Talking in front of the class and sharing our experience was fun. We grew a lot as people being able to grow from the experiences we learned from and were able to teach. The overall experience was worthwhile being able to grow as a person and learn from other people's stories. The generation gap culturally across the globe was interesting to learn about and teach. We hope that people are more aware of the situations that are happening at the same time in different parts of the world.
20 Time was a good experience because we were able to choose our passion and grow from it. With that, we were able to learn a lot of interesting themes from the lives of the people. The presentation itself was pretty simple because we just stated what we learned and everyone seemed to enjoy the concept. We didn't have too many setbacks throughout the process and we even expanded the project in the end. Though we don't have an actual physical product (like a book), this blog is a collection of our work and our interviews. We hope people who read this learned something just like we did, and discover their passion.
We had a fun time doing this project!
Monday, June 1, 2015
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Work Interview #2
Rosa who was a nurse at the villa was a great person I had the opportunity to meet while working there. She was so gentle with every patient she was with and her patience for each of them was incredible. She talked to them as if they were her closet friend. She tried to teach me how they played volleyball with them so we could all interact. Her kindness brought many of the people to talk to me and it led to a great path to the questions about their lives I was able to receive. Rosa was doing a million things at once and I practically had to run to keep up with her. She helps give baths, arts an crafts, interacts, walks, feeds, and even helps the patients with whatever they need. I was able to help her through most of it and she taught me how to give a hand massage. Rosa's kindness was shown and everyone enjoyed her company when she would be on shift.
Her advice for the younger generations was to listen. To hear something isn't always enough but to understand what they mean and where they are coming from makes the words someone says more valuable. Her thoughts on why you can hear but not always understand makes her a valued worker who without working at the villa would be hard to replace. Rosa was a great person who I was able to meet during this experience and she like every one who works there wanted to help people. They all enjoy the work they do and every person they meet they enjoy getting to know them and be able to make their day better.
Her advice for the younger generations was to listen. To hear something isn't always enough but to understand what they mean and where they are coming from makes the words someone says more valuable. Her thoughts on why you can hear but not always understand makes her a valued worker who without working at the villa would be hard to replace. Rosa was a great person who I was able to meet during this experience and she like every one who works there wanted to help people. They all enjoy the work they do and every person they meet they enjoy getting to know them and be able to make their day better.
Work Interview #1
The main manager who works there is named Red. He is a kind man who works in all areas of the villa. He was the first person I met when I came to volunteer there and he helped me to interact with the elderly people. He showed me how to wheel their chairs and help them to go on the walks. His passion for working and helping is admirable.
His favorite part of working there was seeing the people get better and seeing them smile makes his day better. You can tell just by working with him that he genuinely cares about everyone he looks after and for the short time I was helping him he asked me questions about why I was involved with them and what I wanted out of it. Which just goes to show that the people there he wanted working with him to have the same passion.
His only advice for future generations is to help people, no matter who they are go out of your way and help people because in time those simple actions can help you far more than the individuals.
What We Discovered About Ourselves
Volunteering at Fatima Villa has been a great experience for us so far. Our project time in class is coming to an end but we hope to continue our journey of finding people's stories.
From simply filing papers to actually interacting with the people at Fatima Villa, we learned to appreciate all the work people do there. Even filing papers into binders was a difficult task. (Those huge binders were hard to open! And my hand hurt by the end of the day.) It shows us how caring the staff is to each and every patient.
For me personally, interviewing my grandpa really sparked my interest in my own family's history and it was super interesting to talk to a real primary source instead of reading history from a textbook. In addition, I usually only hear stories from my mother, and it was interesting to hear a story from a even earlier generation. Because I often watch Chinese movies with my parents, a lot of the story lines are now put in context for me.
We have discovered that hearing other people's stories has been very enjoyable. Even though we knew that the generations before us were very different, it was a great experience to actually hear specific details and anecdotes about a certain time period. Just learning about history only gives us a general perspective of the time period, and maybe a bias view that the U.S has if we're reading a textbook written by someone in the U.S, but actually hearing the stories from someone who was there brings the event to life.
Personally, for me, listening to all the stories of the people who were willing to share brought yourself to discovery why humanity is just an important aspect. We connect with the pain and joy of our lives and that is how we can inspire others, help them, and hopefully learn from it so we won't make the same mistakes again.
The main goal of this project was to connect with other perspectives about what they had gone through and although not everyone was willing to share we did learn a lot about why we are so similar and different about culture and as time progressed how we went about certain situations.
The stories we were able to listen to has formed a special bond within us and now we can be more accepting of people and perhaps if more people do this as well people won't judge as much as they too and instead they can focus on the good.
From simply filing papers to actually interacting with the people at Fatima Villa, we learned to appreciate all the work people do there. Even filing papers into binders was a difficult task. (Those huge binders were hard to open! And my hand hurt by the end of the day.) It shows us how caring the staff is to each and every patient.
For me personally, interviewing my grandpa really sparked my interest in my own family's history and it was super interesting to talk to a real primary source instead of reading history from a textbook. In addition, I usually only hear stories from my mother, and it was interesting to hear a story from a even earlier generation. Because I often watch Chinese movies with my parents, a lot of the story lines are now put in context for me.
We have discovered that hearing other people's stories has been very enjoyable. Even though we knew that the generations before us were very different, it was a great experience to actually hear specific details and anecdotes about a certain time period. Just learning about history only gives us a general perspective of the time period, and maybe a bias view that the U.S has if we're reading a textbook written by someone in the U.S, but actually hearing the stories from someone who was there brings the event to life.
Personally, for me, listening to all the stories of the people who were willing to share brought yourself to discovery why humanity is just an important aspect. We connect with the pain and joy of our lives and that is how we can inspire others, help them, and hopefully learn from it so we won't make the same mistakes again.
The main goal of this project was to connect with other perspectives about what they had gone through and although not everyone was willing to share we did learn a lot about why we are so similar and different about culture and as time progressed how we went about certain situations.
The stories we were able to listen to has formed a special bond within us and now we can be more accepting of people and perhaps if more people do this as well people won't judge as much as they too and instead they can focus on the good.
Third Life Story
My grandmother's name is Lindsay Jackson she is currently 68. Her maiden name is Campbell and she was married four times and finally settled on Jackson when her late husband and her separated. She lived in Beverly Hills most of her life and has one younger sister named Candie. She is still in contact with her sister but they live far away now so they connect by long phone calls weekly. My grandmother left home when she was 16 because of family troubles and lived on her own or with friends; she then began working and putting herself through college and then became a real estate agent. She loved her work and became very well known in Southern California, Beverly Hills and Brent wood where she ended up living. My grandma eventually became apart of AA; which is alcoholic anonymous a safe place where you learn to detox and become sober once more. She is now 33 years sober and is a sponsor for many people helping them to gain a better perspective on life besides drowning your sorrows. She met her first husband before AA and had two lovely children and then after her husband gambling the money away and leaving she decided to become sober. This led to her meeting years down the line the husband which she has now before they recently separated last year due to family tensions.
When my grandmother was young she loved to play volleyball and went to the beach almost every day to play. Later on she rode horses, did bare back, and even performed with them in shows. She became a great performer and loved the experience until she felt she got too old to continue.
My grandmother today loves to go shopping and spend time with her many grandchildren. She is full of life and her message to the younger generations out there is don't be afraid to be different. To try out and do things that you want to do and life your youth to the fullest. Don't worry about what your hair looks like or how many friends you have just try to be happy because that is the only thing no one can take away from you.
When my grandmother was young she loved to play volleyball and went to the beach almost every day to play. Later on she rode horses, did bare back, and even performed with them in shows. She became a great performer and loved the experience until she felt she got too old to continue.
My grandmother today loves to go shopping and spend time with her many grandchildren. She is full of life and her message to the younger generations out there is don't be afraid to be different. To try out and do things that you want to do and life your youth to the fullest. Don't worry about what your hair looks like or how many friends you have just try to be happy because that is the only thing no one can take away from you.
Monday, May 11, 2015
The Future
The next steps for this project will be to create a way where we can share the information we learned and share it with our class. It will be a wonderful way to expand ourselves as we now understand different generations. The problems we have encountered will lead us to a different direction than before. Our original idea to make a novella based upon the details of the lives we have learned from the project but we now will just end up creating a short talk about what we have learned; since we don't have enough information to create a short novel from the experiences from all the patients. The main issue for this project will be we needed additional stories from nurses to get to a better understanding of what they thought of being around these people who have experienced so much yet the emails we sent out we heard back no response.
So the new result will be a lesson of what we learned and some interesting facts about the project we had. The overall project itself will be an interesting story about the compelling lives we have had the privileged of knowing and the ones we don't have we will still be able to come to a conclusion point for this 20 time project. The 20 time Ted-Talk presentation will be dedicated to expressing our ties to how this affected us and will in turn hopefully change the perspective of those around us to influence the people at our school and beyond. The story of how we did it, why and then finish it off with the overall theme or message about the lives we aren't connected with but now the realization of how much they are like us will change how we see people. We can bring people together and show them that we all go through trails and tribulations but the ultimate result is that we are all human. By being simply that our mistakes and highlights in our life will be able to express how other people can be influenced by knowing someone else has been through tough situations too.
So the new result will be a lesson of what we learned and some interesting facts about the project we had. The overall project itself will be an interesting story about the compelling lives we have had the privileged of knowing and the ones we don't have we will still be able to come to a conclusion point for this 20 time project. The 20 time Ted-Talk presentation will be dedicated to expressing our ties to how this affected us and will in turn hopefully change the perspective of those around us to influence the people at our school and beyond. The story of how we did it, why and then finish it off with the overall theme or message about the lives we aren't connected with but now the realization of how much they are like us will change how we see people. We can bring people together and show them that we all go through trails and tribulations but the ultimate result is that we are all human. By being simply that our mistakes and highlights in our life will be able to express how other people can be influenced by knowing someone else has been through tough situations too.
Monday, April 20, 2015
The 2nd Life Story
Over the break, I was able to ask my grandpa about his life story in order to compare different cultures with the life stories we were hearing at Fatima Villa.
Starting from 1957, the entire country entered a state of turmoil, chaos, and fear. The communist party was led by a man named Mao Zedong (or Mao Tse-Tung depending on which spelling). He wanted the citizens to give the government feedback on what improvements they should make, and the citizens obliged, excitedly sending in requests and suggestions. These suggestions became too overwhelming to a point where Mao decided to arrest anyone who wrote a criticism towards the government, calling them unpatriotic and traitors. Luckily, my grandpa stayed out of this trouble, but the fear began to build up. (to the right is Chairman Mao)
My grandpa was born in 1936 according to the lunar calendar, but due to a discrepancy between converting his birthday on the lunar calendar to the calendar we use now, no one really knows his real birthday. He lived in a small village with his entire family; including his parents, siblings, grandparents, and cousins, it added up to about 50 people total. Though they lived in a small village, my grandpa's family was comparatively rich because his ancestors were all famous doctors, and still owned a small medicine store when my grandpa was a child. As the oldest son in the family, he would receive inheritance of the store, and therefore often worked alongside his parents. As a result, he learned a lot about medicine as a child, and wanted to be a doctor when he grew up.
During this time, the Chinese Civil War between the nationalists and communists were going on, and my grandpa vaguely remembers these memories for he was barely 10 years old. He explained that many of the Chinese favored the communists not always because of their political campaign, but more of because the soldiers fighting for that side were nicer to the citizens. He remembers stories of about the nationalist army stealing food from citizens when they were hungry, and as a result the communists gained more and more support. 1949 marked the year of Chinese Independence, and everyone was happy because the nicer soldiers won the war. (I'm sure some people did also favor the communists for their political party, but this was the perspective of a 10 year old.)
Eventually my grandpa moved to the suburbs for middle school and high school, where he developed a passion for history. However, he was bad at literature, and ultimately decided humanities would not be a good career path. He decided he was better at math and science anyway. In high school, my grandpa joined the basketball team, which was apparently one of the best in their area. Later, my grandpa met my grandma because of the teacher's assigned seating, and my grandma was better at literature than he was. She also knew of him from watching basketball games, so they became friends quickly. When it came time to choose majors and colleges, my grandma wanted to do architecture whereas my grandpa wanted to pursue his dream of going to medical school. However, because he wanted to stay closer to my grandma, he switched majors to study mechanics instead.
My grandparents' colleges were close for the first two years, until my grandma's entire department was relocated to another province. As a result, my grandparents were separated.
*note: Starting from here I will be retelling many details of Chinese history because it greatly affected my grandpa's lifestyle. This is already a concise version. Story time lasted approx. 2 hours because there was so many horrific details.
*note: Starting from here I will be retelling many details of Chinese history because it greatly affected my grandpa's lifestyle. This is already a concise version. Story time lasted approx. 2 hours because there was so many horrific details.
Starting from 1957, the entire country entered a state of turmoil, chaos, and fear. The communist party was led by a man named Mao Zedong (or Mao Tse-Tung depending on which spelling). He wanted the citizens to give the government feedback on what improvements they should make, and the citizens obliged, excitedly sending in requests and suggestions. These suggestions became too overwhelming to a point where Mao decided to arrest anyone who wrote a criticism towards the government, calling them unpatriotic and traitors. Luckily, my grandpa stayed out of this trouble, but the fear began to build up. (to the right is Chairman Mao)
In 1958, Mao came up with yet another brilliant idea to improve China's economy, claiming that if everyone knew how to make steel, the economy would be better. My grandpa was kicked out of school for a period of time to learn how to make steel. The government started taking any type of metal they could find, including the farmers' shovels, rakes, and even pots in the kitchen. Eventually not enough people were working in agriculture, and the country began to enter a stage of starvation. What made situations worse was when the farmers started lying about the amount of grains they produced to seem superior to one another. As a result, the government thought the farmers were in perfectly fine condition and didn't help the farmers at all.
Not until 1959 did the government finally realize the farmers were starving. There was a series of natural disasters that destroyed the fields including droughts and floods. My grandpa was one of the luckier people in the city to receive food rations for grains only. There was a shortage of meat, anything with oil, and fruits/vegetables. These would only be provided maybe once a month, and many starved to death. Because my grandpa was considered a good student in college, and his department of mechanics was valued by the country, he was able to attend graduate school (after getting kicked out to make steel) and continue his education. This time, he went to Beijing, the current capital of China. The group of students invited back to school were supposed to be training for aerospace, as China attempted to join the Space Race against the Russians as well.
Eventually, my grandpa was offered a job as a professor at Peking University, and he believed being a professor would provide him with a more stable income and job than an engineer at aerospace. He began teaching mechanics as well as experimenting in the lab. Because of his position, he was also able to bring my grandma into Beijing after negotiations with different departments. (My mom explained that at the time, no one was allowed to switch jobs randomly and my grandpa had to go through a lot of negotiations in order for my grandma's company to let her switch jobs.) After, they got married and my mother was born. My grandpa stayed at the lab often, though, and was rarely home.
(to the right is a picture of the doorway at Peking University)
In 1966, the Cultural Revolution began, and every single person was given a new identity based on their wealth. Because the government was still communist, all rich people were deemed evil, and Mao favored the poor. Technically, my grandpa was born in a rich family, but because his ancestors were all doctors, the government decided doctors were not evil, and gave my grandpa the title of "middle class." It got so ridiculous to the point that even restaurants would ask for a person's identity before serving food, and if a person was identified as "wealthy," he/she would be kicked out.
Later, the Chinese were required to memorize the Little Red Book full of Mao's quotes, and they would recite a passage out of it every day before the work day began and after the work day ended. They treated Mao as a god, except there was no freedom of religion. If a person didn't know certain passages from the book, businesses would refuse service (similar to being classified as "wealthy.")
Not only did this strike fears into every citizen's hearts, the country began to divide into sub-campaigns who all believed they were the most loyal to Mao. Every citizen was forced to choose a side, and their choice would be indicated with a red arm band. This arm band allowed them to participate in parades and social activities. In addition, the country developed a dress code. No one was allowed to wear anything except dark blue, army green, and white. The pants had to be loose (no skinny jeans... or jeans for that matter). Girls were required to have short hair, and guys were required to shave. Those who didn't follow the rules would be considered "anti-revolution" or a traitor, and they could be arrest for potentially nothing major.
The Cultural Revolution not only enforced stricter rules on the citizens, but there was no school (AGAIN). Everyone was out on the streets parading, and high school students were sent to rural villages in order to experience the life of a farmer. (Farmers were valued highly during this era because they were in charge of the food.) In 1969, the Chinese became fearful that the Soviets would attack, and everyone related to the army, including my grandpa's department of mechanics, was moved into the mountains to be protected. As a result, my grandparents and my mom all moved into a valley in Shan Xi, and eventually my grandpa was transferred to Si Chuan where he stayed for 8 years. The food conditions were bad, but my grandpa was able to build a tiny house before he left for Si Chuan to raise chickens. He visited Shan Xi at least once a year, and always made something new before he left, whether it was furniture or newer fences. He always had a passion for woodshop that he did on the side. His normal job at this time, however, was to calculate and experiment with the structure of tall buildings, and how wind at higher altitudes affected the stability of the building.
In 1976, Mao died and the Cultural Revolution died with him. Life finally became, at least by our standards, normal. My grandpa reunited with the family in 1978, and they moved back to Beijing where he resumed his job as a professor. He became the head of the mechanics department for several years until he was relocated to Japan for half a year. He became famous among his friends for cooking while in Japan because all his Chinese friends would go to his house when they missed eating Chinese food. (I can confirm that his cooking is really good.) This normal life continued until he retired in 1998, when he was able to come to America and take care of me.
The grandpa I came to know was one that was exceptional at cooking, great with crash course history lessons about China (like this extensive one), and a person I could go to whenever I broke something (he also made a horse figure out of straw... it was pretty impressive). It's hard to imagine that he grew up living in a state of chaos considering how calm he is now. He always loves going to buffets, which now I can imagine must be because of all the times he starved as a child. Over his life time he saw the transition between no food to too much food. Life is so different now, and from what I know my grandpa is thoroughly enjoying himself. The times I did visit China, there was almost no trace of the events that my grandpa told me, and I'm glad the conditions have gotten so much better.
Not until 1959 did the government finally realize the farmers were starving. There was a series of natural disasters that destroyed the fields including droughts and floods. My grandpa was one of the luckier people in the city to receive food rations for grains only. There was a shortage of meat, anything with oil, and fruits/vegetables. These would only be provided maybe once a month, and many starved to death. Because my grandpa was considered a good student in college, and his department of mechanics was valued by the country, he was able to attend graduate school (after getting kicked out to make steel) and continue his education. This time, he went to Beijing, the current capital of China. The group of students invited back to school were supposed to be training for aerospace, as China attempted to join the Space Race against the Russians as well.
Eventually, my grandpa was offered a job as a professor at Peking University, and he believed being a professor would provide him with a more stable income and job than an engineer at aerospace. He began teaching mechanics as well as experimenting in the lab. Because of his position, he was also able to bring my grandma into Beijing after negotiations with different departments. (My mom explained that at the time, no one was allowed to switch jobs randomly and my grandpa had to go through a lot of negotiations in order for my grandma's company to let her switch jobs.) After, they got married and my mother was born. My grandpa stayed at the lab often, though, and was rarely home.(to the right is a picture of the doorway at Peking University)
In 1966, the Cultural Revolution began, and every single person was given a new identity based on their wealth. Because the government was still communist, all rich people were deemed evil, and Mao favored the poor. Technically, my grandpa was born in a rich family, but because his ancestors were all doctors, the government decided doctors were not evil, and gave my grandpa the title of "middle class." It got so ridiculous to the point that even restaurants would ask for a person's identity before serving food, and if a person was identified as "wealthy," he/she would be kicked out.
Later, the Chinese were required to memorize the Little Red Book full of Mao's quotes, and they would recite a passage out of it every day before the work day began and after the work day ended. They treated Mao as a god, except there was no freedom of religion. If a person didn't know certain passages from the book, businesses would refuse service (similar to being classified as "wealthy.")
The Cultural Revolution not only enforced stricter rules on the citizens, but there was no school (AGAIN). Everyone was out on the streets parading, and high school students were sent to rural villages in order to experience the life of a farmer. (Farmers were valued highly during this era because they were in charge of the food.) In 1969, the Chinese became fearful that the Soviets would attack, and everyone related to the army, including my grandpa's department of mechanics, was moved into the mountains to be protected. As a result, my grandparents and my mom all moved into a valley in Shan Xi, and eventually my grandpa was transferred to Si Chuan where he stayed for 8 years. The food conditions were bad, but my grandpa was able to build a tiny house before he left for Si Chuan to raise chickens. He visited Shan Xi at least once a year, and always made something new before he left, whether it was furniture or newer fences. He always had a passion for woodshop that he did on the side. His normal job at this time, however, was to calculate and experiment with the structure of tall buildings, and how wind at higher altitudes affected the stability of the building.
In 1976, Mao died and the Cultural Revolution died with him. Life finally became, at least by our standards, normal. My grandpa reunited with the family in 1978, and they moved back to Beijing where he resumed his job as a professor. He became the head of the mechanics department for several years until he was relocated to Japan for half a year. He became famous among his friends for cooking while in Japan because all his Chinese friends would go to his house when they missed eating Chinese food. (I can confirm that his cooking is really good.) This normal life continued until he retired in 1998, when he was able to come to America and take care of me.
The grandpa I came to know was one that was exceptional at cooking, great with crash course history lessons about China (like this extensive one), and a person I could go to whenever I broke something (he also made a horse figure out of straw... it was pretty impressive). It's hard to imagine that he grew up living in a state of chaos considering how calm he is now. He always loves going to buffets, which now I can imagine must be because of all the times he starved as a child. Over his life time he saw the transition between no food to too much food. Life is so different now, and from what I know my grandpa is thoroughly enjoying himself. The times I did visit China, there was almost no trace of the events that my grandpa told me, and I'm glad the conditions have gotten so much better.
Pictures of my grandpa when he visited for Christmas in 2013.
...and also a picture of grandparents together.
Some Difficulties Present
Coming into the Villa to help out was an exciting event that Mena and I could look forward to, however; some difficulties have become easier said than done. The time spent with the patients is limited since we have to be accompanied by a nurse, who is also following her normal routines. The activities we implement with them are simply to make them work out, help them with their daily needs and the time left over is limited to ask questions since they may be tired or eating.
Although the time spent throughout the daily working hours are satisfying to help out the time to sit down and talk to them is harder than you may think. When you talk to them most of the time you have to yell since the hearing abilities aren't as great as a younger persons. The repeated questions make them tired and most of the time don't understand so they simply smile or shake their head back and forth to indicate a "no". Further complications arise when you can finally sit and talk to one of the younger elderly people there. This is easier since they love to talk but they may not always be giving you the correct responses.
For example, if I asked a question about their life and they give me a story about the trials and tribulations I jot down notes. Then when I ask the nurse if they had any knowledge of the patients life they ask me what I found out. And to my surprise on more than one occasion the nurse will tell me that the story is incorrect.
It is quite draining when they say this because I get into the story and find the things of an entirely different generation fascinating while some of the patients don't remember making it more trouble some to get the correct information. Don't get the wrong idea and think we don't have valuable information for these people because we do, it is just that on several attempts to get a bigger life story the person gets confused and then the story becomes invalid.
To be fair these people have been through a lot and perhaps the questions go back to far for them to remember or just that age and time together has caused a reaction and they simply don't remember.
Whichever the case, the ones who you do find that can remember their stories are fascinating pieces of art and although we have to ask more people in the end it will be worth it.
These are the difficulties we have while working at the Villa but we remain encouraged to find out more and thanks to the staff we can ask and make sure the stories are reliable.
Although the time spent throughout the daily working hours are satisfying to help out the time to sit down and talk to them is harder than you may think. When you talk to them most of the time you have to yell since the hearing abilities aren't as great as a younger persons. The repeated questions make them tired and most of the time don't understand so they simply smile or shake their head back and forth to indicate a "no". Further complications arise when you can finally sit and talk to one of the younger elderly people there. This is easier since they love to talk but they may not always be giving you the correct responses.
For example, if I asked a question about their life and they give me a story about the trials and tribulations I jot down notes. Then when I ask the nurse if they had any knowledge of the patients life they ask me what I found out. And to my surprise on more than one occasion the nurse will tell me that the story is incorrect.
It is quite draining when they say this because I get into the story and find the things of an entirely different generation fascinating while some of the patients don't remember making it more trouble some to get the correct information. Don't get the wrong idea and think we don't have valuable information for these people because we do, it is just that on several attempts to get a bigger life story the person gets confused and then the story becomes invalid.
To be fair these people have been through a lot and perhaps the questions go back to far for them to remember or just that age and time together has caused a reaction and they simply don't remember.
Whichever the case, the ones who you do find that can remember their stories are fascinating pieces of art and although we have to ask more people in the end it will be worth it.
These are the difficulties we have while working at the Villa but we remain encouraged to find out more and thanks to the staff we can ask and make sure the stories are reliable.
Monday, March 30, 2015
The First Life Story
The first elderly women I was able to talk to and get to a more personal level was a lady named Ms. Henry.
Ms.Henry's childhood I asked her if she remembered any historical movements or something that really stood out in her generation. She recalled the Great Depression as being one of the most visual memories she holds. When the Great Depression hit many people lost their jobs and homes due to the economical chaos going on. Her family in particular was different, although it still burdened them it had no real effect other than they had to be more careful with the food they ate and they were only able to get shoes at intervals of a couple months. As a child her parents hid the real dangers of this time period but the neighbors all helped one another out by serving meals potluck style and sharing whatever they had. Her house was small but modern and she was the youngest in the family. They had a dog who she adored growing up they were in animal terms the best of friends.
She recalls a funny memory when the family put in a dog gate so their dog couldn't get out but the gate was too high for her to reach so she would be stuck in the backyard until someone came by and unlocked it. Her father eventually remade the lock so she would be able to reach it on her tipi-toes. Ms. Henry also wanted to know if math was still studied at schools because she said that was the hardest subject; thus, should be taught only by great professors who would not get upset if the students did not know the answers like she had in school.
Jumping ahead to her career she joined the church for their service of spreading the Lord's message and she loved it. She trained to become a nun in her church. I asked her if she wanted to become anything else since nun is a very uncommon thing for this generation to hear about, but she said that was her dream she always had and set out to become one. Before she was able to go through with the training to become a nun however, she became a teacher for seven years. She had a passion for creativity and she said children were the best way to see it with the light-bulb moments in their lives. After seven years of teaching she moved on to execute her real dream of working for the church.
Ms. Henry passed her testing and became a nun after a few years. She said although her father was an atheist and mother being a Catholic she wanted to join the church since on her own accords due to her connection she had with her faith. This upset her father and he essentially disowned her from the family; yet, the mother continued to support her through the trials in her life. This is why she said she became as it is called a "mamma's girl" since the moral support only came from one parent.
Then she was a nun her entire life and talked about the amazing trips to France and across America she went on for missionary work. She said her favorite thing was to see a small town church in France because it had beautiful mosque work done to the windows and every design was incredible to see.
The funniest thing was I asked her if nuns were allowed to marry, see she wore a simple wedding band on her right ring finger which can only mean one thing. She proves me wrong by saying, "Oh NO! We aren't allowed to marry that is a big no no, but this ring is for the Lord. See I am married to him." I think it was one of those in the moment type of innocent giddy that made it so wonderful. The way she said it made it seem as if she has never been asked that question previously to me. All in all her life was made up of very small dear moments that although she had a lot of trouble recalling once she was able to it made her seem younger. At the end of my visit we painted roses and she told me about the upcoming visits of her sister that she was excited about. I even tried showing her some of todays top hits with some music top charts and she said they all had nice beats but she did not understand what they were saying, which I thought was cute and accurate in todays fast lingo-type instrumentals. She was a great lady and I am glad I was able to meet with her and get to know a past generation a little bit more.
And that was the life of one lady who I am glad I was able to meet for her lesson for the younger generations was to do what you like even if you stand alone by it. If you think it is your passion then do it. And I think that means a lot especially since everyone is so tied up with stress and the future when all you have to do is think about the goodness in life and explore your passion.
Ms.Henry's childhood I asked her if she remembered any historical movements or something that really stood out in her generation. She recalled the Great Depression as being one of the most visual memories she holds. When the Great Depression hit many people lost their jobs and homes due to the economical chaos going on. Her family in particular was different, although it still burdened them it had no real effect other than they had to be more careful with the food they ate and they were only able to get shoes at intervals of a couple months. As a child her parents hid the real dangers of this time period but the neighbors all helped one another out by serving meals potluck style and sharing whatever they had. Her house was small but modern and she was the youngest in the family. They had a dog who she adored growing up they were in animal terms the best of friends.
She recalls a funny memory when the family put in a dog gate so their dog couldn't get out but the gate was too high for her to reach so she would be stuck in the backyard until someone came by and unlocked it. Her father eventually remade the lock so she would be able to reach it on her tipi-toes. Ms. Henry also wanted to know if math was still studied at schools because she said that was the hardest subject; thus, should be taught only by great professors who would not get upset if the students did not know the answers like she had in school.
Jumping ahead to her career she joined the church for their service of spreading the Lord's message and she loved it. She trained to become a nun in her church. I asked her if she wanted to become anything else since nun is a very uncommon thing for this generation to hear about, but she said that was her dream she always had and set out to become one. Before she was able to go through with the training to become a nun however, she became a teacher for seven years. She had a passion for creativity and she said children were the best way to see it with the light-bulb moments in their lives. After seven years of teaching she moved on to execute her real dream of working for the church.
Ms. Henry passed her testing and became a nun after a few years. She said although her father was an atheist and mother being a Catholic she wanted to join the church since on her own accords due to her connection she had with her faith. This upset her father and he essentially disowned her from the family; yet, the mother continued to support her through the trials in her life. This is why she said she became as it is called a "mamma's girl" since the moral support only came from one parent.
Then she was a nun her entire life and talked about the amazing trips to France and across America she went on for missionary work. She said her favorite thing was to see a small town church in France because it had beautiful mosque work done to the windows and every design was incredible to see.
The funniest thing was I asked her if nuns were allowed to marry, see she wore a simple wedding band on her right ring finger which can only mean one thing. She proves me wrong by saying, "Oh NO! We aren't allowed to marry that is a big no no, but this ring is for the Lord. See I am married to him." I think it was one of those in the moment type of innocent giddy that made it so wonderful. The way she said it made it seem as if she has never been asked that question previously to me. All in all her life was made up of very small dear moments that although she had a lot of trouble recalling once she was able to it made her seem younger. At the end of my visit we painted roses and she told me about the upcoming visits of her sister that she was excited about. I even tried showing her some of todays top hits with some music top charts and she said they all had nice beats but she did not understand what they were saying, which I thought was cute and accurate in todays fast lingo-type instrumentals. She was a great lady and I am glad I was able to meet with her and get to know a past generation a little bit more.
And that was the life of one lady who I am glad I was able to meet for her lesson for the younger generations was to do what you like even if you stand alone by it. If you think it is your passion then do it. And I think that means a lot especially since everyone is so tied up with stress and the future when all you have to do is think about the goodness in life and explore your passion.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Patients
Starting off my volunteer experience I was greeted by the lead director a man named Red. He is in charge of looking after the 100 or so elderly people they have at the facility. More women are staying at Fatima Villa than men because unfortunately it appears that women out live men. So the ratio of the men and women in this particular home aren't even around 2:5. However, they still spend their time looking after these people as if they were the employees' own grandparents.
When I arrived I was put to work right away comforting and interacting with the people there. I was at a loss due to the fact I was put in the room where the people are past the ability to talk. The lady I was able to understand a few words she told me she had a stroke and that she was trying to work out more to get in better shape. She loved to play volleyball and I would pass it from her left and right sides working on her coordination. Although I do not remember her name I do remember one characteristic which was her hands. I was intrigued by the way you could see each vein in her hand and that her entire hand looked like it was in water too long. This must be the result from age and the health issues she had had in the past. The good outcome of the visit was I was able to watch and help out with their workout class.
A enthusiastic lady was mixing normal weights with the join positions that they were able to perform. She had them circumduct their wrists and extend their arms and legs. She was also depressing and elevating their shoulders and other simple positions they would be able to do. I thought it was healthy for them to do some type of workout to keep them busy and healthy since most sit in wheelchairs or have serious health issues. After the workout most were falling asleep so we escorted them to their rooms and I helped clean up the room. Something that was interesting was while I was helping out all the music and television shows available were from a completely different time. The music was more jazz and classical melodies than todays pop and rap music. The television was also interesting since they were watching old cowboy and Indian re-runs. It seemed the people their thought it was normal as the weather, but it was almost like they were keeping them in this safe bubble of when they last were able to remember or something they enjoyed. As if the past was a better way to live each day thinking about the "good old times".
When I arrived I was put to work right away comforting and interacting with the people there. I was at a loss due to the fact I was put in the room where the people are past the ability to talk. The lady I was able to understand a few words she told me she had a stroke and that she was trying to work out more to get in better shape. She loved to play volleyball and I would pass it from her left and right sides working on her coordination. Although I do not remember her name I do remember one characteristic which was her hands. I was intrigued by the way you could see each vein in her hand and that her entire hand looked like it was in water too long. This must be the result from age and the health issues she had had in the past. The good outcome of the visit was I was able to watch and help out with their workout class.
A enthusiastic lady was mixing normal weights with the join positions that they were able to perform. She had them circumduct their wrists and extend their arms and legs. She was also depressing and elevating their shoulders and other simple positions they would be able to do. I thought it was healthy for them to do some type of workout to keep them busy and healthy since most sit in wheelchairs or have serious health issues. After the workout most were falling asleep so we escorted them to their rooms and I helped clean up the room. Something that was interesting was while I was helping out all the music and television shows available were from a completely different time. The music was more jazz and classical melodies than todays pop and rap music. The television was also interesting since they were watching old cowboy and Indian re-runs. It seemed the people their thought it was normal as the weather, but it was almost like they were keeping them in this safe bubble of when they last were able to remember or something they enjoyed. As if the past was a better way to live each day thinking about the "good old times".
Monday, March 2, 2015
Introduction
For our 20 time project, we (Mena and Kayla) are going to volunteer at Our Lady of Fatima Villa, a retirement home near our school. We are taking this opportunity to talk with the elderly and learn about their life experiences to better understand how life was like in generations before us. Everyone has a good story to tell, and we want to get to know these elderly and listen to their stories while taking care of them as well.
Our main goal is to use the social aspect of the 5 pillars we learned in Anatomy and Physiology class to communicate with the elderly. We signed up for visiting and writing letters to them, and hopefully through these methods of communication we will be able to get closer to them and learn about their life. We can then compare their experiences with our own, other elderly people in the retirement home, and our own grandparents'. In the end we hope to compile a journal of all the interesting stories.
Some difficulties we may encounter is that the elderly might have different conditions that make communicating with them harder. For example, they might not talk clearly, or have memory loss. Another difficulty is finding time throughout the school week to go volunteer because we might have tests or additional school work that may pile up. However, we're confident that we can work through these difficulties and ultimately achieve our goal in the end. With two of us working on the same thing, we will be able to compile twice as many experiences because we are volunteering at different times of day.
Our main goal is to use the social aspect of the 5 pillars we learned in Anatomy and Physiology class to communicate with the elderly. We signed up for visiting and writing letters to them, and hopefully through these methods of communication we will be able to get closer to them and learn about their life. We can then compare their experiences with our own, other elderly people in the retirement home, and our own grandparents'. In the end we hope to compile a journal of all the interesting stories.
Some difficulties we may encounter is that the elderly might have different conditions that make communicating with them harder. For example, they might not talk clearly, or have memory loss. Another difficulty is finding time throughout the school week to go volunteer because we might have tests or additional school work that may pile up. However, we're confident that we can work through these difficulties and ultimately achieve our goal in the end. With two of us working on the same thing, we will be able to compile twice as many experiences because we are volunteering at different times of day.
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