My volunteer work experiences

During Jan 22nd~24th, I went to Huai Hai Homes for the elderly to do volunteer work. I felt very pleasant and learned a lot from it.


On January 22nd, I arrived at about 8 a.m. This place is not very big but looks very warm and fragrant, the building has two floors and has many rooms. The manager told me to paste the“Fu” on each door. He also gave me a bottle of glue. Pasting “Fu” is a traditional work to welcome the Chinese New Year. There is a peculiarity that each “Fu” should be fallen. In
Chinese, it called “Fu Dao”, it means the good luck will come. The work started! I pasted from the most left door. First, I took some glue on the back of the “Fu”, it’s very important to paste the four corners. Then, I put it onto the door. To prevent it from falling, I used my hands to reinforce it. It’s finished, very simple! When I finished the 1st floor’s work, I went upstairs to the 2nd floor. There are more rooms on the 2nd floor and some elderly people stood there. They were talking happily, when they saw me, they were pleased to forward to ask me about my school, why I came here and it seemed that they were very welcome my coming. When they saw me pasting, they really wanted to help me. But I didn’t want them to be tired, I thank and
refused them. There were some old stickers on doors. So I needed to tear it and change the new one. Some of the old stickers are very dirty, but I didn’t mind it. Finally, I finished this work. It took me a whole morning. The elderly people were very satisfied with my work. I was tired but felt very proud.


The next day, January 23rd, I went to Huai Hai Homes for the elderly again. I wanted to do some other things for the elderly. I decided to clean the building. There is also a small ground in front of the building. First, I swept the ground, it looked very dirty. It took me about half an hour to do it. I threw all the rubbish into the rubbish bin. Then, I went into the building. I found a piece of dishcloth to clean the windows. The windows were kept a layer of ash, so I put some water onto the dishcloth. I rubbed the windows for many times and it finally turned to be bright. The work was not tough but made me felt backache. Even though, I felt very pleasant with my labor.


Finally, on January 24th, I went to Huai Hai Homes for the elderly to do the last three-hour volunteer work. It seemed difficult to find things to do now, so I had to think out another way. I hoped to make the elderly become happier. I decided to go into the rooms and tell them some funny stories. I sat beside an old lady and began to tell of. I mainly told them the jokes that I watched on TV. They all laughed happily. We also chatted with each other. They told me that their children worked very busily and were far away from home. So they were sent to here. They thought the life here was full of vital force. At last, I helped them to make beds and cleaned the indoor sanitation. They said that they were very happy with my coming and they hoped I could come next time. The administrator Ms. Yao was very satisfied with me, too.


The 10 hours’ work passed very quickly but it’s very meaningful. I walked towards the elderly and did something I should do. I learned optimism from them and I really hope their children can often visit and look after them.