Just Like the First Visit to THES!

Luting and I visited Mdm Tan this morning, where she greeted us with her cheery and welcoming voice and smile. Upon entering her house, we proceed on with the usual sweeping, mopping and cleaning. After cleaning the place, we shared a light meal with Mdm Tan as she insisted the both of us to eat with her as she has too much food in the kitchen. It is normal for volunteers to feel "paiseh"or embarrassed, when the elderly offer a drink or snacks to us. However, I believe that it is alright to receive this small gesture of goodwill from them, as they feel happy when we are receptive to the things they offer:)

After which, we went on to talk about many things, such as the upcoming dumpling festival, the courses that we are studying, what she has been busy with recently, as well as other small talks in between. Looking back, it has been close to a year (around ten months to be exact), since my first visit to the elderly's place at Kallang Bahru. I vividly recall the moments during the first few visits, where I did not know what to say to the elderly, the unfamiliar faces of the various volunteers that came and the uncertainty as to what to expect. Looking back, it has been an awesome ten months with both the elderly and the volunteers. Every official visit seems like a meetup with friends, from the moment I stepped out of Kallang MRT Station, all the way to the end of lunch at the hawker centre. Meeting the elderly and interacting with them have also allowed me to be more understanding and more confident in communicating with the seniors. They consistently remind me why I went to the CSC outreach at the student lounge when I was in the first weeks in uni, why I went for the THES orientation, as well as wanting to be in the committee back then. The simple answer would be to allow more volunteers to have this awesome opportunity to interact with our elderly and through that, enriching their own personal lives and experiences.

When I was cleaning the window, I looked out of the house and noticed a scenery downstairs. Despite being there a handful of times, I never picture this image. I guess it shows that every visit is always like a first visit, in the sense that we find out something new about our elderly, our fellow volunteers and ourselves. Every visit is always a "first" visit:)

Cheers 

Kok Seng