Another item on my list of things to accomplish while off this year was to volunteer somewhere in the city. As best as I can remember, I've never done any volunteer work in Toronto other than extra-curricular activities through my profession. I started the search on the Internet many months ago and found the list of possibilities to be quite lengthy. I narrowed down the search by location, duration, and then came the hardest part of all... the position itself. Being a people person, I knew the position had to involve working with others. Initially, I had a rule that whatever volunteer work I chose it would definitely not be working with the elderly. It takes very special people to do that job. I can barely watch a TV commercial with sick and frail seniors, let alone spend the day with them. It's so heart breaking. It would have been easier to choose a volunteer position working with children. That's what I do. But, after some thought I decided to do the one thing I said I wouldn't do - work with the elderly. Ultimately, it's only after accomplishing the challenging things in life that empower us to continue battling life's further hardships.
So, I found a position entitled "Friendly Visitor" with the Salvation Army that suited my location and duration preferences. I emailed the coordinator as per the ad and went for an interview. During the interview I was given a tour of the facility and met some of the residents. It actually gave me a good idea of what the position would entail. I had to complete a police check, give two references, and have a TB test done. This entire process took approximately a month. My first official volunteer day was yesterday.
I agreed to a 6 hour shift from 9am-3pm. It was quite shocking to the system to wake up at 6am once again. I've been going to bed at 1am and sleeping till 11 or 12pm every day. Actually, it was good practice for when I return to work in September. So this is how my shift went: completed more paperwork, watched a video on feeding residents at mealtime, assisted residents in transitioning to and from their respective rooms/floors to the main lobby for church service as well as helped turn pages in the hymn book during church service, aided feeding residents at lunchtime, supported a staff member in running two activity groups, and completed 3 friendly visits. Yes, it was as tiring as it sounds. It's called "work" for a reason, right? But, it was also a very good day. I found the entire experience to be quite enlightening. First of all, I ignorantly thought that all people with Alzheimer's Disease would be the same. They are no different than any other random group of people. Some are sociable, warm, friendly, and some are disagreeable, unresponsive, and cranky. You have to get to know each person as an individual. Secondly, I learned that you can apply various teaching skills to many challenging positions involving people. I don't know if this volunteer job is similar to my teaching job or that the skills needed are the same. Either way, they were quite parallel. And lastly, I realized that you can do any job with the right mindset. So many times I have said these words, "I don't know how she/he could do that job?" Well, I discovered that you CAN do just about any job you set your mind to by simply doing it. I never would have thought that I would be feeding Alzheimer's residents on my year off. But, once I started the whole process and walked through those doors, it was all business. It is very hard work and I take my hat off to the staff. Yet, I've heard many people tell me that they couldn't do my Special Ed. job either. We really are most powerful when we are determined to achieve something.
My plan is to continue volunteering once a week from now until the end of June. By the end of this month I will find out what my new teaching assignment will be for September. I'll need the summer, at least, to prepare for it. I hope that this volunteering experience will somehow make me a better teacher or person. It's not that I'm horribly awful or anything, but we could all use a little improvement, right?
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