Saturday, December 01, 2007
Yep went to Henderson Senior Citizen Home yesterday for our GESL project. The event started at 11.30 a.m. and ended at 3.30pm. Although we were able to complete the event sucessfully, the programmes for the day to our disappointment wasnt as smooth as what we have expected.
First of all, we got to change our original programme list as one of the group mates had met with a road accident and worst of all the art stuffs were in her car. Thus we got to do a last minute cancellation of the art and craft session.
Following then, the dance steps that we choreographed for the residents didnt really work out as well as most of the elderly has got Arthritis thus many of them has difficulty walking. But Judos to Willy for making last minute changes. Instead of dancing, the residents only need to "dance" with their hands and that really keeps them entertained.
Following the line dance segment, we proceeded to karaoke session, initially we expected a lot of the residents to be active karaoke singers but it turns out that those that love singing werent there yesterday, anyway thank god, some elderly are still willing to participate and Marc and Ice also sang a few English oldies to keep them entertained. The most entertaining part of all is Marc singing unchained melody and the cheeky boys even went up to hug him and dance with him. Anyway dun think that song suits the atmosphere at that time cos its too "romantic" which makes the old folks home looks more like a lounge than a Home. If you have heard Unchained Melody before, you should be able to know what i meant. Haha
Following the leisure karaoke session is tea time, Judos to Rachel for buying the food. She manages to buy quite a lot of food despite the tight budget. Tea time was served at 2.30pm, initially planned to let the elderly have a buffet like high tea but due their leg problems, we decided to serve them individually. Well i can say the elderly really enjoyed the food cos all the buns and kuehs kuehs are their favourites.
After tea time is the karaoke competition, well same thing happened again, all the residents are too shy to participate thus only 5 residents (3 aunties for the female segment and 2 uncles for the male segment) took part in the competition. Well i kinda regretted supporting the idea of buying trophies for the best male and female singer as only 1 uncle and 1 auntie won, the rest gotta walk away with nothing and they looked quite disappointed. We should have at least bought some consolation prizes for them especially for the uncle who is suffering from Parkinson's disease. His arms were trembling violently but he still manage to sing. Really got to thank him for his efforts.
We ended the day by presenting to Ms Catherine the hampers that we prepared for the Home and also a Thank You Poster to her. And one of the residents even came up to bid us goodbye through reciting a Malay poem. Our faciliator kinda translates to us and the poem means that she thanks us for our effort. True sincererity will only comes right from the heart. From our eyes, she saw our hearts of gold and may god bless us all the best in our future career. And may she lives long enough to meet us again. Well its really a very touching poem.
Anyway before i left, Ms Catherine invited me to join them as a volunteer to help distribute free lunches to the elderly in the estate every saturday. Its a good idea to volunteer my service on saturdays since i got no commitments and i am single and always available. Haha so might as well do something meaningful rather be a crouch potato.
Despite all the challenges that we faced, the smile and sparkling eyes from the residents really makes my day. Last of all, i got to thank Ms Catherine, Mrs Chan and all the residents of Henderson Senior Citizen Home for giving us such a fulfiling day. Thank You!
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9:23 AM
