This past week was crazy overwhelming! I cannot believe it is honestly Friday! I am still home sick but the amount of work I have to do helps keep my mind off of it a little. On Wednesday, I had my orientation meeting with World Green Organisation (WGO). This is where I will be doing most of my service work. The people there were really friendly and open to allowing us get the most out of the experience. I learned a lot about Hong Kong's waste issue and how urgent it is. There are 7.18 million people in Hong Kong and only THREE landfills! I did the math and that is about 2 million people per landfill. Out of curiosity, I looked up what the landfill situation is in the U.S. and we have about 10,000 landfills. Obviously we have more people but the math showed that about 100,000 people share one landfill in the U.S. DEFINITELY not 2 million. It was shocking to me what I learned and very inspiring to see how much of an initiative groups like WGO are taking in order to address the issue before it gets even worse. I know we talk about it in the U.S. and how we need to be more sustainable, but I personally don't think people are very conscious or don't see the urgency in the issue. I am really excited to continue working with WGO and learn more about how they make an impression on the general public. When I heard their presentation on the types of work they do, I thought to myself, "Why don't we do that in America? It would make such a difference."
Then things really sped up. We had a group presentation on our service work due the day after our orientation. Then we had a long project proposal due the day after that (today). We finished!! I feel like I can relax for just a minute but then I have to continue with something. A major part of our service work includes creating an exchange corner in certain parts of Hong Kong and spreading the message about the waste production issue to the locals. We will have a booth set up with donated items anyone may choose to take for free and they may donate any items of their choice to us. This spreads the message of "one man's garbage is another man's treasure." There is only a week before that event kicks off and we have a lot to do in that short time frame!
I also visited the Salvation Army's nursing home today. It was a 2 hour commute. The residents in the nursing home were diagnosed with moderate to severe dementia. I have the opportunity to volunteer there as many times a week as I can. It was really interesting to learn more about the nursing homes and how they work here compared to the U.S. Anyone that is not a resident must wear a mask while walking through the unit. They live in rooms of 6 and have a public bathroom to share. There are opportunities for exercising and entertainment. The elderly were all so welcoming and happy to see us. One woman kept wandering and looking for her family members. It was sad to see. The volunteer work I would be performing is helping them in activities that are planned for them. It was explained to us in the orientation that the reason behind creating a "dementia corner" is because they believe some of the elderly act out, scream, or wander because they are bored or do not have their needs fulfilled. The dementia corner is a new program they have implemented in which there are scheduled weekly activities for the elderly to do. Their hopes are that the elderly will not act out as much. I am not sure how accurate this theory is but in my opinion, the people of Hong Kong seem to have a very different understanding of dementia than we do in the U.S. In America, we believe the reason for the actions of dementia patients results from the physical changes in the brain. It appears there is a different understanding of the disease here and it would be interesting to learn more about how they perceive the illness.
I am learning so much about the culture and relating it back to healthcare, even if I am not necessarily performing direct nursing care. As home sick as I am, I'm grateful for this opportunity.
The Singapore girls also have been amazing to me. I am glad to know that I have some great people to spend my meals with. They brought back some halal fried beef dumplings for me for dinner! I cannot wait to try it!
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