Lots of stories to post and archive, but the first comes courtesy of a current student who took the time to write me this afternoon. On behalf of the enormous (and growing) number of aged people in China, it breaks my heart. It also gives me hope that my student and others like him might be not only listening but responding to the need for greater compassion.
How are you?How was Thailand?I joined a volunteer group and I went to a gerocomium with the
group a few days ago.The gerocomium was in a town near Chengdu city.There were more than one hundred old people living
there.Because the gerocomium was pretty big, we were divided into several teams, heading to different buildings and rooms.
First, my team went to a room where two old women lived.One had amnesia.She could barely remember few things.She kept
asking what my first name was, and I told her that my first name was Li again and again, but patiently. When she heard
someone in our team had the same first name as she did, she suddenly cried.I guess it reminded her of her family.Seeing her
tears falling down, we all felt very sad. As we were consoling her and trying to make her feel better, a girl in our team
offered to give the other old woman a haircut.We talked with her for a while, then I went to another room and met the leader
of the volunteer group here.He was fixing the TV for the old man living in that room.That old man moved there from another
gerocomium, and he spoke with a strong accent.He liked smoking ,drinking teas, and he said he usually went to bed at 6 pm.I
noticed the floor was a little dirty, and with his permission, I cleaned up the floor for him.Most of the rooms were closed.
Considering the old people were sleeping, we didn't knock at the door.When we went out of the building, the other teams were
already in the dining hall with some old people, preparing performances.I joined one group and gave a dance in front of the
olders.The dance was a little stupid but quite amusing and we seemed to enjoy it more than the audience.Then I sang some songs(not
rapped)to the old people and an old lady also sang some songs about Chair Mao.We had such a great time.After all the teams
finished their performances, we took some photos and said goodbye to the old people.Some of them were very thankful and hoped that
we could visit their gerocomium more often. In fact, I was a little bummed on the way home.I felt like I hadn't done enough for
the old people.But since I am in the volunteer group, I will still have a lot of chances to do something for those people in need
of help. Now I understand your intention of asking us to do this.The world needs us.It needs our compassion, it needs our help, It
needs our love.I think I can trade my life for something meaningful rather than just enjoy what it gives me.
