I feel very happy. I look forward to colouring and painting because there are so many colours. The elderly were not able to tell which colour they wanted so I made choices for them. I hope they liked the pictures with vibrant colours.

Together with a group of like minded volunteers, we organise various activities such as monthly birthday parties, festival celebrations, snack distributions on public holidays, boss for the day and outings. I have a love one who is afflicted with mental illness hence I hold the mental health cause very close to my heart. Mental illness is unfortunately shrouded in stigma therefore I see myself as an advocate. I strongly believe as volunteers we have to be the voices of our special friends. In addition, I am inspired by the many dedicated volunteers who put in time and effort to further the cause, in particular, Mr Lee PL and Mdm Catherine Chua who have been my volunteer mentors for the past 8 years. I have learnt so much from them. Lastly, I am very fortunate to be given the opportunity by our special friends to enter their lives. They share generously with me their life stories and I have benefited from these anecdotes. To be able to contribute to their happiness drives me to want to do more for the mental health community. Ultimately, volunteering makes you a better person. Over the course of volunteering, I realised I have become more observant, caring and less judgmental. I develop a heart of empathy for our special friends. Because my sister also volunteers so our relationship is even better than before. Volunteering teaches you to plan your time better so that you can set aside time weekly. Volunteering also taught me to look past things especially when certain things do not go as expected. Our special friends have showed me that they may have health conditions and may bigger issues to worry about but they try to keep a smile on their faces when they see the volunteers. Our special friends are the most appreciate group of people I have ever met and they do have a place in our society.

When 1st stepped foot in the home and met the resident, felt heavy burden what can I contribute to make their stay @ the home better and happier? I knew it was not a easy task but if we are doing His work we have to surrender our fear and desires to his will. After a few visits witnessed the residents' eagerness to do the exercises and enjoying singing and the games played. The initial fears evaporated and it's place hope, arises that the residents feel their stay have improved for the glory of Christ. Now whenever I am at the home it becomes a place of hope not despairs.

It was good to bring joy to the residents of the Saint Andrew Nursing Home, especially to those who seldom have visitors. Celebrating the various special holidays would give the residents a sense of time, with a change of their daily routine. I think the residents look forward to our visits.

I did not know that I could influence people. I proved myself wrong when I encouraged an elderly to colour. I gave him time to think whether he would like to do the activity. I started colouring first because the elderly refused to do the task. Soon, he picked up a colour pencil and joined me in the colouring. I’m not sure what made him participate. Maybe he felt sorry for me as I had pleaded for him to join me.

1Jn3:18 ‘My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.’ This was in our hearts when we started serving in the community. When the Church asked for volunteers to befriend the residents of SANH we stepped forward. We wanted to do something meaningful and yet fun for the residents so together with Evergreen Group we started the exercise session in the befriender program. Our greatest hurdle was residents’ participation but we build bonds with the residents as well as bonding with one another. After some weeks we begin to see more participation. That was a big encouragement to the volunteers and especially for us leading the exercises. Fun things to do. We all love it. Karaoke and games, arts and craft. They loved to sing. When they hold the mike, it’s their moment, it’s their stage. Some of them even dance. And the volunteers also dance and sing along with them. We now know who are the karaoke king and queen amongst us. When we play games with them, it seem they momentarily return to their childhood days. They were so joyful. They were having fun. So care free. It brought smiles and joy to all the volunteers seeing them enjoying themselves. "

When I first became a Befriender at SANH, I was worried that I would not be effective since I speak mainly English. However, I soon realized that I only need to listen to the residents more than talk, and a smile, a simple “Hello” or “您好吗?”, a gentle pat on the hand, are more than enough to reach out to them. Seeing them enthusiastically participating in the activities organised for them, and their happy faces after each session give me much joy and gratitude for the opportunity to do something worthwhile for them and with them.

Hi, I am Christina and I am currently a volunteer, conducting cooking sessions for the dementia residents at St. Andrew's Nursing Home in Buangkok (SANH). I would like to take this opportunity to share my experience. I want to praise and thank God that I am able to help others in need. As a retiree, I find volunteering a meaningful way spending my time and at the same time, I am able to contribute and give back to society using the skills and knowledge that I have. Volunteering work fills a need and as a volunteer, I feel that there is a sense of satisfaction when the needs are met. In return, I find myself meeting more people, making more friends and this add to the overall wellbeing of myself.Working with dementia residents, I learnt to be more patient and understanding of their behavior and emotions. They are part of our society and need love and concern like anyone else. Being engaged in activities could help stimulate and improve their cognitive ability. Some of them are still able to perform simple tasks and it boosts their morale when they are able to participate in an activity. It allows them opportunities to socialize and interact with the other residents and staff. All these contribute to their social and mental wellness. Cooking is a good activity that stimulates the mind and senses. During the cooking session, there is a lot of hands-on for the residents. They are involved in the preparation of the ingredients such as washing, cutting, chopping and even cooking or baking. As food is a great topic for conversation, it creates an opportunity for the residents to socialize and interact with other residents. For me, it is very encouraging to see the residents seriously carrying out the task assigned to them and eagerly waiting to taste the food that they have helped to prepare. At the end of every session the smiles on their faces as they savour the dish of the day says it all.It is extremely rewarding to volunteer as time is well spent with those who are lonely, suffering from social withdrawal and losing interest in activities I would like to encourage more people to step forward and volunteer their time. Besides helping dementia residents, there are many more areas that need volunteers. We all know that joy comes by loving and helping others. The joy we share is the joy we get. May the Lord strengthen & help me to be faithful in giving joy to others for His glory.

Happy and sad because some of them could not hear or see. I am glad that I could at least help them with the activity.

My first impression at St Andrew’s Nursing Home….What can we do with the residents when 85% are on wheelchair? They were also not too enthusiastic with exercises. Some even refuse to talk when I try to engage them. We had arts & craft with the residents before CNY, teaching them to make lanterns to decorate the multi-purpose hall for the CNY celebration. This exercise brought a lot of interaction between the volunteers and the residents. Seeing this brought a lot of joy to my heart. We invited the Yio Chu Kang CC line dance participantst to perform during our CNY celebration & the recent National Day celebration. One line dance participant commented that the residents are more responsive this round. Though she was there to perform she too was encouraged that a little act could change the residents countertance. As we make effort to know the residents by name, I personnaly felt that they do look forward to our visits. Our goal is really to spread some joy and I believe we managed to, to some extent. From Jessie Tong, COOS Evergreen Fellowship