20081122 Parkway Meadows Senior Resident Caring Project

Parkway Meadows Senior Resident Caring Project

Prepared by Sabrina I-Hsuan Wang

Event: Senior Residents Caring Project

Purpose: Help senior residents in Parkway Meadows to clean their apartments and also to interact more with them

Date/Venue: Nov 22^nd, 2008 (Saturday) 9.30-11.30am

Parkway Meadows Apartments 2575 Sandalwood Cir, Ann Arbor, MI

Number of people attended: 11

Hui Ying Chin, You Ning Lee, Urvashi, Kah Loong Chong, Kai Liang Nyoi, Jessica Chung, Sheau Wen Lew, Poh Ying Sim, Wen Xin Xiao, Edward Jan, Sabrina Wang

* English Lesson taught by You Ning, Urvashi, and Kah Loong

Sharing:

感想：(by Sabrina I-Hsuan Wang)

這是第三次的居家關懷，我再次拜訪趙爺爺家。趙爺爺家裡很乾淨，兩位長輩的身體狀況也都算是健康。在我和Edward幫忙吸塵過地板，老人家熱切的請我們坐下，後來我才明白，他們希望的是年輕人來陪伴他們聊聊天，事實上並不需要我們幫忙做家事。趙爺爺說起過去為國打仗的情況，再聊到現在台灣的政治，看見爺爺氣憤的讓人很不忍心。他不時說到一半就停住，然後嘆息說這些我們年輕人沒有打過仗是不會懂的。雖然他們小孩都已經成家立業了，關心卻不多過偶爾一通的電話問候。爺爺指著牆上五年前照的家族合照，感嘆說，這是到美國後第一次全家合照，只是不知道下一次會是什麼時候？趙爺爺夫妻兩人說，想要搬回台灣住，在老人公寓住像是關在監獄裡頭，哪兒都不能去，冬天的氣候又更折磨人。我深深希望他們能盡快如願，畢竟孩子大了，也有自己的家庭，遍佈世界各地。回到家鄉才能和更多有相同文化背景的朋友共享晚年，醫療設施又方便。最後快要離開時，奶奶還端出果汁請我們。我對於我們如此短暫的陪伴感到十分不捨與抱歉，他們一個月就期盼這一天能和年輕人（我們和他孫子差不多年紀）聊聊，能有人關心，離開前他們還說，有空也歡迎我們多來坐坐。

English Class Teaching Reflection by You Ning Lee

This was my first experience teaching English to senior residents in Parkway Meadows. Scared and clueless at the beginning, I had little confidence to teach them well as English language was not my mother tongue either. After some brief explanation from Hui Ying of what to teach, I braced myself to teach at the end. It was hard to believe at first that they were all above 65 years old, with the majority of them aged 80 and above. Despite their age, they were truly young at heart. They were so excited and eager to learn English every time. From my observation, almost all of them had done some preparation earlier so as to absorb better. I was truly amazed by their spirit of learning. I was also dumbfounded by their questions. They had indeed read a lot before coming into class. I could not answer some of the questions. The way they asked question showed that they truly wanted to learn and master the knowledge. They learnt solely because learning is a journey of life and that they were more than willing to learn until the end of their lives. I was truly touched by the spirit and was ashamed of myself at the same time. Being in a competitive college, I have to admit that sometimes grades and score mattered so much to me that I tend to forget about the purpose I enrolled in college. They had certainly made my day and injected new spirit and hope into me to learn the best I could in life, and to make learning a wonderful journey of life.

20081115 Ypsilanti Nursing Home Visit

11/15/2008 Ypsilanti Nursing Home Visit

What: Ypsilanti Nursing Home Visit

Why: To show our love and care to the elders

Where/When: Ypsilanti Nursing Home/ 15 November, 2008

Number of people who attended: 5

Karen Quek, Huey Shann Sue, Kah Loong Chong, Sheau Wen Lew,Szu Ling Yeap

Short Description:

There were only five members who participated in this activity, nevertheless, hopefully the elders had a great time. We sang a few songs with Shr Gu’s, and a Shr Gu played the piano. Also, we did some sign language performance, but it was not that good because we lacked preparation. Hopefully we’ll come with more practice.

Sharing by Tzu Ching Szu Ling Yeap:

距離上一次去老人院，已經有四個月了。這次恰好很少同學報名參加，所以我就報上名字了。這次只有五位同學去探訪老人院，對我來說是有一點少。一踏進老人院門口時，一股藥腥味撲鼻而來，讓我有一些不自在。沒什麽出奇的，因為平時我也會有這種感覺。我們幫忙把桌椅排好，然後把鋼琴搬到大廳去，因為有一位師姑要彈奏鋼琴。接著，我們就把老菩薩們帶到大廳去。這些，以往常沒有什麽分別，都是會做的東西。

從他們的活動間，我慢慢地推著一位老奶奶的輪椅，帶她到大廳去。從活動間到大廳的那段路，會經過他們老年人的寢室。而那些寢室像醫院裏面的病房，即狹小有簡陋。簡陋並不代表不美觀，而是臥室裏只有兩張床，就沒有其他東西了。我看了鼻子一酸，這些老菩薩們已經被孩子們遺棄在這個地方，身體又有病痛，臥室裏又那麽的簡陋，真是令人心疼。每個老菩薩的臥室門外一定會掛著一個相片框，裏頭呢就會有些著老菩薩們的個人資料，而且還會附上他們年輕時候的照片。我一邊走著，一邊在觀察這些照片。我發現，這些老菩薩們，今時今日雖然坐在輪椅上，有些神誌不清，有些動彈不得，但是以往他們也是像我一樣年輕活潑。照片裏頭，有些身穿兵裝，有些穿著紅彤彤的裙子，有些則穿著筆直的西裝，瀟灑地向鏡頭微笑。突然間我心裏想，我會不會也有這麽老的一天呢？此刻，我更加深入地了解上人所說的“無常比明天更先到”。我們今天可能是個健康的年輕人，但是，沒有人可以預料到明天會發生什麽事。也許，明天我們會發生意外？也許，明天我們會換上絕癥？所以，要珍惜每一天，時時刻刻要生活在知足、感恩裏。還有，趁我們有能力的時候，盡量去幫助有所需要的人們，希望人人都可以接觸到靜思的法髓。

當我們表演結束時，我們再度的把老菩薩們送到活動間，或是他們的寢室裏頭。我牽著另外一位老奶奶到她房間裏，我轉身要離去時，她問我：“我好無聊，你可不可以建議一些活動給我做？”我望了望她的寢室，本來要叫她看電視節目或是什麽的，但我發現她寢室裏除了床鋪，什麽都沒有。我就隨便說：“不然你睡個午覺吧！”她搖了搖頭，很悲傷地對我說：“你不覺得很不公平嗎？我不知道這個是什麽地方，也不認識任何人，不知道是誰把我送到這裏來住。”我楞住了。我第一個反應就是把她抱在懷裏。雖然我覺得這位老奶奶有一點老人癡呆，但是她這句話深深地打動了我的心坎。我很用力地把眼淚忍住了抱著她，我說：“我真的需要走了，你一定要好好照顧自己，我下個月會再來。”我邊走邊回頭望著她，她的眼睛裏頭的悲傷，讓我的心不停地在流淚。這份感動，讓我深深的體驗到行孝的必須之處。我發了願，我不會讓我的母親有這樣的一天。

以往到老人院，我們都是嘻嘻哈哈地表演了，就草率的過了一個星期六下午。這份感動，是我從未體驗過的。當初剛加入慈青時，也只不過一直在參加活動而已，根本沒有真正去了解它的意義何在。近來幾個月，我發現當我很用心的去做一件事時，我可以從中領悟到一些東西，從中獲得那份感動，來讓我有再次付出的力量。所以，我想告訴我的慈青夥伴們，加入慈青，一定會有挫折或是一些讓你想退出、想懈怠的理由，但是只要你給自己一點時間，多用心地去做每一件事，無論是慈青活動，或是日常生活裏，你會從中得到那一份想要付出的推動力。

- 慈青葉俶伶合十

Report prepared by Szu Ling Yeap

20081108 Fall Chore Day

Event: Fall Chore Day

Purpose: To show our love and care to the elders

Date/Venue: Nov. 8^th, 2008 (Saturday)

Number of people who attended: 11

Edward Jan, Jesse Tsaur, Manju Lin, Sabrina Wang, Wenxin Xiao, Hsin-Hsin Lee, Ellie Wang, Jason Hung, Jackson Chen, Morgan Merlanti

Short Description:

We met at 9:30am at the School of Social Work and went for registration- where we picked up the rakes and paper bags, as well as the addresses of the two houses that we’ll be clearing the leaves from. It was a cold morning, but everyone put in their best effort, worked hard, and gradually dismissed the cold. After we raked both yards, we celebrated by eating the 粽子 that Wu Shr Gu made, chatted, and came home. The most touching thing about this event is that although there were complaints about the early morning, freezing weather, and the fact that many of us have never held a rake in our lives, we put those discomforts aside as we contributed to the community.

Reported by,

Hsin-Hsin Lee

20081107 – Members Meeting

UMTC 3^rd Members Meeting

Theme: Leading a Simple Life

Date/Venue: Nov. 7^th, 2008 (Friday), School of Social Work Room1804

Attendees:

Huey Shann Sue, Mei Chen Chua, Keen Yee Liau, Szu Ling Yeap, Hsin-Hsin Le e, Yueh Ping Chung, Kai Liang Nyoi, Cunn Yong Goh, Karen Quek, Hui Ying Chin, Yuching Lin, Jesse Tsaur, Sabrina Wang, Jackson Cheng, Kah Loong Chong, You Ning Lee, Beth Chen, Edward Jan, Manch Lin, Stephanie Wang, Morgan Merlanti

Short Description/ Outcome:

This time, the meeting was held based on the theme—leading a simple lifestyle. A simple lifestyle basically means to live frugally and to treasure what we have. It also means to be grateful always, and not to be greedy of wealth, power and status. It has been discussed in the meeting too that being able to give can earn happiness. Wealth and status are just impermanent, and they are not a source of happiness. The meeting started out with us watching a life wisdom video on this topic. It was then followed by a game. Each person was asked to relate stories and exchanged stories with one another based on 9 values: gratitude, forgiveness, good deeds, contentment, filial piety, happiness, respect, treasuring blessing and also not to be wasteful. The person who managed to relate the most stories in shortest time won the game. The winner was presented with a small gift. In this meeting, all members got to share their stories, to learn from each other and to know each other better.

Reported by,

You Ning Lee

20081025 – English Lessons for Senior Residents at Parkway Meadows

Parkway Meadows Senior Resident Caring Project

Prepared by Sabrina I-Hsuan Wang

Event: Senior Residents Caring Project

Purpose: Help senior residents in Parkway Meadows to clean their apartments and also to interact more with them

Date/Venue: Oct. 25^th, 2008 (Saturday) 9.30-11.30am

Parkway Meadows Apartments 2575 Sandalwood Cir, Ann Arbor, MI

Number of people attended: 11

Hui Ying Chin, Kah Loong Chong, Sabrina Wang, Mei Chen Chua, Cun Yong Goh, Beth Chen, Jackson Cheng, Jessie Tsaur, Jessica Chung, Kevin Yeh, Poh Ying Sim

* English lesson taught by Hui Ying and Kah Loong

Short Description/ Outcome:

This was the second time of Caring Project at Parkway Meadows. With the help of Janet (程老師), we divided into three groups and served in five families. This time everyone was more familiar with the job, and felt more comfortable on how to interact with them. Because most of the families were the same as the first time, some seniors even recognized us. Also, some members worked really well with seniors even though this was their first time.

20081018 – Canton/Westland Nursing Home Visit

20081018 Canton Nursing Home Visit

What: Canton Nursing Home Visit

Why: To show our love and care to the elders

Where/When: Canton Nursing Home/ 18 October, 2008

Number of people who attended: 12

Edward Jan, You Ning Lee, Christine Choong, Sabrina Wang, Sheau Wen Lew, Poh Ying Sim, Morgan Merlanti, Kai Liang Nyoi, Cunn Yong Goh, Jessica Chung, Ernest Koh, Albert Tan

Short Description:

The night before the nursing home visit, we did meet up to practice a sign language song for the visit. This time around, most of us felt more comfortable and better in treating the elders with care and love. The elders enjoyed seeing us performing. They sang and even danced along with us happily. As usual, the session ended with a small group sharing on our own reflection. Most of the members felt that we need to have more practices for performances so that we can do even better for the next visit.

Sharing/Reflection by Morgan Merlanti:

Visiting the nursing home allowed me to consider and reflect on the lives and
perspectives of its residents.  I was able to see first hand their typical conditions.
They don’t seem to have many opportunities to be involved in interactive activities or to
have many visitors.  The presentations and interaction provided by our group, though
seemingly small to us, appeared to be much appreciated by the nursing home residents.
This experience has shown me how something that takes relatively minimal effort can have
a significant positive impact on the lives of others.

-Morgan M.

Reported by,

You Ning Lee

20081010 – Members Meeting

UMTC Fall 2008 2nd Member Meeting

What: Fall 2008 2^nd Member Meeting

Theme: Environmental Protection

Why: To increase members’ awareness of the importance of environment protection and to share “go green” habits we can assimilate into our daily lives.

Where/When: October, 10^th, 2008(Friday) 6-7.00pm at room 1804, School of Social Work

Number of people who attended: 22

Name List: Huey Shann Sue, Mei Chen Chua, Szu Ling Yeap, Karen Quek, Beth Chen Yi-wei, You Ning Lee, Morgan Merlanti, Stephanie Wang, Kai Liang Nyoi, Kai Hsiang Chan, Yu Ching Lin, Ket Seng Koh, Ellie Wang, Jessie Tsai, Jason Hung, I-Hsuan Wang, Jackson Cheng, Jesse Tsaur, Edward Jan, Hui Ying Chin, Wen Xin Xiao, Manch Lin

Short Description:

On October 10^th, 2008, UMTC had its second member meeting for Fall 2008. 21 members attended included some new freshman members. Different from previous member meeting, we discussed about an environmental issue which was held by Beth after watching the video of Life Wisdom. The purpose of discussion was to have more interaction between members, to get to know each other better, and to emphasize the importance of the issue. The topic of our first discussion was “reuse and refuse.” All of the members were divided into three groups, and shared their own opinions and experiences toward the topic. After discussing, one member from each group represented their group and made a brief presentation. Kai-Hsiang said that he used to buy bottle water, and then produced a lot of avoidable garbage. So he decided from now on he would use pitcher instead. Manch Manju Lin shared her experience that when she was in Japan, almost everyone used one plastic bag, plastic lunch box, and disposable chopsticks every day. She made her effort to convince one of her co-worker to refuse taking plastic bag even though they gave you without even asking. It is believed that no matter how small difference one person can make, it will be a great change if everyone keeps doing the same thing. At the end, Beth also mentioned the EP project which was still in process. The main idea is to encourage people bring their own lunch box when buying take-out. After the meeting, we managed to enjoy some refreshment. Special thanks to Szu Ling for baking the chocolate cakes, to Huey Shann for the Green tea and to Hui Ying for the chips.

Written by,

I-Hsuan Wang (Sabrina)

29080927 – Parkway Meadows Senior Resident Caring Project

Prepared by Huey Shann Sue and Szu Ling Yeap

What: 居家关怀 Senior Residents Caring Project

Why: Help senior residents in Parkway Meadows to clean their apartments and also to interact more with them.

Where/When: Sept 27th, 2008 (Saturday) 9.30-11.30am
Parkway Meadows Apartments
2575 Sandalwood Cir, Ann Arbor, MI

Short Description/Outcome:

Number of people attended: 13
Hui Ying Chin,  Sabrina/ I-Hsuan, Kah Loong Chong, Qi Pang, Mei Chen Chua, Huey Shann Sue, Szu Ling Yeap, Kai Liang Nyoi, Jesse Tsaur, Cun Yong Goh, Beth Chen, Edward Jan, Jackson Cheng, Andrew

This was our first time to start “居家关怀/Caring Project” at Parkway Meadows. We were helping Food Gatherers to pack and distribute food every month before we started this project, but we stopped taking part because they already found enough volunteers to help them with that.

We had the first meeting with Janet (程老师), 张妈妈 and 许老师 (three residents in Parkway Meadows). Janet (程老师) briefly told us the situations of the senior residents in Parkway Meadows. Then we were split into four groups to serve four families in the apartments whereas Szu Ling and Hui Ying had a meeting with Janet (程老师) and 许老师 about the English class which will start next week.

Some of us helped the senior residents to clean up their apartments, like vacuuming or washing the bathrooms, because some of them weren’t able to reach up or bend down. Some of us spent time to interact and chat with the seniors. Most of them seldom have visitors and they were so happy to see us that they even served snacks and drinks to us. We were happy to serve the four families and those grandpas and grandmas were happy to see us as well.

感想
by 俊勇

今天一大清早就去了老人公寓。此次是我在慈青第二次的活动。８点就得起床了啊。好想再多睡一会儿哦。但想起上次慈青的活动让我感触到感恩的重要，我就好期待。到了那儿，我们和老人公寓的代表（程老师，许老师与张妈妈）开了个小小的会议。程老师告诉我们这些老人们的年龄都高于６０岁。　他们大多数都是受过教育的。只是年纪大了，他们不能继续工作，才住在这儿。除了与老人们谈天与帮他们清洗和打扫公寓外，我们还为他们准备了英文班。之后，我们就三人一组到老婆婆与老爷爷的公寓去。听说他们都很用心得学习!听到此，我想我是否应该检讨自己好玩与不认真的态度。开会后，我们就三人一组的开始我们的活动。在同一组的Beth，Ken和我帮了一位奶奶做些清洗工作。看到奶奶那么开心，我们都很欣慰。奶奶告诉我们她希望能有人每天陪她聊天。我觉得他们需要的是我们的关怀和陪伴。年纪大了若没人照顾真的好可怜。

我觉得也许这次时间紧促，我们并没有帮上什么忙。希望下一次　我们可以做得更好。

感想
by 凯量

这次是我第二次参加慈青的活动，感觉很好，也让我有不一样的体验。这所老人公寓跟我想象得很不一样。老人公寓附近的环境很好，很适合退休后的生活。公寓内也很安静，很悠闲，没有一点吵杂声。老人公寓的代表，Janet 老师、许伯伯和张妈妈，各个都好亲切，也博学多才。Janet老师告诉我们，在这里居住的老人，大部分是华人，都是退休人士，有工程师、教授等等。他们大多数都是因为子女们在美国而搬过来的，还有的是因为要替子女带小孩。有些行动不便的老人特别需要人帮助。经过了一轮分配，Edward、美珍和我前往我们被安排的公寓。我们被安排去的公寓，住着一对老夫妻。一见到我们，赵伯伯和赵奶奶就很热情的跟我们交流。赵伯伯和赵奶奶是广州人，在抗战时期搬到了台湾，也在那儿定居下来。他们有四个孩子，而且都在美国。这也是他们十年前搬到美国的原因。我在跟赵奶奶交谈时，能很明确的察觉到她离乡背井来到美国的辛苦。她跟我说她很想回台湾生活，可是因为子女们多在美国所以就没办法。赵奶奶和赵伯伯都非常客气，只让我们帮他们吸地板，因为赵奶奶手受过伤，不方便使用吸尘机。清理完后，赵奶奶还拿了许都食物，要我们带回去。临走前，赵伯伯和赵奶奶的一句：“你们都是我们的孙子”，深深地打动了我的心，让离乡背井的我感觉到家的温暖。这次的活动意义深重，我很期待下一期的探访。慈青，加油！

20080920 Ypsilanti Nursing Home Visit

Ypsilanti Nursing Home Visit
Reported by You Ning Lee
Edited by Huey Shann Sue and Szu Ling Yeap

It was the third Saturday of the month again, which meant that we will visit a nursing home. This was the first visit to Nursing Home for the Fall 2008 semester. We were happy to see so many new members showed up in this event. There were a total of 17 members who joined us this time and most of them have never been to a nursing home before.

As there were many new members, we gave a short briefing beforehand. Members were reminded about some facts of the elders in the Nursing Home. Many of the elders have hearing problems whereas some may get irritated easily. There are also elders who will give a cold shoulder even when we approach them with a friendly smile. It is best when we could put ourselves in the elders’ shoes. Then we can really understand how they feel and know how we should go about treating them. Those elders have been isolated for a very long time. Many of them have health problems and their families seldom visit them, so they are pessimistic about their lives. Therefore, we should treat them with love and patience; let them know that we care for them.

During the performance, each Tzu Ching was told to be at one elder’s side. They were encouraged to talk to them and to hold their hand if possible. As many of them had never been to nursing home before, they felt uneasy. During the sharing at the end of the visit, many did voice out that they felt really awkward and uncomfortable with the situation at the beginning.

Ypsilanti Nursing Home

Tzu Ching performed “Gu Zheng”. The elders loved it very much.

Shr Gu played piano

After that, we served cakes and drinks to the elders. I am very proud of all the new members because they had done a really good job although this was their first time visiting the Nursing Home. Each of them served the elders with patience, care and love. They had fun chatting with the elders too. One of our members said that the visit reminded him to treat his parents and grandparents better and to be a filial son. Some of the members were happy to be able to know the elders better through chatting.

Beautiful Smiles

Our nursing home visit ended with a sharing among the volunteers. I hope that all of us did gain something from the visit. Hopefully everyone will appreciate every moment in life and make full use of our time as all of us will get old one day. Also, I hope that the elders were happy to see us around. Special thanks to the new Tzu Ching members for joining us! Gan en! Let us pray and hope that the cycle of love will never end.

20080919 Members’ Meeting

UMTC Fall 2008 1st Member Meeting
Reported by You Ning Lee
Edited by Huey Shann Sue and Szu Ling Yeap

On September 19th, 2008, UMTC had its first member meeting for Fall 2008 at room 1804, School of Social Work. More than 20 members attended the meeting and most of them were new members. This was a more informal event, compared to the Tea Party, hoping that the planning team members can interact and know more with the new members.

We wanted to have this meeting because we wanted to introduce Tzu Ching, our activities, and the Planning Team. Also, we introduced Tzu Chi by watching a video entitled “Story from the East”. The meeting started off with 2 ice breaker games. All of us had a great time getting to know each other in a fun way.

First Ice Breaking Game

Second Ice Breaking Game, trying to guess who was on the other side.

All of us had a good laughing time

The meeting was then followed by presentation from Huey Shann, UMTC President and Szu Ling, UMTC Vice President. They introduced the activities we will be holding this semester including Morning Sharing Group, Parkway Meadows Care for the Elderly program, Nursing Home Visit etc. They also gave a review on what we have done so far such as attending various retreats and camps, United Nation Assembly, and also disaster relief. Other than that, each planning team role’s was also being explained to the members. Finally, they wrapped up their presentation by talking about the requirements to become an official Tzu Ching, ie. to get a Tzu Ching Uniform. Some of the requirements were to have a certain amount of volunteer hours, to participate in at least 3 different kinds of community service and to attend at least one Tzu Chi retreat/camp.

Huey Shann and Szu Ling’s presentation

Next, we displayed a video entitled “Story from the East” about Master Cheng Yen and Tzu Chi Foundation. The video was carefully chosen by Beth and Edward, our Tzu Ching Seniors. It was a very touching video and all of us watched intently and mindfully.

Video “Story from the East”

Around 7pm, our meeting ended when we served some refreshments and presented souvenirs to the new members.

Souvenirs were bookmarks made by reused materials courtesy of LA Tzu Chi HQ.

Refreshments were cookies prepared by Beth and Edward.