Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration @ 四福利院
Written by: Lim Yan Ning
It was a bright and sunny Sunday morning. 7 NUS students, together with students from Song Jiang University and members of Hua Qiao Foundation, went to 四福利院, an old folks’ home in Song Jiang, to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with 60 lovely elderly people. This event was organized by SHEN Hearts, a philanthropy wing under the SHEN organization.
To spend our time wisely on the journey there, we looked through the programme list and learnt some simple Shanghainese words. All of us, each carrying bags of food to be distributed to the elderly, were quite excited about the celebration as that was the first time we could do something for the elderly in
The celebration started off with a speech from the director of the old folks’ home, followed by a prize presentation ceremony to the elderly who participated actively in the home’s events. Next, we had a short 15-minute warm-up exercise before getting back to our seats. There were 8 tables, each seating about 7 or 8 elderly and at least 2 volunteers. We had great fun interacting and chatting with them.
Since it was Mid-Autumn Festival celebration, we had a lantern-making session, where crayons and other art materials were provided for the old folks to showcase their creativity skills. I could tell that most of them enjoyed drawing as they were all smiling at their own artworks. A few of them had difficulties coming up with ideas on what to draw, so we volunteers drew some examples to encourage and guide them. Some of them who finished earlier even helped those with physical disabilities decorate and make their lanterns. The whole scene was very heartwarming, as everyone helped one another to achieve a common goal.
Next, we had a singing session, where 2 old folks were invited on stage to perform. The audience paid full attention to the performers, as they danced around on stage and sang with zest. And of course, we had a singing item too in order not to disappoint them. I sang 茉莉花solo on behalf of the volunteers.
Then, it was time for a riddle-guessing session! The elderly, I must say, were very smart. Most of them could guess the answer correctly after flashing the questions for just a short while. As many of them raised their hands together, it was rather hard to determine who raised first. Hence, we decided to give all of them chances. Everyone certainly had a whale of a time guessing the riddles! Last but not least, the event ended off with a lucky draw and prize presentation ceremony for the best decorated lantern.
As all the volunteers could not bear to leave the place after having so much fun interacting with the elderly, the director guided us around the old folks’ home to let us have a look at the old folks’ living conditions. We were glad that the elderly are well taken care of and their rooms are very clean and tidy.
After talking to the director, we realized that the elderly in the home come from relatively wealthier families, as the monthly stay in the home is rather expensive. Most of their children are busy working in the urban area, so these children have no time to take care of them. The trend is getting increasingly common as
To sum up, all of us had a great time interacting with the elderly and the director. We hope to organize such events with them more regularly to bring more smiles to the elderly.
