I was been introduced to the club back in
July 1997. Initially, I was quite uncertain whether I can actually
contribute to the club.
[ My Concerns
]
There were 2 main concerns:- Firstly, majority of
the elderly are Cantonese and I do not understand and speak
the language. In view of this, I seriously do not know whether
I can be of any help if I join. However, I was persuaded and
decided to give it a try despite my concerns.
[ My Happy Moments
]
I started off quite “passively”, just following
the experienced volunteers around, listening to them talking
to the elderly and assisting them to do simple tasks like
reading letters, buying things and cleaning. After some time,
I realised that I still can contribute to the club through
other means such as helping to plan and organise activities
for the elderly such as festive celebrations. Despite the
fact that I was unable to communicate with the elderly, the
elderly actually recognise me after several visits, this really
helped to warm my heart and motivate me to continue volunteering
my services.
[ Disappointments
]
We all know that there were ups and downs in our lives, I
will not be comfortable if I tells you that I only experience
happy moments as a volunteer. There were occasions that I
was very upset and discouraged. I remembered that once I was
accused by an elderly who claimed that I was useless and not
as helpful as compared to volunteers from other groups. I
was very sad and angry as this elderly was one of those who
I had helped the most. In another incident, I was unable to
fulfill the last wish of an elderly who wanted to withdraw
out all her money to give it to her friend who is legally
unrelated to her. For this case, the elderly was too weak
to do authorisation and before we can arrange with the bank,
she passed away.
[ The Support
Network ]
In the above cases, I was glad that my fellow volunteers
were there to support me when I was feeling very down. It is
this type of support network that helps me to recover from the
incidents and moving on.
