For the official visit on 12^th Oct, my group visited Madam Ho and Mr Lin.

When we first arrived at Madam Ho’s doorstep, we asked if Madam Ho was in and she jokingly replied ‘no’. As it was a first time visit to Madam Ho’s house for all 3 of us, we were stunned for a moment. However, an ex-volunteer was visiting her at that time as well and he welcomed us in. We started off by offering to help her clean up her house. We were not sure what was required, so Madam Ho gave us instructions on how to go about cleaning up such as clearing the dust from the mats and which brooms, mops and pails to use. After that was done, we sat down and chatted with her. I found out she can speak and understand many languages! She told us stories and offered us carrot juice to drink too. It was enjoyable listening to her share but soon it was time to leave. We bid our goodbyes and headed to Mr Lin’s house.

At first we did not know what to expect as we were told that Mr Lin might not be very welcoming. When we arrived, his relative was in his house and Mr Lin told us he was going out. However, his relative told him to stay behind so Mr Lin welcomed us in.  We offered to help him do some housework but he rejected and told us that there would be people coming over to help him too. So we sat down and chatted with him instead. He was rather cheerful that day and gladly talked to us about everything. He told us about his family in Indonesia, his daily activities, his preferences etc. It was eye-opening to hear Mr Lin’s insights on issues happening in the world today and his stories are very interesting too.

Overall, I had a great time visiting both Madam Ho and Mr Lin. They were both very friendly towards us. It was a meaningful experience!

-Michelle