,
Chaur Ann and Yingshuen wiped the windows while Jocelyn chatted with Mdm Tan.
Upon finishing with the cleaning, we joined in the conversation too. We chatted
with her on a range of topics, including keeping a pet as a companion which
evoked a huge reaction from her.
At times, I found her quite adorable
when she giggled, folded her arms across her chest, leaned back against her
chair and maybe, pouted slightly. This genuine childlike laughter warmed my
heart and truly made the mere 3hrs at her place memorable. I was also quite
fascinated to seeing an elderly being shy (She doesn’t hang her clothes to dry
when volunteers are around!!). It showed me that there isn’t much difference
between the elderly and us. They, too, have their moments of joy and
discouragement.
During the interaction with Mdm Tan,
I felt quite handicapped as I wasn’t able to understand and contribute much to
the conversation although I could roughly decipher the topics touched on. But what is this compared to the difficulties
that these elderly are faced with? Lastly, as much as we are volunteering to
help the elderly with household chores and keeping them company, they are also
offering us an invaluable experience of a lifetime. I’ll definitely be going
down again the next visit! (:
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