What do you see as a Volunteer ?

This is a very beautiful poem used in a public awareness campaign for the elderly in UK. It was written by an elderly woman before she died in a geriatric ward of a Scottish hospital. A nurse found the poem while going through the woman’s possession after her death.

"What do you see?
Are you thinking when you’re looking at me,
A crabbit old woman, not very wise.
Uncertain of habit with far away eyes;
Who dribbles her food and makes no reply,
When you say in a loud voice, “I do wish you’d try.”
Who seems not to notice the things that you do.
And forever is losing a stocking or shoe,
Who quite unresisting, lets you do as you will.
When bathing and feeding, the long day to fill,
Is that what you’re thinking, is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, you’re not looking at me;
I’ll tell you who I am as I sit here so still,
As I move at your bidding, as I eat at your will;
I’m a small child of ten with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters who love one another;
A young girl of sixteen with wings on her feet,
Dreaming that soon a true lover she’ll meet,
A bride soon at twenty, my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows that I promised to keep;
At twenty-five now I have young of my own,
Who need me to build a secure, happy home.
A woman at thirty, my young now grow fast,
Bound to each other with ties that should last,
At forty, my young sons will soon all be gone,
But my man stays besides me to see I don’t mourn;
At fifty, once more babies play around my knee,
Again we know children my loved one and me;
Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead,
I look at the future, I shudder with dread;
For my young are all busy with young of their own,
And I think of all the years and the love that I’ve known;
I’m an old woman now and nature is cruel,
‘Tis her jest to make old age look like a fool;
The body it crumbles, grace and vigour depart,
There is now a stone where I once had a heart;
But inside this old carcass a young girl still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart swells,
I remember the joys, I remember the pain,
I’m loving and living life over again;
I think of the years all too free, gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact that nothing can last;
So open your eyes, open and see,
Not a crabbit old woman, look closer – see me."

Now I know why when I tried talking to an old lady in an Old Folks Home and she was just not responding most of the times. Her eyes half opened and always staring at her chests. She was in poor health and her children paid a RM300.00 monthly fee to put her up in one corner of the home.

At one point, she even gestured with her hand to tell me to leave her alone after feeding her with water.

Two weeks later, the Person In-charged of the Old Folks Home informed me that she had passed away silently in the middle of one night!

From the Poem above, we can put two and two together and come to a conclusion that how much these lovely Old Ladies were looking forward to be able to stay home and spent the rest of their lives with their loved ones. They know that they will die one day, but not a lonely death …

There are avenues young people can explore before deciding to send their old folks to homes. There are Organisations that provide services which can help a great deal when come to dealing with sick people, such as:

- Malaysia Humanitarian Foundation
- Hospis Malaysia
- Malaysia Oncology Society
- Tzu Chi Malaysia
and a host of others…

These helpful organisations are complete with professionals such as doctors, palliative care nurses, clinical psychologists, medical equipment, medications and volunteers that come in to visit the patients so that to help lessen the burden of caring for the sick, they can even provide emotional support to the family members in time of needs.

THANK YOU FRIENDS!

We brought along with us school bags, stationeries, towels, the essentials and cash donations to The Buddhist Maha Vihara this morning.

It makes one feel really good when you enter a holy place; the feelings of calmness and peace embrace you the moment you step into the compound of the Temple. To our delight, we even met with The Chief Priest, Rev K.Dhammaratana Thera.





We were informed by the staff that the donated items will be sent to a Buddhist Temple in Johore for distribution, in that way the items will reach the victims' hands directly.

So, once again my dear FRIENDS, a big "THANK YOU" for your kind support. You have added hopes to a few helpless minds and brought sunshine into their lives. Let's pray that the grief they have endured in this flood will soon end and bless them with strength to carry on.

To you my friends, may your love and kindness toward others help to develop inner happiness and peace to you and your family !

THE BUDDHIST MAHA VIHARA AID PROJECT

DO OUR PART....

To all my friends, relatives, neighbours and the general public, if you have missed sending in your donations to the flood victims in Johore Bahru, this is another time you can do so.

Swiss Palma is echoing to the Aid Project of The Buddhist Maha Vihara Temple in Brickfields by collecting donations in cash (Payable to the BUDDHIST MAHA VIHARA) or in kind from you and deliver to the Temple on 27th January 2007. Please contact Jenny at 012-3704884 to collect items you wish to donate, or participate in this project together.

Donations in kind that can be given are as follows:

Hygiene Pack - Soap, toothpaste & toothbrush, bath towels
Family Pack - Rice, Cooking Oil, Biscuits, Salt & Sugar, Coffee & Tea, Meehoon,Canned or dry foodstuff
Others - School uniform, bags, stationery
(Appreciate not to send used clothing)

There are flood-hit families still remained at the relief centres as their houses were reduced to heaps of planks:






This donation project was led by The Temple Chief Priest Maha Nayake Thero (Ven.K Dhammaratana Thera)and it is a short one as donations will be sent to Johore by 29th January 2007.

Lets us all bring some cheers to those who suffer and help them sail thru this hardship and hopefully they will be seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Please respond by latest Saturday, 27th January 2007 for collection of cheque/kind.

Wishing all Chinese friends, a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Chinese New Year!

"At the end of our lives, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by 'I was hungry and you give me to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in." - Mother Theresa

DONATIONS TO THE FLOOD VICTIMS IN JOHORE

What Flood Victims Need:

Food items ：Baby food, rice, bread, canned food, biscuits, cereal, formula milk powder.

Serious need for clothes, such as T-shirts, track-bottom, children's clothes.
Pillows, blankets, mattress, toiletries, dispossable diapers (in all sizes.)

Please send in your donations to :
MALAYSIAN RED CRESCENT SOCIETY, HEADQUARTERS；
No:34, Jalan Nipah, Off Jalan Ampang, 55000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-42574223 Fax: 03-42572534

JOHORE SITTING IN A BOWL OF WATER

If you have a boat, do come quickly! Volunteers bringing boats to join search and rescue efforts need to report to the various district police headquarters.
JOHORE STATE POLICE CONTINGENT HEADQUARTERS:
TEL: 07-2254422 FAX: 07-2240115

MOMENTS TO SHARE

DON'T GIVE UP!

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of the missing drop'' - Mother Theresa

It is always not easy to be a social worker/volunteer. You are charged up to help people in needs but at times you were given a cold shoulder, being rediculed. Or sometime being turned down for not donating enough money.

But, there is always someone out there needed our help. As the saying goes : Lift a hand and you will light a heart.

Keep going, people, the children need you, the old folks need you, the disabled need you。。。

“PEOPLE WILL FORGET WHAT YOU SAID,
PEOPLE WILL FORGET WHAT YOU DID.
BUT PEOPLE WILL NEVER FORGET HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL".

Heart wrenching when you hear this.....

Pastor Jacob told us a very touching true story when asked how did he manage to raise sufficient funds for the day to day expenses of the Home (The Shepherd's Centre is with 103 children and 16 oldfolks. The Home does not receive money on a fix basis from well wishers or government. They need a minimum of RM55K per month to defray overhead and expenses.
The home was running on its reserves in the month of October '06 where Fixed Deposit was uplifted from the bank, sold whatever were sellable, retrenched workers...etc to make ends meet. Eventually, he had to call all the orphans to gather for a prayer and asked for finances from the Almighty. All boys and girls raised their hands to offer prayers, but when Pastor Jacob jokingly said that if the prayer is not answered, then all will get 5 rotans from him. Eventually, only 4 boys raised their hands on the second round; And one 4 year old boy offered himself to come forward to say the prayer. What he uttered was just '' Dear Yesus, my father said we have no finance, pls help us!''. A couple of days later, a foreign woman came walking in and donated cash RM85K in total as she was returning to her homeland. A few more days later, another few kind hearted businessmen came with more cash donations, eventually with the help of others, they have collected a good sum of RM180K. --- This is the power of the Almighty God.

There were more stories of the terminally ill children, who do not know who are their mothers and fathers, but are facing death all alone...
A teenager who is sitting for SPM on the first day was found crying out loud on the roadside, asking where is her mother?
Children who were the victims of rape... and more.

Go see the old folks, some are blinds, some are just too distressed and refused to speak, eating food came from a nearby restaurant's leftovers. Loneliness and lifeless is all over them, the taste of the food is something not that matters anymore...

We chose these homes because they are located in remote places and do not receive help often. We hope to organise these visits twice a year, and looking forward to see you all again and to see more new friends joining in. The more the merrier!

To contact Pastor Jacob:
SHEPHERD'S CENTRE
No:20, Taman Aik Ann
43500 Semenyih
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 03-87231213
Fax: 03-87234243

REVITALIZE REHAB CENTRE VISIT

You should go and see them.....

They are a bunch of young people that are not welcomed by general public.

People do not want to get close to them, let alone ">giving support, donations and warmth...

Their wish to reborn is thru the help of the Centre, coupled with self initiative to overcome this dark patch in their lives. They are the drugs/ecstasy addicts going thru rehabilitation.

We were amazed by their enthusiasm and openness in relating to us their experiences and wrong doings that they have regretted. It's thru God that they are now able to stand tall, to face themselves and to meet with people who are willing to lend them a helping hand.

Before engaging themselves with drugs, they were once proud father of their children, a mother's only son, and loving husband to a beautiful wife ... all these were lost overnight in the name of drugs. They have ruined not only their happiness but those who are closed to their hearts too. You can see the tearful eyes when recalling the family members who abandoned them. Some even pee uncontrollably when relating the incidents of being sent to the jail.

We should take these people's advise very seriously as they are the ones who have been to the Hell and back! ''DO NOT TAKE DRUGS, NOT EVEN TO TASTE JUST A LITTLE BIT''. This is the testimony coming from each and everyone in the centre.

When you hear these people singing songs and clapping hands like small little boys in school before your eyes, don't you think that they do deserve some compassion and a second chance in life again?

Please help them, and the person/s who run the centre too...they need your help to continue with their struggles in making this earth a better place.

REVITALIZE REHAB CENTRE
NO: 28, Jalan Damai Perdana 4/1E
Bandar Damai Perdana
Cheras
56000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel/Fax: 03-91022077
Contact Person : Ms Wendy Yap