24 LUMEN | REFLECTIONS
Visits that
Stirred My Heart
By Josephine Wee
The spirit of giving and learning to care for the less fortunate during Lent was not just encouraged among students but also the staff of SJI .
Kah Choo and I decided to volunteer . This was in response to the appeal for staff in SJI to help deliver food items that have been collected by the students over the Lent season to members of the Handicapped Welfare Association ( HWA ).
Annually , each level would collect nonperishable food as part of our Religious Moral Social and Education Programme . While the Secondary Ones distribute it to the underprivileged elderly of Pek Kio , the Secondary Twos contribute to HWA , and the Secondary Threes and Fours to AIDS victims under Catholic Aids Response Effort and Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics respectively . As typical Mathematics teachers we were very target-oriented , planning to complete our visits within two hours and by 6.30pm on 3 May due to our other commitments .
Having no time to reflect , we embarked on our visits with no expectations . While trying to locate the apartment of one of the recipients living in a 2-bedroom block , we were not
prepared for what we were about to see - two wheelchairs in the common corridor . That was however the indication that we had found the correct apartment .
A cheerful voice greeted us when we knocked on the door and there in the middle of the living room was a hospital bed . On it a man in his mid-thirties lay . In our conversation with him , it was evident he was very appreciative of our visit . He candidly told us that he was bedridden due to a simple operation that went awry . Due to a form he signed prior to the operation , he would not be receiving any form of compensation from the hospital . Before the incident , he was driving a lorry to support his family of six . His wife looked exhausted having just bathed her spouse , and taken one of her children to see a doctor . My heart sank after knowing more about the family situation .
Similarly our visit to the second home saw us spotting a wheelchair outside the apartment . This time it was an elderly and genial gentleman whom we had the opportunity to befriend .
When we visited the third home , it resembled that of the first – the hospital bed in the living room and a young man in his twenties was lying on it . Unfortunately we did not have much to say to each other . There was the usual awkwardness between strangers , perhaps he was not at ease in the company of two women .
These visits emphasised the stark difference between us and the handicapped . While most of
This page ( top ): Being warmly appreciated by a resident at Pek Kio
This page ( bottom ): Sorting out the food parcels
us are blessed with luxuries such as a car , mobile phone and other material comforts , for the disabled it is the wheelchair that is a necessity for them . It saddened me to see people in the prime of their lives confined to their beds . Once again , I am reminded not to take my health , life , family and friends for granted . They are far more important than all the material things I can afford .
It also got me thinking : would the scenario for the first family be different if they were rich and well-established ? What would happen to the man ' s school-going children , of whom the eldest is only in secondary school ?
I certainly hope there is an organisation that will come to his family ’ s aid . Though I cannot fully empathise with his pain and suffering , I admire his cheerfulness and courage in accepting his situation . Kah Choo agrees , “ It is amazing to witness such human spirit amidst adversity .”
Months have passed since our visits . Life resumes . It is so easy to allow our hectic schedules make us slow to show human compassion to the point of being apathetic . Getting caught up with the daily grind and not having a moment to pause and reflect is a sad way to live life . However it should not be an excuse for us . We can still make an effort and find time to care for others amidst our busyness . The decision is ours to make .