Lion's Home Visit March 2010

Unfriendly, drooping with thick strands of saliva, covered with a unwelcoming stench of unbearable sweat, glaring at people around, spitting and coughing loudly, and scolding vulgarities at any random person that crossed their horizon. These were the impressions, or rather stereotypes and assumptions I fired on anyone so unlucky to land under my category of "old people".

However, my juvenile presumptions amazingly changed through a short 2 hour visit to an old folks home, a CIP activity organized by our school aimed to help us understand these people better, and learn how to interact with others that lived in a drastically different environment form ours - an environment without family and loved ones.

The task seemed easy - just teaching the elderly how to fold origami and design flower pots. But there was clearly big polarity between imagination and reality. The moment I stepped into the Lion's home, I was standing before a table of 5 impatient elderlies waiting for me to start. But I didn't know where to start!

Looking back, this trip has no doubt, been a good confidence training. Being forced to smile in front of 5 strangers and start speaking towards them, although most do not understand Chinese was definitely a test of courage and patience. Nevertheless, I told myself secretly, "Do not ask for a light load, but a strong back". I had to build up my self-confidence sooner or later. Why not take this terrific opportunity to train myself?

I started in Chinese "Hi everyone, we are students from Hwa Chong. Today we will be teaching you how to fold some simple origami as well as help you design your own flower pots. Shall we start now? Here .... firstly, fold the paper this way ... yes, that is correct! Wah, Uncle, your fingers are so agile! ..........."

Slowly and slowly, I got more and more used to talking at the front, and after talking for a while, the daunting task became increasingly successful. Although we faced many problems at the start - for example, none of us knew how to speak Hokkien, but most elderlies communicated in Hokkien. To solve that problem, we communicated with the elderlies via hand signs instead.

We also faced other problems like how the elderlies were not willing to cooperate and be involved in the activities. However, we did not give up and tried even harder instead to be more enthusiastic and warm towards them. Gradually, they opened more towards us and enjoyed our company.

This trip is indubitably an enriching one - in the past, I always had childish ideas about elderlies being very mean people, but after seeing how they opened up to us, sharing their personal feelings and experiences, they are in fact quite kind and friendly people. In a way, through this trip, I have matured another step deeper in my understanding of people around me.

To understand a person, you have to crawl into his skin and walk around it - those elderlies have their grievances and sufferings so they tend to be moody most of the time - some have unbearable sicknesses, and others are being abandoned by their children.

The most we can do is to show them that at least there are still many people in this world that care for them. In the process of trying to understand and empathize with the elderly, this trip has also further improved my ability to consider things from other's point of view.

I am striving to improve in areas of kindness and the ability to empathize. I hope more of such events would be held in the future. Service learning, as the name suggests, is indeed both beneficial to the students and the community.