My perception of Elderly Homes has not changed much after this experience. I understand that the many elderly enjoy company from others very much and we should spend time with them when we can. Hence, us being there to chat, play and sing with them very likely made their day. We just need to take some time off our schedule to sit down and spend time with elderly as they, like everyone else, enjoys the company of others.
I chatted with my beneficiary and played some board games like “Rummy-O”. I also taught them how to fold different types of Origami such as Butterflies and Fishes. During these activities, I communicated using Chinese and Hokkien and it worked out well as the beneficiary also spoke these languages. I did learn that my Chinese was a bit lacking as there were times when I didn’t quite understand my beneficiary. Hence, I turned to my friends for help whenever I could not understand the beneficiary well enough. Something I learned while chatting with my beneficiary, she shared her favourite phrase with me. “要拼才会赢” meaning “You can only win if you try”, which I found was a value that I believe is a very important value that everyone should have. You never know whether you can really accomplish something unless you give it a shot. No matter what life throws at you, give it a try and you’ll learn something from it. “活到老学到老” was another phrase she shared with me, meaning “Life-Long Learner” which is another important value everyone should have. There are always new experiences for you to learn from and your age does not prevent you from learning something new each day. These two values can be linked to my course. The phrase “要拼才会赢” and “活到老学到老” can be applied as I learn something new each day in my course. I have never studied IT in-depth before hence, each day I learn something new in my course. We get assignments to do as well, which throws new challenges at us. Even if I may not know the correct answer to the assignment, I give it a try anyway as I never know whether I am correct or not until I have completed it and it is marked. I believe the two main Social Issues I have observed is the language barrier as well as the age gap. Some of us could not speak certain languages that the Elderly spoke which made communication a little bit difficult. We solved this by ensuring that everyone had a friend who was able to speak the language of the Elderly they were with. This allowed them to communicate with each other. The Age Gap I something I believe many people struggle with, even in their own daily lives. While chatting with the Elderly, their hobbies and things they like differed quite heavily when compared to us. Being as open as possible allows us to mitigate this issue as much as possible since everyone has their own taste and it is up to the individual to accept this fact. By experiencing more of these kinds of activities, it will open the eyes of people which would encourage them to be more open as they will see that there are many different sides to life. I feel that I managed to make my beneficiary’s day during my visits. She shared her experiences with me and so did I. When she introduced the game to me, I picked it up fast so that I could play with her and make it an enjoyable playing experience for her. During the Origami folding session, I also taught her different types of origami which she happily folded. I think that my Chinese could be improved as there were times where there was an awkward pause as I was trying to string together words to share an experience but did not quite know how to. While making a poster for our beneficiaries is a nice token of appreciation for the elderly, if we want to showcase our IT skills while doing so, I believe this is not a good way to do so. Perhaps, task us to make a website dedicated to the elderly instead? This way we can showcase our website making skills. Or we could possibly create a very simple program for them using our programming skills. I also feel that 3 sessions is way too short a time frame for the Service-Learning. Many of us did not have enough time to properly bond with the Elderly there. On top of that, it was quite unorganized as we were promised to be paired with an Elderly that could speak a language that we could speak. However, we ended up going to any Elderly we saw which for some of us was a problem due to the language barrier. Some of us had to go to a new Elderly each visit which ruined the sincerity in making the poster.
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It's not my first time visiting an elderly home to help out so I already have an idea of what's going to happen. Being as open as possible was my goal for the visit.
My first visit to THK Elderly home was on 3rd May where my group and I met a pleasant old lady, let's call her Jacqueline. We sat down and chatted with her for while. Afterwards she introduced us to a game called "Rummy-O", which is similar to Mahjong for those who know how to play. We played a few rounds and got the hang of things rather fast. Jacqueline was thrilled that we caught on to the game and enjoyed playing with us. As we chatted, we realized that she was actually a helper there! It came as a surprise because we all thought she was an elderly there and not a helper. We exchanged phone numbers and took a photo which I cannot reveal. I pondered over this experience later that day. Even other elderly were volunteering to help out at elderly homes, which goes to show how much dedication they have to helping others! I received a text from Jacqueline and she explained that many of the elderly there don't want to play Rummy-O because they find it too difficult and would rather not embarrass themselves. So she wanted to thank us for being patient and not giving up on the game which warmed my heart. Even a simple action such as playing a game with an elderly there made their day. Elderly who are at Elderly Homes tend to be lonely, so they find joy in the simplest of things such as the company of others. You need not necessarily play a game with them, even chatting with them is more than enough. After this experience, I feel like we should spend time with elderly whenever we have the opportunity to. You don't have to go out of your way to an Elderly Home to do this, have chat with your grandparents and make their day! |