MADD

Today was Make A Difference Day, a national volunteering event. I helped out all day (10.00-16.30) at a local care centre. There were three other people who had turned up for MADD, which I thought was not a lot, but better some than none I guess.. they seemed really happy to see me, as I was clearly the youngest and I do not think they expected anyone my age to show up. I think they were a bit disappointed to hear that I am not intending to do this regularly though, as I hope to get a job soon and move. Anyway a small recapitulation of my day:

This morning I spend in the 'living room' of eight people of the 'max' group, who suffer from severe dementia and/or who need a lot of help and structure in their lives. We had coffee and went through the newspaper, then I went for a walk together with a nurse and three patients. The patients really enjoyed the sunshine and to see the goats and chickens and also a mother with a baby and toddler twins (who were there for the goats and chickens).
After that we had lunch and after lunch the patients had to take an hour of rest and I went downstairs to sit in the main coffee room where a few day patients (people who still live independently but come to the centre one or more days a week for activities/food/company) were sitting.

Later in the afternoon an accordionist came to play for the elderly and everybody who wanted received a songbook and could sing along. This photo shows a group of people that lined up for the singing. Sorry about the poor quality, but I did not take my camera with me today and I felt kinda embarassed to be taking photos anyway, so I just took a few snaps with my phone. I think (most of) the people really enjoyed the singing, which was good. I hardly knew any of the songs, apparently they were old Dutch songs.. I knew some, but I did not really feel inclined to sing ;) I did join in on a Happy Birthday though :)

After the singing, everybody went back to their rooms/activities. I helped take the patients I was with this morning back up to their living room and then I went home. I had a nice day, I felt a bit awkward at the start, wasn't sure what to expect when I heard I would be with the max group, but it worked out alright. I think they would greatly benefit from more volunteers to be able to do more individual activities or so that the nurses can take the whole group outside for a walk. Especially with spring or summer weather, it's a shame to be sitting inside all day.

Btw I tried to improve today's shot in PS with unsharpen mask and with sharpen mask (tried gaussian as well as motion blur and lens blur) but nothing seemed to get this to look a lot better without making edges too ugly/highlighted. If anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear.


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