Helping Hands

Alright I'm supposed to be resting already, after all I have a test tomorrow but I couldn't resist writing this down. Cos I know that if I keep delaying it eventually I won't write about it anymore.

Saturday was CIP with my SP classmates. Unfortunately for me, I had to choose between going to CIP or going to the Grace 2 event "around the world in 2 hours" (its a game). I decided to try to go for CIP then rush to the event after that. The problem is that CIP ended at around 5:20pm and the event was from 5pm to 7pm. Nevertheless I decided to try to make it. Who knew it would take 2 hours to travel from hougang to bukit gombak. Sigh. Was initally very upset that I missed the event especially since I had been looking forward to it but at least I knew what it was about.

Our CIP was organized by Hong En. We were supposed to go to the IMH (Institute of Mental Health) to assist the other volunteers in helping the patients there. We planned to conduct simple activities such as songs and dance.

Anyway, CIP was a very tiring and exhausting thing. I spent more time travelling than doing CIP, 2 hours to hougang and 2 hours back, with 3 hours of CIP. Had lunch with the class at pepper lunch at hougang mall, then walked all the way to the IMH.

Since photography isn't allowed in the wards, let me give you a detailed and visual description of our experience as helpers inside.

We were taken to a small holding room outside the ward. Earlier, we were briefed that the patients here were mostly mild and recovering cases, and we were not to expect anything we could not handle. However, photography was off limits and using mobile phones alone was frowned upon. We were also told to keep mum about all personal information. Before we were allowed to enter, our instructor told to sanitize our hands with an alcohol solution. It felt soapy and left a cool feeling afterwards. Behind the doors, we could see the patients already starting to notice us, staring at us with glassy eyes.

In minutes, we were ready. The instructor unlocked the doors and we cautiously stepped inside. Walking briskly, we uneasily made our way to the equipment stash in a room nearby to store our belongings. A moment later, we were in the ward, trapped there for the next two hours.

The place was what you would expect for an old folks corner, or lounge or whatever you would call that. The room wasn't that large, probably the size of two to three classrooms. The floor was neatly paved with an anti-slip mat. An old monochrome TV attached to a wall frame was displaying some malaysian channel, though clearly no one was watching. The outer wall was covered with numerous small windows, each slightly larger than a square foot in area. They were made of stained glass, making it impossible to see in our out of the room when they were closed. In front of the windows was a large metal grill attached. The grill was more like a grid fence, steel wires intersecting to form equal sized squares. The room had a few tables in a corner, although a large area of the room was filled with wooden sofa chairs and plastic chairs where the residents sat aimlessly for most of the time. The room had another smaller wall on the other side which had three wash basins there, although it seemed that few actually bothered to use them.

Some of the people there greeted us as soon as we entered, while a few appeared totally apathetic or otherwise unconcerned. They all had one thing in common, a glassy stare that made me feel uncomfortable. Most of the patients appeared to be in their 50s, although we were not informed on any of their particulars, other than that they were patients here.

At first, we tried to talk to them but soon realised a coherent conversation was going to be tricky at best and impossible at worst. Some refused to answer our questions at all while others gave garbled, unintelligible replies. One thing that surprised me was that a select few patients actually knew how to play checkers. On top of that, they were pretty good too.

We tried to carry out some activities with them and were met with a mixed response. Some continued to ignore us, others just stared while a few attempted to join us as we sang songs. We were allowed to use a box of toys to entertain the patients, although many toys were in pretty bad shape. The Xiangqi set, for instance, had lost nearly 70% of it's pieces and the chessboard was nowhere to be found. We attempted to engage them in some sports activities, such as a simplified version of bowling and ping pong. They did try, and I guess we also tried our best to entertain them.

After spending more time there, we began to see that they were not as bad as we once thought. As we persisted in conversing with them, we soon learned that some of them were brought here by a traumatic event, while others had been victims of an accident. Unfortunately I cannot elaborate on the conversations we had with them as I cannot disclose any personally identifiable information from the patients here or post any photographs here; we agreed not to prior to entering the ward.

Time passed and it was soon time to leave. We left the place having gained new insight on what the IMH really was like.

Yeah well thats about it, and let me stress it was really tiring. I was kinda scared at first, but eventually I also did interact with some of the patients.

| HCH - 3:45 PM |