y let the star lead their way

* Wednesday, August 6, 2008 *

POST-VISIT(individual)

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.

WELCOME
6:15 AM

* Thursday, July 31, 2008 *

POST-VISIT(group)

After everything, we have learnt many things from the elderly. Despite our age gap, we are still able to communicate. Most of the elderly have poor background, however they are still living their lives to the fullest. We have learnt to be more optimistic from them. Who said that elderly are troublesome? They are actually very friendly and loving people. As teenagers, we should communicate more often with the elderly to realise how fortunate we are to be in Singapore, receiving proper education and basic amenities.
Some of us were even touched by their some of the stories told by them. For example, one of them said that she had financial problem and her only son had left her and moved out. It is disheartening to hear such stories.
"Everyone can only live once, treasure it and live life to the fullest", this is the message that we brought back from the elderly home.

WELCOME
5:44 AM

* *

On the last day of the visit, we had some sand handicrafts and karaoke session with the elderlys. We also had some food that was ordered by the class committee members.

WELCOME
5:40 AM

* *

On the first day, we had making origami session with the elderly.

We spoke broken dialects and it was difficult to get the instructions across.

WELCOME
5:32 AM

* Monday, April 14, 2008 *

PRE-VISIT(individual)

What do I hope to learn from the interaction with the elderly?

What are the potential problems I may face as I work with my fellow group members and how I intend to resolve those problems?

How do I think my interaction with the elderly and embarking upon this project will enrich my life and provide me with a different perspective I currently have of the elderly?

Jennifer: I hope to learn about their lifestyles, the problems the elderly faced both mentally and physically. I feared that we may not be coordinated in our actions. All of us may not have the same ideas for what we should do. I would look at life from an elderly perspective. I may also learn the pain and suffering they have endure the longer they live.

Zi Yun: I hope to learn about the elderly's life and how different is the present as compared to the past. As I dont know about all kinds of dialects, I am afraid that it might be abit difficult for me to communicate with the elderlys. I will try to learn some dialect before going to the elderly home in order to be able to interact with the elderlys.

Jamie: This experience will be new to me and I was scared it will be a bit awkward when we communicate to them as I will not know what to say. I was also afraid that the activities the class commitee prepared for them would not be to their liking or maybe the food too. But no matter what, I think it will be a good experience and I would go for anymore trips like this.

Xuan Ning: I have never visit an elderly home to do some social work before, indeed, i think this is the first time. I am in-charge in some of the activities that will be carried out at the home. I am lost when it comes to organize an activity for the elderly, probably because I am not experience and I did not really understand what elderly prefer and love to do. I think the main problem that I will face with the elderly is communicating. I am poor in communicating in dialects. However, I think the the upcoming project will have a great impact in my life on understanding the needs and emotions of elderly.

Khee Hwee: The problems I think we may meet when we arrive at the elderly home are that we will make each other (the group members) communicate with the elderly as we cannot speak their dialect. If that happens, the atmosphere will be rather awkward. Hence, in my opinion, we should try our best in not making them feel that our visit is irrelevant and instead, let them feel that comfortable with us. We can probably organise some activities or even pick up a few basic dialect from our parents in order to be able to talk to them.

WELCOME
9:07 PM

* Monday, March 31, 2008 *

PRE-VISIT(group)

From the interaction with the elderly(s), we hope that we can learn more about their lifestyles, their past and what difficulties they faced during everyday life. We want to understand their thoughts about for future generations of Singapore. As teenagers, we tend to feel that elderly people are not important, troublesome and as obstinate as a mule. Therefore we would like to further understand their situation.

We planned to try our best to interact with them as much as we could by talking about their past, family and trying to strike a conversation with them however making sure we do not aggrevate them. Furthermore, we planned to prepare some activities to entertain them and keep them happy.

I think many of the elderly are not keen in talking to us. There is a lack of communication between the student and the elderly. This is probably due to the age gap between the us. I think we can help each other among the group in understanding the dialects used by the elderly. This will be a great help in the interaction between the elderly and us.

WELCOME
8:54 PM