charity sale in HCI before Chinese New Year

We held a charity sale outside the staff room this afternoon. We helped the elderly in the moral center to sell the Chinese lantern they made and the Chinese calligraphy they wrote. The teachers usually bought them for charity. One of the teachers even donated 10 dollars without buying anything. The prices of the lanterns and calligraphy are decided by the elderly. Since they were all made by their own hands, the prices were a bit high. As a result, some of the customers bargained with us. As the lanterns were very nice and we really put in some efforts to persuade them, most of them agreed with the price after we emphasised that it was a charity sale and the lanterns needed a lot of handwork. Because the Chinese New Year is coming, some teachers bought our Chinese New Year ornaments to decorate their own houses and classrooms. We stayed there until about five o’clock and finally raised about 350 dollars. The money raised will be donated to a moral-center related hospital.

the first visit to the moral center

This morning, we went to the moral center to know more what they really need. After up to one-hour journey, we finally arrived at the center.
We went around the moral center first. It is about 200 square meters in size. It is divided into office, media center, reading area and a seminar room as well. There are reading materials about health, life and achievement of the elderly here and there on the wall. Some aged people are practicing Chinese calligraphy while some are reading newspapers. It is like a home to the aged.
Then we talked with an officer there. She told us that the elderly enjoy going out and experiencing new things most as they are usually bored. She also felt the moral center need more funds. Her observation should be roughly true as she was a senior officer there and possess much experience.
To have first-hand knowledge about the life of the elderly, we chose to talk with the elderly directly. This is proved to be very successful.
Initially, we are very shy and do not know how to start the conversation. We even argued over the way to call the elderly, grandma or 奶奶. We walked around and hesitated for a few minutes. Finally, we come up with the idea to start off by reading the newspaper and talking about the news with her.
She seemed to be very ready to chat with us. When we asked which news impressed her most, she pointed directly to a piece of picture news about a banquet for the elderly in Guangzhou. She must also want to have such care from the society, we deduced.
During the whole conversation, she continuously mentions the poor sight, hearing and memory. She says things were much better when she were young. Though we tried to show her that “夕阳无限好”and that the elderly are more experienced and mature. She still asserted old age is not good. This made us realize that beside fun and care, the elderly need more confidence about themselves so that they can live in a more active and meaningful way.
The grandma says she taught her children to say dialect while her children taught her to speak mandarin when her children were in schools. This inspired us. Why not invite her to teach dialect once again? This could let her know that she is still capable of contributing to the society and build up her confidence.
The visit to the moral center is fruitful. We realized that the elderly need fun, care and the most importantly, confidence about themselves and a bright outlook for life. However, we still need further chatting with them and research to ensure these are the common needs of the elderly and the idea to invite them to teach dialect is workable. (e.g. there are students willing to learn)