|
Saturday, Nov 22 2008
WOODBRIDGE HOSPITAL SEVA
Seva at Woodbridge
Hospital
Click for more Seva
pics
|
The
Woodbridge Home Seva takes place on the 3rd Sunday of
every month. The main focus of the home is to care for
people who are mentally disabled.
A few years ago, when I went there for the first time,
instead of feeling shocked or afraid, I actually felt
happy to be there. This is because the moment the patients
saw us there, their faces lit up and they came running
towards us, shaking our hands vigorously and greeting
us to no end.
Many of the patients even recognized the regulars such
as Uncle Kishore and Sister Trusha. In fact, I learnt
that once you build a personal relationship with the
people there, they do not forget you at all. That actually
made me wonder exactly how “disabled” these
people are, because they seemed just like you and me.
We do many things once we’re there. The routine
is that before we go upstairs to meet the patients,
we will all gather downstairs and chant the Gayathri
Mantra. Then, once we’re upstairs, the brothers
will set up the karaoke system outside while the sisters
will go into the kitchen and lay out the food on plates.
The patients there just love to sing. In fact, if
a talent show was to be held, I can safely say that
one of the winners will be from the home. An example
of one of the patients is an old Chinese gentleman who
actually comes up to the microphone and starts singing
old Hindi Classics.
Once the karaoke session is over, a small play or
skit will be put up by the youths and once that is over,
we will get all the patients to sit down in a circle
and we have a visualization session.
During the session, we ask the patients to close their
eyes and we describe to them a calm scene such as a
beach or a park and ask them to imagine it with the
details given by us. The patients enjoy this session
as you can see the glow on their faces and how calm
they actually become during the sessions.
Once that is over, the sisters open the kitchen shutters
and serve the food. The patients will orderly line up
to collect their plates of curry puffs and cakes, as
well as a cup of coffee each. As for patients like Uncle
Eric, who usually sits on a wheelchair, a youth will
actually queue up with the patients and collect his
food for him.
Finally when its time to leave, we say our goodbyes
and once again the patients will follow us to the door,
shaking our hands and others waving goodbye. Once downstairs,
we, among our group gather in a circle once again. Then
we discuss among ourselves about what we learnt and
if anyone had an experience they wanted to share. Lastly,
before dispersing, we end with our closing prayers.
Jai Sai Ram
Bro Prakash
Young Adult
|
