What have I learnt from the interaction with the elderly?
What are the problems I have encountered as I worked with my fellow group and how I had resolved those problems?
How was my interaction with the elderly and embarking me with a different perspective I previously had of the elderly?
Jennifer:I understood the difficulties they faced in the past and I learnt that we should cherish the life that our parents give us. I also understand that we must take care of ourselves so that it is better for us in the future. It is very hard to get the old folks to do the activities we planned as some of them are handicap or not interested. I learnt to be more independent by taking the initiative to move around and interact with the elderly. Zi Yun:Through the interaction with them, I learned about their lifestyles, the difficulties faced by them in the past in order to earn a living. This made me realize that we are much more fortunate now as compared to the past. It is sad to learn that some of the elderly they live alone although they have as many as four children. During the interaction with the elderly, I had some difficulties in communicating with them as I am not use to communicating in dialect. However, I tried my best to figure out what they are talking. Overall, I enjoyed the experience interacting with the elderlys.
Jamie: At first I thought that communicating with them would be tough as I don't speak any dialects and people of their generation normally speak dialects. But some of them know how to speak chinese so communicating was alright. But sometimes they dont feel like talking and its really hard to strike a topic. But after awhile when things get better we get to know more about their lifestyles.Since I do not stay with my grandparents, this experience allow me to know more about the elderly's thoughts.
Xuan Ning: Finally, the CIP project has ended. I've learned many things from the elderly. Furthermore, I've learned to cooperate more with the class community through organizing the activities for the project. Since I've never been to elderly center before, it's indeed a great opportunity for me to open up my eyes and look at how they are able to stay mentally and physically healthy, even when they aged. From experiences, some of the elderly are really very optimistic, there is always a smile hanging on their face even though their kins are away. As students, I feel that it is important to stay optimistic in life. By doing so, I believe that our lives will be brighten up by the love and laughters of everyone. However, some of the elderly were not as optimistic. During my conversation with one of the elderly, she was rather upset because one of her friends just passed away thus she was not in any mood to carry out the activities with us. I did not know what to do as I was not experienced enough, all I did was just to comfort her a little. I hoped it helped. Volunteering work is rather tiring and I believe not everyone likes it, but we know that there are many people who are out there who need our care and concern. The problem does not lies with different dialects and languages, but I've learned that it lies with the little love that someone is willing to contribute to the elderly who needs it.
Kheehwee: After finishing all visits to the care center, I feel that the elderly there are generally friendly and appreciated our visits. It was not as bad as I think it would be as most of them were quite friendly. From the visits, I realised that the elderly are slightly bored with their lives and they also felt that they are pretty useless now as old people. There was one elderly whom I asked what she usually does at home to spend her free time and her reply was cleaning, washing and cooking. It also seemed that her son does not care much about her. It was rather upsetting to hear that. She told me what job she had taken up when she was younger and added that she needed to work hard to support the family. She then commented that we should appreciate the easy life we have now. Overall, I felt that this CIP project is quite meaningful as it allows us to interact more with the older generation and understand their lifestyles. Compared to them, we are more fortunate and hence, we should not take things for granted. I also think we should show more concern to the elderly as some of their children do not bother about them anymore.
