Volunteering starts with a simple step

For Mdm Doris Yuen Kum Yeng, 61, her introduction into volunteering started as a simple desire to make more friends and to maintain an active lifestyle. Together with her husband, they would regularly attend activities conducted by Active Ageing Hub @ Kampong Admiralty, such as gardening at their Community Farm.

 

Over the years, Doris had become more active through her involvement with the Beyond Befriending programme organised by NTUC Health, supported by Council for Third Age (C3A). Today, she is not just a participant, but also helps to facilitate and organise brisk walking activities, as well as visits to homebound residents in Kampung Admiralty.

 

Thanks to her friendly and affable nature, as well as her ability to speak English, Mandarin and various dialects fluently, she has managed to build a good rapport with neighbours and residents alike. This has been tremendously beneficial in her ongoing campaign to engage residents and encourage them to stay active and self-reliant through physical and social activities.

 

However, she concedes that amongst neighbours, it is inevitable that conflicts may sometimes arise. Hence, whenever such disagreements occur, she will try to mediate by listening to both parties and explaining to them that it is only normal that different people have different mindsets and beliefs.

 

“I will advise them to think about the positive traits of the other person and to adopt a give-and-take kind of attitude. Sometimes, it is also good to leave them alone to cool down,” says Doris.

 

An Opportunity to Keep Improving

 

Doris says that through volunteering, she has not only been able to keep herself occupied and surrounded by friends, but that it has also given her a reason to keep improving and working on herself.

 

Whether it is about gardening techniques, IT or new community activities, she is grateful for the opportunity to keep her mind active and learn new things.

 

“The world is changing quickly and we need to keep abreast of the changes and be ready to accept new challenges. Volunteering has given me many fond memories that I am excited to share with my grandchildren. Hopefully, I will be able to use these experiences to pass the passion of volunteering on to them,” says Doris.

 

Additionally, Doris feels that volunteering has also taught her to be more mindful when communicating with others. “I try to be more ‘forgetful’ when I hear negative remarks being passed about me, and instead focus on the positive and good comments.”

 

Ultimately, she feels that the benefits of volunteering far outweigh any possible negatives. “Besides providing me with a positive mindset and an opportunity to keep on learning, I can really see all of these neighbourhood events helping to draw the community closer.”

 

If you would like to find out more about NTUC Health Beyond Befriending Programme, please email enquiries@ntuchealth.sg.

 

To check out other volunteering opportunities for seniors, visit https://www.c3a.org.sg/volunteerism.

 

Source: NTUC Health Co-operative Ltd. Reproduced with permission.