Thousands of seniors’ wishes granted
Print Edition
THE Caoyang neighborhood committee in Putuo District is building a “wish bank” for seniors and granting thousands of these wishes during the process. In the course of the past nine months, 9,354 dreams from residents over the age of 60 were collected, and 4,509 were made true with the help of the whole community.
From schools, hospitals to various social organizations, many people in Caoyang volunteered and participated in this endeavor.
Endeavor of love
Some wishes are simple, like the need for new blood-pressure monitors.
Many seniors live alone, and when their children come to visit, they care mostly about whether the parents are eating and sleeping well, while ignoring some details. Plus the seniors don’t want to add trouble to their children’s already busy lives.
So volunteers contacted seniors’ family members first and informed them they wanted to help the seniors. In the beginning, many seniors received the forms to state their wishes, but they didn’t really expect much to come of it.
Sacred moment
Li Weisen, 93, had a wish to swear allegiance to and join the Chinese Communist Party officially, because when he joined in 1945, the circumstances didn’t allow him to experience the moment. Right before July 1, the 93rd anniversary of the CCP’s founding, Li joined a group of young people and swore under the flag, realizing his dream almost seven decades late. Li died three months later, leaving no regrets.
Among the 4,509 completed wishes, almost half are related to living better, while only 6.2 percent involved having someone to talk to.
According to Sun Ying, director of the public affairs development center of Xinyuan who participated in the project, some seniors who live alone are partnered with others in the same situation. Others had to rely on volunteers.
Han Qirong and Liu Jinmei, a couple living in Changgao Apartments, have a son and daughter who both work and live in Japan. They come back for visits only when the grandsons are on summer break. Last year, when the couple were sick at the same time, they felt helpless and wished to have someone to talk to.
Someone to talk to
A volunteer came and talked with the couple for two months before Liu passed away. Their children came back for the funeral and returned to Japan, leaving Han alone in Shanghai. But when he needed consolation the most, the volunteer quit.
“The only requirement we have for the volunteers is to be persistent,” Sun said. “Because once the seniors start to rely on the volunteers, who later have to quit, the seniors will be even more disappointed.”
Many other wishes are related to issues of renovating old houses, installing elevators and more. Not all of these can be realized with the community’s power only.
Small wishes
There are 861 wishes in the category of medical service, and only 159 were granted. Many seniors wish for more community medical centers, but Caoyang already has one district hospital and one community health service center as well as two medical stations.
Some seniors wish to have someone go to the hospital with them and pick up medicines for them. But as some volunteers helped seniors with the request, the practice was stopped because the hospitals thought it was unsafe and wanted the seniors and volunteers go at the same time. This caused more trouble and risk for the volunteers.
Whether the wishes are realized or not, the wish bank in Caoyang reflects what the seniors really need in their daily lives, and it also provides guidance on how better to help them.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
