On 4th November 2017, OVE'18 made our first trip down to Metta Home for the Disabled, where we made some very special new friends. Geared with smiles, paint brushes and an eager spirit of volunteerism, we walked into the home expecting to fill it with warmth. Little did we expect that these precious individuals warmed our hearts instead.
"I didn't know what to expect because I'd only been to elderly homes and the mood there tended to be quite sombre so I was prepared to put in effort to lift the mood. But Metta Home was different."
- Katrina
As this was most of our first time here, we were a blend of excitement and nerves. The lift full of our anxious murmurs finally came to a halt when the doors opened. To our surprise, we were greeted by a burst of enthusiastic waves and lit up faces as the residents skipped towards us. Initially, many of us felt awkward as we attempted to find ways to engage our new friends. Thankfully, the fun little activities we prepared like drawing on cards and making cute animal masks made our quieter friends open up. It was extremely heartwarming to see so many of them immersed in their art pieces.
"It's hard to grab their attention at first but after countless of tries, when you finally find something that makes them excited/happy, it warms your heart and you are a child again." - Nadhira
"Communicating with them was harder than taking O'Levels at times. But there was this client who was extra friendly and lucky for me, he knew a little bit of English and Mandarin. He shared with me about his life and in return, I taught him some Mandarin and English words" - Oliver
"A memorable moment was when a female client called me over to paste stickers on my hand and demanded that I was never to bully the girls again...then she made me apologize to every single girl hahaha!" - Aloysius
They were all uniquely different. This made interacting with them a fresh breath of air. Time passed really quickly while interacting with these happy pills. We had so much of fun that we didn't realize how exhausted we were until it was time for us to take our leave. It was bittersweet to bid our goodbyes to the new friends we have made but we'll definitely be back! Till then hopefully we made their day bright as they made ours. Here's to many more of such volunteering opportunities with them!
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