Distribution of Oranges & Love

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

18 January 2017 - Tzu Chi Melaka have their usual weekly Wednesday visit to Hospital Melaka but this time it was special because we distributed mandarin oranges to patients in the Medical, Palliative and Oncology wards in view of Chinese New Year next week.


We visited with only 1 aim, that is to brighten someone's life up by giving hope and lending ears to those who need it. It is a skill that I need to acquire and practise in order to initiate conversation with patients, especially the non-formal conversation, asking concerns, and try not to go overboard.

In this visit, I have particularly noticed a few things that I have learnt:

1. Patients with chronic illnesses (stroke, cancer) are in despair and sorrow, we can offer them hope by reminding them of the things that the currently have. For example, a stroke patient can still speak fluently (left sided stroke will have impaired speech), or a cancer patient is just tired but free of pain and have good family support. They, just like us, need to be constantly reminded of the things that we have, rather than the things we do not have.


2. Not all patients will listen to me, it depends on the 'channel', if the topic is good, then we can talk for long, but if its not, then its better to move on. No matter how good or how well can I speak, some patients just refuse to listen, this always remind me to be down to earth, we cannot save the whole world.

3. Family members need support too! The best that we can do is to listen actively to their pleas and hardship. I knew it is not easy to take care of an adult especially if they are sick for a long time. Most of the time I can only give suggestions to them, and give them some positive inputs as to remind them of how tough and how filial they are.


To be frank, hospital visit appears to be easy but it actually requires great mental strength and motivation from the volunteers like us. The first person we must motivate is ourselves, once we are in the phase of mindfulness, the road ahead will all be laid out smoothly~ =)


Video and Photos source: Tzu Chi Malaysia youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/tzuchimy

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