My Lions Befriender Journey

I was told that someone joined our journey after reading the newspaper feature. So I thought I would repost this old FB entry from 11 Jan 2015.
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It has been nearly 3 years since I started volunteering with Lions Befrienders Singapore and started my weekly or biweekly visits to a group of elderly living in my vicinity. And I would like to invite you to read today's Zaobao article or listen to UFM 100.3 from 12th to 23rd Jan at 0730hrs. The radio series is aimed at creating awareness of the Befrienders scheme. If 0730hrs is too early for you, each day's program will be repeated at 1130, 1630 and 2030 hrs.

So, what do we do as Befrienders? It is named the 友伴计划 in Chinese, which means we volunteer our time to be friends and companions for a specific group of elderly that we are assigned to. While there are various financial assistance out there to help the poor on the material needs, the Befriending scheme is there to provide  emotional support for the elderly.  We offer our time and friendship to help lonely elderly cope with life and hopefully live a more engaged and active senior lifestyle. 

Depending on the area one volunteers at,  and it would preferably be near to where one lives,it may be a one to one matching or a team matching.

For me, I have been working in as a team with fellow volunteers, Larissa, Wan Jing and Derrick to visit about 13-15 households on a weekly basis. On a Weekly basis?! Some may ask. Yes, it is a commitment, which is why it took me so long to commit, ie when I knew I am done with long overseas residence. And we try our best to cover each other when we are unable to visit due to work, holidays or family commitment. Oh yeah, we need to strike that balance and it will take time for one to find it.

I have not really mentioned much about my visits on FB except for a few occasional posts on the LB gatherings with my fellow volunteers and executive staff in the Hougang-Serangoon team. It is generally for the elderly's privacy, as well as mine. But those who have met up with me in person these past few years would probably have heard a few interesting stories from my visits. Some of you have actually came forward and contributed in one way or another too. Thank you friends for showing support and care for the elderly even though you may not be able to afford the time to be a Befriender.

Well, since we have agreed to help raise awareness and join in the efforts to recruit more Befrienders, so we thought we would post something about it on FB too. We have a larger Hougang-Serangoon team and the rest of them are paired with other households. And there are many other fellow volunteers out there waiting for you to join us.

For those who are interested to find out more, you can always ask me or approach Lions Befrienders. If not, it would be great help if you can pass the message on to people who do not read Zaobao or listen to Ufm 100.3.

Thank you!