“Caring is the bridge that connects us to one another” - Thich Nhat Hanh
This year, we are thrilled to announce that we will be focusing on the elderlies in our community as part of our Start Small Dream Big launch.
To kickstart this launch, Tr. Joelle invited the children to talk about their own grandparents (e.g., activities that they do with their grandparents, what they adore about their grandparents, ways in which they can show love towards their grandparents and more).
From there, we then expanded on our conversations by discussing about the elderlies that are in AWWA in which the children tend to pass by and see, usually during their outdoor walk sessions. Tr. Joelle then shared that for many reasons, these elderlies need someone to assist them with keeping personal hygiene, wound dressing or providing meals when their caregivers are not available for example.
Throughout the discussions, some of the children mentioned and asked if the elderlies will feel lonely, sad or bored and with all that queries formulating in their minds, we decided that we are going to engage with the elderlies by presenting performances for them and making them presents so as to make them feel loved and cared for.
And with that, we collaborated with AWWA to give the elderlies a surprise visit so as to bring a smile to their faces! Overall, the elderlies and children had a wonderful bonding time and we could see how the children not only bring joy and companionship to the elderlies but also, it teaches them valuable life lessons about compassion and respect as after our trip, the children continued to share with one another different fantastic moments that they encountered on-site and even, initiated to the teacher that they want to make another craft, but this time round, for their very own grandparents as a way of saying ‘I love you and I appreciate you very much!’ to them!
