Volunteering and its Surprising Benefits

Ms Audrey Choo, 51, has been volunteering with Christian Outreach to the Handicapped (COH) since March 2019. COH is a day activity centre that provides care for people with intellectual disability including those who are diagnosed with autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, hearing impairment and other physical disabilities. 

 

Having a younger brother who was born with Down Syndrome, Audrey always has a place in her heart for those with similar developmental challenges, and was thus very happy to be able to discover a venue through which she could support such people in need.

 

According to Audrey, one of the reasons why she started volunteering at COH was because of the inviting and engaging environment that the centre gave to its clients, caregivers, and volunteers. Moreover, she saw the opportunity to volunteer as a joy and a blessing.

 

Audrey engaging clients with intellectual disability through art.

 

She recounts how she was just walking around the neighbourhood when she first noticed the centre around the start of 2020. Looking at the warm interactions between the staff and clients at COH, she thought to herself that it would be a great place to volunteer at. Hence, she decided to find out more, and soon discovered that the centre provided support to the intellectually disabled through the use of art and drama programmes, such as the Visual Art-Drama Connecting Our Residents (VICTOR) programme supported by Council for Third Age (C3A). It wasn’t long after that she would make the decision to join the centre as a volunteer. 

 

Besides engaging with the centre’s clients through arts and crafts, Audrey also reaches out to them through various other activities such as music sing-a-long sessions, indoor games, and even excursions. 

 

Playing indoor games with one of her clients.

 

But it’s not all fun and games. Caring for people with intellectual disabilities requires compassion and patience. Audrey shares that one of the challenges that she faces in dealing with them is whenever they develop new undesirable behaviours or habits. She says that in such situations there really is no one fixed formula, but that she would need to adapt to each situation in order to meaningfully engage with clients. 

 

Audrey shares that through this experience of volunteering with people with special needs, she has developed a deeper understanding of adults with developmental and intellectual challenges. 

 

“Beyond the knowledge and experience I had with my own special needs brother, I have learnt to see things from their perspective even better, and to truly understand what it means to provide dignity and love to special people, who may so often be misunderstood,” says Audrey.

 

Going forward, Audrey says that she plans to keep improving herself in order to better serve those that she volunteers with. Her plan: “Keep myself actively volunteering by being open to learning, such as attending courses, and trying out new methods of engaging and connecting with the clients at the centre.”

 

**If you would like to be a volunteer like Ms Audrey Choo to help others, check out the various volunteering opportunities available here.

 

Source: Christian Outreach to the Handicapped. Reproduced with permission.