Volunteer Service at Nanaimo Seniors Village

Posted: October 24th, 2013

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Volunteer Service at Nanaimo Seniors Village

Activity

My day at Nanaimo Seniors Village involved catering solely to the needs of the senior citizens living within the Assisted Living suites within the village. The village located in the north of Nanaimo, British Columbia provides care for seniors. As a campus of care, Nanaimo Seniors Village comprises different suites that will cater according to the needs of the seniors. As a volunteer, I decided to offer voluntary assistance to seniors living in the Assisted Living Suites. Foremost, I participated in delivering meals and medication to some of the senior citizens living in the village. The medication I delivered was for senior citizens experiencing senile dementia. These seniors could not perform most basic functions since they experienced mild cognitive impairment. Thus, I assisted some of the caregivers by delivering the meals and medication to these seniors. Furthermore, I also assisted in cleaning the used utensils as well as washing their clothes.

Accomplishing the Activity

In order to accomplish the activity, I received significant assistance from the staff at Nanaimo Seniors Village. Additionally, I also had a group of volunteers accompany me to the center in order to aid the Assisted Living. The care-giving staff at the center provided me with the list of seniors that required assistance especially in performing routine duties. Thus, I received a schedule for the meals prescribed for the respective aged persons. Additionally, the staff also provided me with a guide. The guide assisted me in determining the location of the houses within the Assisted Living Suites. The staff also provided me with sophisticated information regarding the persons that required medication. This was to ensure that I do not prescribe the wrong medicine to some of the ailing seniors within my specified suites. The other volunteers also reduced the workload since there was even distribution of tasks and activities among them to perform.

Relating Activity to the Course

The voluntary service that I carried out at Nanaimo Seniors Village relates with the course perfectly. The course emphasized on Community Engagement and Experiential Learning as vital aspects. In my case, I participated in Community Engagement services. Additionally, participating in voluntary service allowed me to support the tenet of a single collective vision. This collective vision focuses on the benefit of the whole community. Usually, communities disregard the seniors in the society. Even though there are senior facilities, seniors still deserve recognition as a vital part of the community. My participation in volunteering at Nanaimo Seniors Village allowed me to integrate them as part of this collective vision.

Personal Opinion

Personally, volunteering at Nanaimo Seniors Village is an experience that I would love to relive again. After taking part in this activity, I realized that seniors would love the chance to be with their families regardless of their present conditions. By assisting them, I developed an urge to care for the aged in the community. Most of the senior persons I assisted were happy with my services. They expressed delight at the thought of young persons availing their time to assist and cater to them. Furthermore, I discovered that most of them were social beings. They desired a person of a different age in order to express their innermost feelings and emotions. Some told me about their struggles with senile dementia, which was rather emotional. This encouraged me to express dire interest in volunteering to participate in such activities in future.