Reflecting on visit to St. Luke's Elder Care

Well, let me the 5th person to blog abt the visit then. Haha.. do note that it has been a week since the visit on 15th March 2007.

The bright cheerful morning was greeted with a warm welcome by Mdm Agnes, the person-in-charge of the operations of the elder care centre.She gave a brief introduction abt the whole St. Luke's system, from the various branches they run and how they care for these folks. She was very friendly and articulate in expressing her thoughts of the folks and how they are in person. Nevermnd that she mentioned some folks were "naughty" and "cheeky", but how concerned she was, and still is, about them is heart-warming.. well, everyone will grow old one day.

After the intro., we headed to the gym for a view.. well, i am glad that they do have these type of equipments for the old folks to exercise with, which is open also to the community as a whole. what a better way to promote a healthy lifestyle..! I mean people of all ages should be exercising no matter what it takes cos our bodies need a stretch regularly, even you and I although we have no regular P.E. lessons anymore. The gym is also desgined as a therapy room too.. where most of the folks who have muscles or joint problems can have therapies to get better and stronger.

As what I observed from the centre, they were some ITE students-nurses who are maybe on interships at the elder care centre... well, they do need any extra helping hands to cope with the daily activities even though some of the folks there have maids to tend to them. I am glad that our Singaporean nurses can lend a helping hand at this type of centres bcos I have visited to some other elder care centres in Singapore before this, and most nurses are from the Philippines.

I shared some personal time with a couples of grannies... and boy, I need to brush up on my Mandarin. Haha.. well, I can only asked some simple questions like " Ni hao ma?". I do get some help from Xin Ning.. thanks! Oh ya, there's this Indian granny who is a Catholic, whom I spoke to. She told me her stories from her childhood days to her present days,her family members too. She experienced some hardships during the WWII and her family was brought to misery when her dad's business was just beginning to bloom.. I pray that no such war is going to happen again bcos it will only bring great misery and grief to all people with the only reason behind such war is greed and revenge. God bless this granny and all the other folks that they live such a long lives with such great experiences.. some are like 80+++ years old...

Next, we had lunch. Dicussed abt the performance. And then, it was our time to entertain them. At first I was quite shy to sing along with them (I don't really catch the Chinese songs, it was rather impromptu), then I gradually did sang as well as danced along with the folks for the finale. I agreed that the finale was the best part. The folks, mostly were moving to the tunes of Abba, I know I just had to join them. I glad we brought a smile on their faces.

Each time I visit any elder care centre or home, it always remind me again and again that we should never take our elders for granted. Children and grandchildren should always treasure moments they have with the elders and not treat them as a burden. Like I said, everyone grows old one day and no one wants to feel neglected and abandoned by their own family when they are old. We never know when they will leave our presence forever. Said and done, I hope others will share the reflections too!

Ira =D