By Kang Hyun-min
I have a grandmother who always volunteers to help the elderly. Although she seems to deserve a more comfortable life, she never stops helping others. This has inspired me in many ways and has led me to walk in her shadow. I have started to volunteer to help the hospitalized elderly.
I remember the first time I arrived. It is a little shameful to say, but in the beginning I was a bit worried and scared by the amount of work I had to handle there. But I soon realized how silly I was. The work was not hard at all.
The hospital had 6 floors but I worked on the 5th floor most of the time where there were relatively healthier patients. There were some patients who had Alzheimer’s disease and others who were in a relatively good condition except they could not walk alone.
My last visit there was New Year’s Eve. I and other volunteers sang songs and clapped our hands together to entertain the patients on the 5th floor. It was really fun. I did not know any of the songs to be honest, but I clapped my hands all the time.
After the entertainment, we served them food. Some ate porridge while others were given normal meals. I was told that we need to keep an eye on those who have Alzheimer’s disease. This was because they do not realize the amount of food they eat and could end up vomiting if they weren’t stopped.
There are a number of special people I remember from the hospital. There is one patient called “Jung-yi.” Volunteers normally called patients “grandma” but she was the only person to be called by her first name. She was in her late 60’s and had Alzheimer’s disease.
When I saw her for the first time, she was putting makeup on her face. She has a real poker face because she never changes her facial expression. I thought it was quite funny when I saw her the first time. I never thought that there would be anyone with only one facial expression.
There was another lady who is in her 80’s with Alzheimer’s disease. She always smiles at me. The first time she met me she told me that she only had two sons. But then a few hours later, she would tell me that she had only two daughters. I was very confused and did not know what to say, but she is now one of my favorites _ I like her a lot. She calls me “pretty” and every time I give her food, she invites me to join her. She is obviously much older than me but I have to admit that she is cuter than I am.
Only after I started volunteering for the elderly did I realize there were so many people staying in hospitals and also many volunteers who helped them. The volunteers in the hospital where I go to either come from churches or have a certificate for volunteering.
When they come to volunteer, they do not sleep. They come to the hospital in the morning and go back home the next day. They cannot sleep at night because the elderly could get sick. Knowing all these hard circumstances, I always wanted to come and help them even for a short period of time. But it was never easy putting it into action.
The majority of the volunteers are in their 50s. It must be tiring for them to do all the care work in the hospitals. I think it would be great if young people came to help but they are afraid of talking to the elderly for some reason which is a shame.
I do hope there will be more and more young volunteers who can become friends with the elderly in hospital. They just want to be loved and remembered by others. I will in the meantime try to take my friends to the hospital where I go to help and let them be part of where I love to belong. I imagine the place being filled with more young volunteers one day.
Kang Hyun-min is a senior at Shin Jung High School in Busan.