22 May Visit!!!

Yo, I'm supposed to write a blog entry for last saturday's (22 May) visit!

1st place: Mdm Lim Ah Neo
She's feeling kinda depressed, cuz she had a fever the night before. Although her fever has subsided in the morning, she was still feeling a bit of discomfort. She shared with me how she cleared the fever by drinking a bottle of cold Yakult and then a packet of cold Soya Bean drink!

2nd place: Mr Tan (not Johnny)
My first time visiting him. Very friendly uncle. He's suffering from a prostate disorder. He likes watching TV and spends a lot of time doing that. When we were at his house, he was watching 'Zhong Yi Da Ge Da". He knows quite some bits on Mandopop idols!

3rd place: Mdm Tan
She requested that we help her with her house cleaning on alternate visits. We spent quite some time talking about her life experiences. She went through a lot of hardship in her various jobs when she was young. She told us that she was really happy that the town council has allowed her to stay in her current flat.

4th place: Mdm Lim Chuey
She 'complained' why we came to her house so late. I think next time we have to arrange our visit to her house between 11-12pm! We did the usual cleaning of chairs, windows and floors. Jerome did a very impressive job of wiping the chairs squeaky clean!

By Ah Hua

Hi guys!! I guess I should start with an introduction abt myself! =) I'm Wen Hui, a new volunteer with you guys =) but I'm from NTU. hahas. I have been staring at this page for super long!! (Still can't escape from blogging) =X Pardon me if this post is boring cause I'm not really good with words =(

Okay, I gave my first time to you guys ! LOL. My first volunteering experience. =) The day started with Mr Johnny Tan's home. Honestly, I’m impressed with his fluency in English language. He shared with me about his past experience though I couldn’t really make out what he was trying to say at times but I love his facial expressions when he was speaking. He looked so sincere about sharing his experience with us. It was REALLY warm that day yet he rotated the fan towards us. I'm touched with this little action of his because it reflects his appreciation towards us. <3

Next was a visit to Mr Chew's home and lastly Mdm Tan's home. Mdm Tan greeted us at the door with a warm smile =) We did some cleaning for her. I love the way she smile and talk to us, it really made me feels good about what I am doing.

Simple things that we do for a short duration could really help someone in need and bring smiles onto their face. I love this feeling of giving and making a difference. Thanks to you guys for opening the door to this wonderful experience! <3

-Wen Hui-

Overwhelmed with enthusiasm, smiles, and gratitude

Enthusiasm. It was really a wonderful experience last saturday to begin with. Totally overwhelmed by the elders' enthusiasm for the event. Their radiant smiles, warm greetings, and jovial laughter did hyped up the whole atmosphere thoroughout the entire event. Not forgetting the volunteers as well, the responses were spontaneous and totally awesome I would say.

Smiles. I could not recall a moment that I had failed to capture the smiles on the faces of the elderly. They were always there; ever ready for my camera to flash at. Never daunted by the humidity and the blazing sun, elderly and volunteers should be applauded for their perseverance in completing the walk.

Gratitute. Having said that, though many were tired after the walk, their spirits did not seem to dampen at all. Smiles, slight nods, and waving goodbyes were their forms of expression of gratitude to us; and arguably the most sincere and heart felt. Last by not least, I am really grateful for the volunteers who came down last saturday, and to my friends in Touch Seniors as well, thanks for making it possible and successful!

-All the best for your revision!- -ken-

Henderson Waves Outing

Hello to all !!! Last saturday was a good day for a walk in the park and CSC did just that, bringing the elderly from Henderson Waves to HortPark.

The whole journey covered many slopes but we can see that the elderly were generally very happy and enjoyed the whole process. As for myself, I was taking care of the old lady who was more than 80 years. Whoa, that is an impressive age, and I wonder what I'll be when I'm her age ( i.e. if I have the fortune of living to that ripe old age. )

From the conversation, I can tell that she is very proud of her grandchildren, one of which is going to graduate from some overseas uni this year. This set me thinking, our grandparents are actually proud of our achievements, even though a uni degree may be something that we take for granted. Hence, we ought to be grateful for whatever we have, especially when our family are rooting and supporting us without expecting any payback.

I think most people nowadays are not very close to their grandparents. This is sad, as they are a vast source of knowledge and experience. True, they may not have studied much, but they know how to appreciate kindness which greatly touched me. When the volunteers offered them cakes and biscuits, they insisted to share them with us, even though we declined profusely. And from their expression and gestures, it is apparent that they are very happy and grateful about the whole trip.

Initially, I had apprehensions about how to break the ice and talk to them. But I soon realised what matters is not the language, but the heart and thought that matters. As long as we are sincere about making their day, we will naturally click and the conversation will just flow. And it definitely helps that the walk goes through nature which makes everyone feels light-hearted with the fresh air and nice scenery surrounding us.

Lastly, I would like to end this post with this video. This is a Hokkien song by this Taiwanese singer: 蕭煌奇. This song was written for his grandmother whom he was very close to and which he was overseas when she died, hence he couldn't appear by her deathbed.

Enjoy the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an8kaGjzeKs&feature=PlayList&p=2035EFC9FE564410&playnext_from=PL&playnext=6&index=5

Signed:

Huixiang

Hello all!
Last sat (20/3/10) visit was really an enjoyable experience! Even though it was pouring and I am sure some of us really wanted to sleep for a while more, many volunteers still turned up for TOUCH =) And as usual, I was in the Hokkien group together with boon yong, boon peng and chen hua. We went to mdm tan's house first and did some simple chores like mopping the floor and cleaning the windows. Due to failing vision, Mdm Tan doesn really take part in outings because she would need someone to guide her. However, her house is really neat and clean. After chatting with her for a while, we moved on to Mr Chiu's house. There was a group of volunteers from VJC who were going around the houses to provide some basic health check-up that day as well so Mr Chiu was waiting for them to arrive. He didn need us to do any cleaning so we simply sat down and listened to the radio with him. I think he was listening to some oldies though I am not sure which channel was it. Chen hua helped him to tune to other channel (should be FM 93.3 if i am not wrong) and it was playing some SHE song (zhenxiu's ringtone, LOL). Mr Chiu told us he still prefers listening to oldies and chinese pop song (eg. jay chou) doesn really suit him. After staying for a while more, we went on to Mdm Ho's house. Mdm Ho injured her knee that morning so she couldn really move about. The guys helped to clean the windows and mopped the floor while the girls did some lighter chores like wiping the tables. After which, we sat down and helped ourselves to the new yr goodies ^^ I think we helped to finish the fishball crackers and some springrolls. Mdm Ho was still as jovial even though she was in pain and I always enjoyed talking to her =).

I think that's all for last week's visit and hope to see you guys next sat for our major outing!! And let's hope for good weather =)

-yewchin

Hi, long time since i wrote a blog. in fact, this is my second time ba.
anyway, i go straight into my experience at Touch. Although i have been in touch for some time but last sat was the first time joining the Canto group and it is because i come late (as usual) and end up calling shi tian up to find out when they are. in total, we visit 3-4 houses and i now set a new record in the worst cleaner list, haha. i cannot really say anything about the elderly because i dun understand what is going on as i dun know canto. but in overall, it is quite fun and stunning when the elderly end up siting out at the corner door while we clean the house, actually we were expecting her to just sit at the living room so it look like some drama show where the mother-in-law was being chase out like that.
=)

Confirmed design / Outing on the 3rd April.

this is how the design would look like evenutally printed on our shirts..can't do shading/toning cause it would cost more and probably the effect wun be that good as well...so yup..hope u guys still like the shirt! -bo bian also rite?cause buy le..- lol..
-ken-


Hello volunteers,
We are bringing the elderly out on a morning exercise/walk!

Date: 3rd April
Time: 8+am to 1pm
Location: From Henderson Waves to HortPark
Light refreshments/Breakfast will be provided.
Please go to the following link and fill in the form for your attendance!
RSVP here!

We are bringing around 80-90 seniors, hence we will need alot of volunteers! Do get your friends if they are interested too! (: More details will be posted nearer to the date~

Thankyou!
Regards,
T.H.E. Seniors Committee 09/10